Teaching
History Online
Number
34: 17th March, 2002
Introduction
1.
The
American West
2.
Gold
Fever
3.
North
American Indian History
4.
Chartism
5.
1833
Factory Act
6.
Castles
7.
Famous
British People
8.
IST
Humanities Department
9.
Posters
of the Spanish Civil War:
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 17,700 subscribers to the newsletter.
John Simkin
spartacus@pavilion.co.uk
The
American West: In the 19th century Americans were fascinated with
the stories which Harper's Weekly brought to life with articles and
illustrations. The editorials and commentary describe a life which
many readers could barely imagine. This website preserves a unique
documentation of life west of the Mississippi. The website includes
articles on the Frontier, Buffalo, Farming & Agriculture, Wagon
Trains, Gold, Railroads, Life on the Plains and Indians.
Gold
Fever: The 1890s in America were desperate times. Economic depression
caused bank and business failures and forced millions of men and women
from their jobs. When gold was discovered in the frozen unsettled
territory between Canada and Alaska, 100,000 people made the treacherous
journey in search of riches. This website, based on the television
documentary of the same name, tells the personal stories of a handful
of city dwellers who, in January 1898, traveled to the Klondike determined
to strike gold.
North
American Indian History: This site lists thousands of historical
events (on a day-by-day basis) which happened to or affected the indigenous
peoples of North America. It also has Tribal name meanings and alternative
tribal names, Indian "moon" names (calendar information),
almost 1,000 photos of ancient ruins, and links to over 8,000 other
related sites.
Chartism:
The People's Charter was drawn up by William Lovett and Francis Place
in 1838 and included a political programme of six points: universal
male suffrage, no property qualifications for Members of Parliament;
annual parliaments; constituencies of equal size, payment of MPs;
and vote by secret ballot. This website is an account of the most
important working-class political movement in Britain in the nineteenth
century and includes sections on Chartist Biographies, Chartist Tactics,
Chartist Newspapers and Parliamentary Reform Acts.
1833
Factory Act:
As the Industrial Revolution in Britain gathered pace thousands of
factories sprang up all over the country. There were no laws relating
to the running of factories as there had been no need for them before.
As a result, dangerous machinery was used that could, and frequently
did, cause serious injuries to workers. Perhaps one of the worst features
of this new industrial age was the use of child labour. People began
to realize how bad these conditions were in many factories and started
to campaign for improvements. There was a lot of resistance from factory
owners who felt it would slow down the running of their factories
and make their products more expensive. Many people also did not like
the government interfering in their lives. In 1833 the Government
passed a Factory Act to improve conditions for children working in
factories. In 1833 This excellent website provides information and
student activities on the first of many Acts passed by Parliament
that dealt with working conditions and hours.
Castles:
This website produced by Schools History traces the development of
Castles and fortifications over the ages covering Roman fortifications
in Britain, Anglo-Saxon forts, the Motte and Bailey, Stone Keep Castles
and Concentric Castles. Users can establish the reasons for the construction
of castles and evaluation of the reasons for the change in fortification
design is offered. This unit includes a range of images to illustrate
the major changes.
Famous
British People:
Famous British People and Events is dedicated to finding the crème
de la crème of British historical websites and placing them
at your fingertips. WZ's aim is to assist you and save you time in
your quest for research or knowledge. Home of the 45-second newsletter,
WZ's focused monthly e-zine is completely free for subscribers. Each
e-zine covers a different part of British history that can be explored
at leisure. WZ is willing to assist students with research projects
on British history. If you can’t find what you’re looking
for, e-mail them for assistance.
IST
Humanities Department: When the International School of Toulouse
opened in September 1999 it became Europe's first fully laptop computer
school. The public launch of the IST Humanities Department website
this week, offers the visitor a fascinating insight into how the nature
of education can change when students exchange pencil cases for keyboards.
The website is built and maintained by teachers Richard Jones-Nerzic
and Peter Flynn, but in addition to their teachers' core 'hypertext
curriculum', a significant proportion of the website is dedicated
to publishing the multimedia work of students. In a section entitled
'Websites for Learning', for example, the authors show how websites
can be used to allow students to build 'multiple-intelligence portfolios'
of their learning. Rather than the passive recipients of information,
students become active producers of content: even to the extent of
producing interactive assessment activities for other learners. The
authors are convinced that laptops and the Internet constitutes "the
most important development in the history of education since Guttenberg
told the monks to put their quills away".
Posters
of the Spanish Civil War: The Spanish Civil War was an ideological
battleground for all Europe. The insurgents led by General Franco
were assisted by German air power and 50,000 Italian volunteers, whereas
the Soviet Union sent advisers and technicians to help the republican
government. There were also International Brigades, made up of communists
and left-wing sympathizers from many countries, involved in the fighting.
This website provides a commentary of the conflict plus 25 posters
produced during the war.
Please email John Simkin at spartacus@pavilion.co.uk
if you have information you want included in next month's edition
of Teaching
History Online.
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