Teaching
History Online
Number
37: 21st April, 2002
Introduction
1.
Mary,
Queen of Scots
2.
Douglas
MacArthur
3.
Crime
and Punishment
4.
Bill
Bailey: Abraham Lincoln Battalion
5.
Spanish
Civil War
6.
The
Trench
7.
World
History Archives
8.
Alger
Hiss Story
9.
Glory
Denied
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 18,500 subscribers to the newsletter.
John Simkin
spartacus@pavilion.co.uk
Mary,
Queen of Scots: On the night of February 9th 1567, a trail of
gunpowder was lit in the cellar of a house in the backstreets of Edinburgh.
The explosion reduced the house to rubble and Lord Darnley, the husband
of Mary, Queen of Scots, was murdered. Ever since, historians have
debated whether Mary was involved and only recently has incriminating
new evidence come to light. At the heart of the mystery lies treacherous
politics of the Scottish Court and love letters written by Mary to
her secret paramour, James Hepburn, the Earl of Bothwell. This website
by Dr. Saul David explores the relationship between Mary, Queen of
Scots and the Earl of Bothwell.
Douglas
MacArthur: No soldier in modern history has been more admired
- or more reviled than Douglas MacArthur. The liberator of the Philippines,
shogun of Occupied Japan, brilliant victor of the Battle of Inchon,
was an admired national hero when he was suddenly relieved of his
command. This PBS website concentrates on MacArthur in the Philippines
during the Second World War and his conflict with Harry S. Truman
in 1951.
Crime
and Punishment: There are three strands in this Public Record
Office exhibition, each covering the themes of 'Crime', 'Prevention'
and 'Punishment'. Each strand contains four galleries covering the
designated theme through different time periods. Each strand contains
a big question. The sources contained within the various case studies
can be used to carry out the activity which will answer the big question.
Bill
Bailey: Abraham Lincoln Battalion: On the outbreak of the Spanish
Civil War in 1936,
Bailey joined the Abraham Lincoln Battalion, a unit that volunteered
to defend the Popular Front government against General
Franco and his Nationalist
Army. While in Spain
he wrote to his mother explaining his actions: "You see Mom,
there are things that one must do in this life that are a little more
than just living. In Spain there are thousands of mothers like yourself
who never had a fair shake in life. They got together and elected
a government that really gave meaning to their life. But a bunch of
bullies decided to crush this wonderful thing. That's why I went to
Spain, Mom, to help these poor people win this battle, then one day
it would be easier for you and the mothers of the future." Bill
Bailey was one of those who came back and his autobiography, The Kid
from Hoboken, is now available on the Internet.
Spanish
Civil War: Cary Nelson of the University of Illinois has created
one of the best website on the Spanish Civil War on the Internet.
It includes an overview of the war, a photo essay, a chronology, posters,
flags, letters by American volunteers, poems, as well as articles
and speeches by George Orwell, La Pasionaria, Ernest Hemingway, Bernard
Knox and Tony Hendra.
The
Trench: What might everyday life have been like in the trenches
of World War One? The Trench recreates the experience of the 10th
Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment in the Autumn of 1916 on
the Western Front. Modern-day volunteers from Hull and East Yorkshire
spent two weeks in an authentically constructed trench system in northern
France. This BBC website also includes a virtual tour of a First World
War trench.
World
History Archives: Documents for teaching and learning about world
history from a working-class and non-eurocentric perspective. Categories
include: Western Civilization, World Historiography, World Working-Class
History, World Social History, World Telecommunications, Asia &
Oceania, Indigenous Americans, Africa and Europe.
Alger
Hiss Story: This website is an authoritative portal for access
to primary information about Alger Hiss, the Hiss case and the early
Cold War years - including new scholarship, newly released official
documents from various governments and government agencies, and the
archival material, such as trial testimony, court and government records
and commentary, collected in many libraries and online repositories.
Book
Section
Glory
Denied: U.S. Army Special Forces Captain Floyd James ("Jim")
Thompson grew up dreaming of battlefield glory. In late December 1963,
Thompson left behind three young daughters and a pregnant wife to
go to Vietnam. Three months later, on the day before Alyce gave birth
to their son, the Vietcong captured Thompson not far from the Laotian
border. While many of his fellow Americans had barely heard of the
small jungle nation in Southeast Asia, Jim Thompson was already a
prisoner. For the next nine years - five in solitary confinement -
he endured starvation, loneliness, and unspeakable cruelties. Miraculously,
he survived. After an eternity in hell, Jim Thompson was coming home.
In 1973, he returned to an America that was radically different from
the one he had left ten years before. Powerfully told in Thompson's
voice and the voices of those who shared in his life and trials, it
is a gripping account that will stand forever as one of the most truthful
and important documents to emerge from the Vietnam era.
Available from Amazon Books
(order below)
