According to John Adams, the real American Revolution occurred "in the minds and hearts of the people" long before the armed conflict ever began. This shared anti-British sentiment in prewar colonial America was largely fostered by committees of correspondence. Formed a decade before the revolution, the committees were the first…

Born-digital sources are, in fact, already old enough to fall into the domain of traditional, albeit recent, history. Bulletin Board Systems date from the 1980s. The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) launched the first website and server in 1990. Websites and the new digital media are cultural artefacts. Archivists and librarians…

The author of this essay argues that historians should join their colleagues in the sciences in creating supportive environments for undergraduate research. Despite the apparent hurdles to overcome, historians can devise effective undergraduate research experiences that mimic those occurring in the chemistry, biology, and psychology labs across…

Students gain a better understanding of war and economics when the variables come alive through stories, artifacts, and paintings. In this article, the author describes a short story about the fur trade which can generate lots of student questions about the fur economics, the Eastern Woodland Indians, trade artifacts, and war. The author also…

It is not hard to locate negative or condescending images of the French Revolution in aspects of popular American culture, including film. Despite a handful of instances where nuanced or ambiguous "messages" may be identified, the number of American film interpretations of the French Revolution that might be judged historically…

Reviews and questions the traditional established interpretation that the French Revolution was about feudalism. Concludes that revisionist historians have cast doubt upon the orthodox theory but that they have not supplied an alternative explanation. (Author/DB)

Examines studies of Fritz Fischer's works (1961 and 1969) concerning Germany's responsibility for World War I and the influence of this work upon later interpretations. Presents an integrated interpretation of the causes of the war based upon recent research findings. (RKM)

Analyzes previous interpretations concerning the French Revolution. Discusses several weaknesses of the Marxist views in light of recent philosophical and sociological thinking about social change. (RKM)

Examines roles played by men and women in the French family from well before 1760 to the present. The author shows how changes in the mentalities of family and gender reflect changes in the other structures--social, political, economic, technological--without being mere ideological replicas of them. (RM)

Suggests how college history teachers can help students understand the French aristocracy and its role in medieval society by using a twelfth century epic. "Raol de Cambrai" gives students a sense that the poem's action could have happened to real people. A content analysis of the poem's action and characters is included. (DB)

Explores the French colonization in North America. Presents background information on New France, focusing on the French in Canada. Covers topics, such as how the French became interested in North American expansion, the French in Louisiana, colonial economics, and the reasons for the collapse of New France. Includes a bibliography. (CMK)

Asserts that the use of multimedia furthers historians' work as opposed to changing it. Explores three objectives that multimedia allows historians to achieve: (1) the issue of representation; (2) the concern with emphasizing historical thinking skills; and (3) the topic of how others appropriate history. (CMK)

Reexamines the role of ideas as a factor in the French Revolution. Discusses recent research concerning the influence of philosophy upon this Revolution. Looks at research dealing with the Enlightenment thinkers and the "Cercle Social" Girondists among other philosophies. Views the French Revolution as a means of understanding the modern…

Compares Robert Palmer's interpretation of the French Revolution with the Marxist and revisionist views. Stresses Palmer's theory that the French Revolution belongs to the same spiritual family as the American. Reports that Palmer saw the French Revolution as the climactic event in a series of similar upheavals that integrated liberal democracy…

Discusses recent changes in history and geography instruction in the French lycees. Explains that France's National Ministry of Education plans to move teaching about World War II to an earlier year and apply a geopolitical approach to instruction in general. Notes that the Association of Teachers of History and Geography opposes the changes. (SG)