Teaching
History Online
Number
111: 9th November, 2003
Introduction
1.
Teaching
History with a Hypertext Curriculum
2.
Spanish
Armada
3.
Encyclopedia
of North American Indians
4.
Bristol
and the Slave Trade
5.
Civil
Rights in the USA
6.
Living
in the British Empire
7. American
Civil War
8. Letters
from the Great War
9. Generalissimo
Introduction
Spartacus Educational
publishes Teaching
History Online every week. The newsletter includes news, reviews
of websites and articles on using ICT in the history classroom. Members
of the mailing list are
invited to submit information for inclusion in future editions of
Teaching
History Online. In this way we hope to create a community
of people involved in using the Internet to teach history. Currently
there are 32,010 subscribers to the newsletter.
John Simkin
spartacus@pavilion.co.uk
Teaching
History with a Hypertext Curriculum: At its best a hypertext
curriculum can scaffold student learning; supporting the less able,
stretching the brightest and recognising the range of multiple intelligences
but it can also do more mundane things like improve exam results.
In this seminar, Richard Jones-Nerzic examines the practical value
of a history curriculum website from the point of view of the teacher
who builds and maintains the site, the students who study for an examination
course through the site and the ‘significant others’ - parents,
other teachers and general web users - who contribute to the success
of the students through their use of the site. If
you have views on this subject, register
with the History Forum and join the debate.
Spanish
Armada: The British today celebrate this event as a great victory.
The owner of this website disagrees: "If their mere survival
in the face of such a massive attack constitutes great victory then
so be it. No doubt they stole the weather gauge and their ships outperformed
the Spanish. But the British did little damage and most of the benefit
they derived from it showed how poorly they were prepared and how
badly they too miscalculated the engagement. They had all the advantages;
they swung hard and missed their target completely." This excellent
website provides a wealth of material that allows the subject to be
debated at length.
Encyclopedia
of North American Indians: This tremendous book, edited by Frederick
E. Hoxie, was published by the Houghton Mifflin Company in 1996. It
has now been made available on the Internet. Each article has been
written by one of the leading experts in the field. For example, here
are the entries under the letter B: Basketry, Beads and Beadwork Chief
Bender, Berdache, Bering Strait Theory, Bible Translations, Bibliographies,
Birth, Black Drink, Black Elk, Blackfoot, Black Hawk, Boarding Schools,
Elias Boudinot, Boy Scouts and Indians, Joseph Brant, Bureau of Indian
Affairs and Bob Burnette.
Bristol and Slavery: Much of the wealth of Bristol was gained
by exploiting African peoples, transporting them across the Atlantic
Ocean in horrific conditions, and selling them into slavery in the
new world. In addition significant numbers of African people were
brought to Britain from the West Indies (a voyage of double horror)
to be sold in Bristol (although this was against English law) and
forced into service in merchant's and aristocrat's households. Bristol
is still in some denial about the facts and horrors of the slave trade.
This website provides links to sites about the slave trade organised
loosely into categories.
Civil
Rights in the USA: A comprehensive encyclopaedia of the struggle
for civil rights in the United States. Each entry contains a narrative,
illustrations and primary sources. The text within each entry is hypertexted
to other relevant pages in the encyclopedia. In this way it is possible
to research individual people and events in great detail. The sources
are also hypertexted so the student is able to find out about the
writer, artist, newspaper, organization, etc., that produced the material.
So far there are sections on: Campaigners (1860-1900), Campaigners
(1900-1980), Issues, Events & Organizations (1840-1900) and Issues,
Events & Organizations (1900-1980).
Living
in the British Empire: A couple of months ago a right-wing historian
commented that the British Empire should be taught as if it “was
a good thing”. This raises the issue of what is meant by this
phrase. Did he mean it was good for certain individuals living in
Britain? Or was he referring to certain groups? Did he mean the whole
of Britain, then and now? Or was he saying it was good for the people
of India or some other country that was part of the Empire? It is
this complexity and diversity within almost any historical period
which makes history so interesting but also so challenging. This Learning
Curve website asks the question: "How should we remember the
British Empire?"
American
Civil War: Dr. George H. Hoemann, assistant director for distance
education and independent study at the University of Tennessee, has
gathered together in one place hypertext links to the most useful
identified electronic files about the American Civil War. The page
opens a gateway to the Internet's multi-formatted resources about
what is arguably the seminal event in American history. Not only was
the War the occasion for the abolition of slavery, but by conflict's
end the re-United States had emerged as a modern, industrialized power.
The material is organised under the following headings: General Resources,
Secession Crisis, Images of Wartime, Biographical Information, Histories
and Bibliographies, Documentary Records, Local Studies, Battles &
Campaigns, Rosters & Regimental Histories, Civil War Reenactors
and Civil War Round Tables.
Letters
from the Great War: This website looks at the relationship between
one family in Canada and the First World War. It provides information
from the Canadian Archive's including War Diaries on the 11th and
12th Canadian Machine Gun Company (CMGC), a photo gallery, and Canadian
World War One letters written by the Stothers family. Although these
letters battles are not described, the thoughts, feelings, humour,
and life in the Canadian Expeditionary Force do have historical value
for the student of the First World War.
Book
Section
Generalissimo:
Following his acclaimed studies of the state of modem France and how
Hong Kong has changed since the 1997 handover, Jonathan Fenby now
turns his attention to one of the most interesting yet under-reported
figures of twentieth-century history. Chiang Kai-shek was the man
who lost China to the Communists. As leader of the nationalist movement,
the Kuomintang, Chiang established himself as head of the government
in Nanking in 1928. Yet although he laid claim to power throughout
the 1930s and was the only Chinese figure of sufficient stature to
attend a conference with Churchill and Roosevelt during the Second
World War, his desire for unity was always thwarted by threats on
two fronts. Between them, the Japanese and the Communists succeeded
in undermining Chiang's power-plays, and after Hiroshima it was Mao
Zedong who ended up victorious.(Jonathan Fenby, The Free Press, ISBN
0 7432 3144 9, £25.00)
Available
from Amazon Books (order below)
