In this article, the authors demonstrate how a series of National Archives documents related to professional baseball players and the military draft can launch a lesson on the American home front during World War I, as the 100th anniversary approaches.

Many national anthem lyrics focus on struggle and war between nations. Some, such as "The Star Spangled Banner," focus on a single battle or incident, like the War of 1812. Others stress the bravery, strength, and courage of the soldiers and sometimes the entire nation. Other anthems, such as Brazil's, focus on the beauty and…

In this article, the author presents a truer picture than economic historians have previously had of the economies of Tokugawa Japan, and Britain during the Industrial Revolution. Though substantially different, both societies were prosperous compared to most of the rest of the world. Japan's economic success began in the Tokugawa period…

The world economy and political map changed dramatically between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. Unprecedented trade linked the continents together and set off a European scramble to discover new resources and markets. European ships and merchants reached across the world, and their governments followed after them, inaugurating the…

This article represents the third in a "ghost story" series by the same authors. Readers may recall that Mr. Bernanke was "visited" by the ghosts of Adam Smith and John Maynard Keynes in the March/April 2010 issue of "Social Education" as these two famous economists debated the economic recovery (see EJ878912). Mr.…

This article presents an economic perspective of the institution of slavery in the context of world and American history. Slavery has existed on all continents and in many societies. Its existence has long been controversial and, in the case of the United States, ended only as the result of a long and destructive war. Slavery as an institution was…

AP World History is the ideal history course. It introduces students to 10,000 years of world history, and demands critical reading, critical writing, and critical thinking skills on the part of both the teacher and the students. It requires students to build their expertise in reading their textbook, and places demands on the teacher to assign…

Tracy A. Sugarman served in the U.S. Navy as a lieutenant, junior grade, in the European theater during World War II. During his years of service from 1942-45, in addition to writing letters home, he recorded his experiences through original artwork. His sketches and watercolor paintings, completed before, during, and after D-Day, with titles such…

International revulsion at the violation of human rights during World War II helped spark a global movement to define and protect individual human rights. Starting with the creation of war crimes tribunals after the war, this newfound awareness stimulated a concerted international effort to establish human rights for all, both in periods of war…

The most common activity in a social studies classroom should be the analysis of primary sources. Students are intrigued and engaged by edited and unedited documents, written statements, transcribed speeches, photographs, pictures, charts, graphs, cartoons, and even material objects. Ideally, the goal of social studies teachers is to prepare…

Planning a world history course presents a nearly impossible task. One cannot complete a world history course, or even a European history course, without casting a huge amount of historical information onto the curriculum planning scrapheap. An emphasis on the twentieth century means leaving out significant information from earlier times. "But how…

Teaching world history presents any number of challenges. World history requires constantly shifting perspectives in order to keep students oriented in time and space while providing contemporary relevance, emphasizing themes with regularity, having a certain amount of fun, and moving at the warp speed that covering 10,000 years in 31 weeks…

The author started teaching world history during his first year of teaching at Harlingen High School. To be given such an assignment, because of the breadth of the course, in one's first year might be considered a great misfortune. However, looking back, the author would not have preferred it any other way. World history quickly became his…

Getting students involved in the process of inquiry takes much more than pointing out a problem, offering sources, and setting them on their way. Fortunately, there are a number of teaching strategies that can be instrumental in engaging students in the process of inquiry. As a teacher of world history in the seventh grade, House of Avalon, at…

In today's society, film is a part of popular culture and is relevant to students' everyday lives. Most students spend over 7 hours a day using media. With the popularity and availability of film, it is natural that teachers attempt to engage students with such a relevant medium. The method of using film and the method of using firsthand accounts…