Parent Primer: American History
Refresh your memory of key historical people and events with this handy guide.
You can help your child transform the study of American History from a list of names and dates into a living, breathing story that encompasses all of us and continues to be told. Local museums, historic sites, and the Internet offer rich primary source materials that breathe life into past times and places. (Primary sources are any original artifact from an era, such as first-hand accounts of events like diaries and letters, or physical objects like maps and machines. Secondary sources are historical reflections or descriptions.)
Looking at old photographs is one great way to time travel — be sure to notice the details that place the scene in a particular time, like a shopkeeper sweeping his stoop or a woman gazing from a window. Ask your child to imagine the stories behind these historical players and then take your own photographs as part of a family time capsule project.
Online activities can transform the study of American History into a compelling experience for both you and your child. See below for lots of ways to explore history interactively, whether it's researching a project or report or just putting homework into context.
Lively History Projects
Beyond the basic — and essential — research report, here are a few suggestions to inspire your child to create exciting history projects:
- Read historical fiction like the Dear America series and then research and write your own.
- Put on an original play with period costumes.
- Research historic recipes, compile them into a cookbook, and make a few of the dishes.
- Create a tourism campaign with posters and pamphlets for another era.
- Find old newspapers and magazines at your local library.
- Research historic games and then play them.
- Learn popular songs from a chosen era.
- Recreate old maps to show the change between then and now.
When it's time to learn those essential names, dates, and events — the cast of characters and setting for the story of American History — encourage your child to make flashcards, a fun and easy way to study.
A Sweeping Tour of the Past
Gaining a general familiarity with time periods will enable you to participate in conversations and guide your child's study time. Follow along with this summary of American History and investigate some of the exciting interactive opportunities.
Early America Emerges
The Civil War Era
Challenge and Change in the 20th Century
History Keeps Happening
Early America Emerges
The human story of American history starts with Native Americans, including their culture and traditions. Students will study why early explorers, such as Christopher Columbus, ventured forth to find new trade passages and claim more land. Colonization is a popular topic, including the 13 British colonies and the Mayflower Compact, which set the laws and government for the Pilgrims before they settled.
The American Revolution (1775-1783) is sure to play a part in your student's studies. One central cause was taxation without representation. The British government demanded taxes of the colonists, but no colonist could be elected to British Parliament. A group of men, including principal author Thomas Jefferson, penned The Declaration of Independence, containing the famous line "all men are created equal." It was signed on July 4, 1776. For information about the Constitution, take a look at The Constitution: A Living Document and a historical timeline. Your student will also study The War of 1812 and the Monroe Doctrine from this era.
Starting in the early 1800s, settlers pushed west, further squeezing out indigenous Native American populations. Students will see how The Louisiana Purchase (1803) was one example of westward expansion. The Mexican War (1846-1848) occurred due to disputes over borderlines. The Homestead Act of 1862 gave settlers a land incentive to push west.
Curricular Approaches:
Each grade range approaches periods in American history with a different focus.
- Early elementary grades might do an interdisciplinary unit on the first Thanksgiving including art projects, history lessons, and traditional foods. Did you know Native Americans taught colonial settlers how to make maple syrup?
- Primary grades might study the basic principles of American democracy including the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
- In middle school, students might study one Native American tribe in depth. Or they might make a multimedia poster describing life in the colonies, including a map of a typical town layout.
More Rich Resources:
Take advantage of interactive learning with these online activities.
- Learn about the Revolutionary War and design a period home.
- Join Lewis and Clark on their expeditions.
- Research the Plymouth Colony.
- Experience westward expansion.
The Civil War Era
Students will study events leading up to the Civil War (1861-1865), including the secession of Southern states over disagreements about slavery and other topics. Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation (1863) freed slaves in regions still under Confederate control. The war extracted a large human toll and Reconstruction was a slow and challenging process.
After the Civil War, the national economy turned away from farming and toward industry. The Industrial Revolution (1850-1900) marked a shift toward factory culture. A massive wave of immigration took place between 1870 and 1910, when some 20 million European immigrants arrived looking for work. Globally, the U.S. continued to acquire territories such as the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Alaska. The Spanish-American War (1898) demonstrates the aggressive stance the U.S. took at this time.
Curricular Approaches:
Each grade range approaches periods in American history with a different focus.
- Early elementary grades might read a book about a historic figure like Sojourner Truth or Harriet Tubman and dramatize their struggle in a play.
- Primary grades might map rates of immigration and list significant contributions immigrant individuals and groups made to the American melting pot.
- In middle school, a book like Katherine Paterson's Lyddie puts a human face on the experience of the Industrial Revolution.
More Rich Resources:
Take advantage of interactive learning with this online activity.
- Learn about the Civil War and read diaries from the time.
Challenge and Change in the 20th Century
As industrial countries built up and formed alliances, the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand triggered one of the most destructive wars in history. World War I (1914-1918) took place between the Allies and the Central Powers. President Woodrow Wilson founded the League of Nations after the war to "promote international cooperation."
Big changes were happening on the home front, too. In 1920, women were granted the right to vote after a long suffrage movement. On the economic front, the Stock Market Crash of 1929 added to more general causes to jumpstart the Great Depression, an era of intense hardship. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt proposed a plan called the New Deal that included far-reaching programs to improve the economy.
The world again erupted in war as Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, invaded one country after another. World War II (1939-1945) was fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers. A tragic chapter of the war was the Holocaust, the organized murder of millions of Jews and other people deemed unfit by the Nazis. At the conclusion of the war, the United Nations was established to maintain peace and security with international cooperation. The Cold War emerged between democratic countries of the West and the former Soviet Union, but it was a war of differing ideas rather than bombs. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 signaled the end of the Cold War.
Curricular Approaches:
Each grade range approaches periods in American history with a different focus.
- Early elementary grades might plant victory gardens, as Americans did during World War I and World War II. They may listen to jazz music to study the Harlem Renaissance.
- Primary grades might read Anne Frank's diary for a deeper understanding of the effects of World War II. Take a look at other related books.
- In middle school, students might compare and contrast what led up to World War I and World War II, or trace the causes and effects of the Great Depression.
More Rich Resources:
Take advantage of interactive learning with these online activities.
- See what this country was like at the turn of the century.
- Trace the story of women's suffrage with one woman who was there.
- Look back with World War II remembered.
- Read the journal of a boy in a Japanese internment camp.
History Keeps Happening
During the Korean War, in which North Korea invaded South Korea, the U.S. fought on the side of the South, along with 16 other countries under the United Nations, to keep the conflict from spreading. The war ended with no declared victor in 1953. The Vietnam War lasted from 1957 to 1975. The U.S. became involved in 1961 mostly based on the fear that if Vietnam fell under communist rule, the rest of Asia would too.
A widespread protest movement against the war developed in the U.S. as wave after wave of soldiers were sent to serve. Before and during this time, leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X led citizens in the continued fight for civil rights.
Modern history continues to unfold. Since 1990, the U.S. has been involved in the Persian Gulf War in reaction to former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. On September 11, 2001, the United States experienced international terrorism on its own soil when the terrorist group Al Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden, hijacked several jet planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Another plane destined for the White House was crashed into a field in Pennsylvania when passengers realized what was happening and thwarted the terrorist's plans. The Iraq War began on March 19, 2003 in response to President George W. Bush's belief that Hussein harbored weapons of mass destruction.
Curricular Approaches:
Each grade range approaches periods in American history with a different focus.
- Early elementary grades might do projects based on their own community or family history. It's not just the leaders in textbooks who create history; we are all a part of the ongoing story.
- Primary grades might do ongoing projects where they collect and summarize current events.
- In middle school, students might take an interdisciplinary approach to tracing the Civil Rights movement through first-hand accounts, newspaper articles, radio broadcasts, and photographs from that time.
More Rich Resources:
Take advantage of interactive learning with these online activities.
- Investigate the routes of our political system and see democracy at work.
- Try out the role of commander in chief with "If You Were President."
- See how fast can you line up our country's leaders.
