Teaching
History Online
Number
38: 5th May, 2002
Introduction
1.
American
Experience: Ulysses S. Grant
2.
Slavery
in the United States
3.
Spanish
Civil War Interviews
4.
Spanish
Armada
5.
China
1900-1970
6.
American
Civil War
7.
One
Day's Fighting on the Western Front
8.
54th
Canadian Infantry Battalion
9.
Second
World 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 18,800 subscribers to the newsletter.
John Simkin
spartacus@pavilion.co.uk
American
Experience: Ulysses S. Grant: The greatest hero of the Civil War,
Grant was an ineffective president whose two terms in office were
rocked by racial conflict and corruption scandals. Funded by the National
Endowment for the Humanities, the Ulysses S. Grant website features
activities for children of all ages. You can use maps, video clips,
and text to determine your moves in "You're the General,"
an interactive game. You can also take a video tour of the Shiloh
battlefield with a National Park Service ranger and a group of eighth
graders from Michie, Tennessee.
Slavery
in the United States:
A comprehensive encyclopedia of slavery. 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. There are sections on:
The
Slave System (14), Slave Life (12), Slave Narratives (30), Campaigners
Against Slavery (68), Events and Issues (24) and Political Organizations
(4).
Spanish
Civil War Interviews: In November 2000 the Guardian newspaper
published a supplement on the the last British survivors of the International
Brigades who fought in the Spanish Civil War. This material is now
available on the Internet and the website includes interviews with
Sam Russell, Lou Kenton, Joe Garber, Bob Peters, Jack Jones, Alfred
Sherman, Penny Feiwel, Benny Goldman, Dave Goodman, David Marshall,
Sol Frankel, Bob Doyle, Tom Clarke, Jack Straw, George Wheeler, Frank
Graham, Frank Mills, Alun Williams and Steve Fullerton.
Spanish
Armada: In 1588 King Philip II of Spain sent a fleet of ships
to collect his army from the Netherlands where they were fighting
and take them to invade England. This was done in the name of religion
because England had become Protestant and no longer accepted the Pope
as the Head of the Church; Spain was Catholic and the Pope had encouraged
Philip to try to make England become Catholic again. He also had a
political reason to go to war with England because Spain ruled the
Netherlands but the people there were rebelling against Spanish control
and England had been helping them. The English were worried about
the threat of invasion and they attacked the Spanish ships as they
sailed along the Channel but the Armada was so strong that most of
the ships reached Calais safely. While the Armada tried to get in
touch with the Spanish army, the English ships attacked fiercely.
However, an important reason why the English were able to defeat the
Armada was that the wind blew the Spanish ships northwards. To many
English people this proved that God wanted them to win and there were
pictures and medals made to celebrate this fact. This Public Record
Office website uses primary sources to answer the question: "Did
God really help the English defeat the Spanish Armada?"
China
1900-1970: This site is targeted to 14 to 16 years old and covers
all the major topics concerning this time span. The section contains:
China in 1900, the Boxer Uprising; Sun Yat-sen; Chiang Kai-shek; Mao
Zedong; The Red Army; the Long March; invasion of Manchuria; the Japanese
invasion of China 1937-45; the Chinese Civil War 1945 to 1949; China
1949 to 1953; the first Five Year Plan; the Great Leap Forward; the
Hundred Flowers and the Cultural Revolution.
American
Civil War: This comprehensive account of the American Civil War
is produced by Premier Internet. Sections include Timeline (9th February,
1861 to 4th May, 1865), Battles (chronological list), Documents (government
papers, diaries, letters) Places (battlefields, cemeteries, forts,
historic parks, monuments, museums), Music (recordings of civil war
music), Discussion Forum and Links.
One
Day's Fighting on the Western Front: This website looks in great
detail at what happened to the men of the 2/8th Sherwood Foresters
(Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) during one day's fighting
on the Western Front in September 1917. Produced by the Great War
Family Ancestry and Research Services, the website also provides an
illustrated account of the Polygon Wood battlefield today.
54th
Canadian Infantry Battalion: A website devoted to the activities
of the 54th Canadian Infantry Battalion that fought in France and
Belgium during the First World War. This includes photographs and
biographies of a large number of the volunteers who fought in the
regiment.
Book
Section
Second
World War: The Second World War was among the most destructive
conflicts in human history: more than forty million soldiers and civilians
perished, many in circumstances of terrible cruelty. During the 2,174
days of war between the German attack on Poland in September 1939,
and the surrender of Japan in August 1945, by far the largest number
of those killed killed, whether in battle or behind the lines, had
no name or face except to those who knew or loved them. In these pages
is recounted the courage of soldiers, sailors and airmen, the courage
of partisans and resistance fighters, and the courage of those who,
starving, tormented and without strength or weapons, were murdered
far from the battlefields isolated and alone. (Martin Gilbert, Weidenfeld
and Nicolson, ISBN 0 297 79616 X)
Available from Amazon Books
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