http://www.techlearning.com/showArticle.php?articleID=196604989
In 1997 more than 30 federal agencies joined together and formed a working group to make hundreds of federally supported teaching and learning resources easier to find. The result of that work is the Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE) Web site. The following are examples in history and social studies. Other topics include arts and music, health and physical education, language arts, math, and science.
Colorado's Historic Newspaper Collection
http://free.ed.gov/resource.cfm?resource_id=1974
This site features newspapers published in Colorado from 1859 to 1930. Topics include Colorado statehood, the 1908 Democratic National Convention, Denver mint robbery, early days of telephone service, and early gold mines. (Institute of Museum and Library Services)
Getting the Message Out! National Political Campaign Materials, 1840-1860
http://free.ed.gov/resource.cfm?resource_id=1975
This site looks at politics in antebellum America. It includes campaign biographies of the candidates, from William Harrison, Martin Van Buren, and James Birney to Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. It also describes the "second party system." (Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project, Institute of Museum and Library Services)
Ancient Mesopotamia: This History, Our History
http://free.ed.gov/resource.cfm?resource_id=1968
Learn about the "cradle of civilization" through lessons and artifacts organized around 14 themes: archaeology, prehistory, the first farmers, the first cities, daily life, religion, the role of women, the invention of writing, literature, law and government, mathematics and measurement, science and technology, art and architecture, and warfare and empire. (University of Chicago, Institute of Museum and Library Services)
Donner Party
http://free.ed.gov/resource.cfm?resource_id=1964
This site provides a transcript, map, and essays for a TV program that tells about the tragedy. It includes excerpts from the diary of a Donner party survivor. (WGBH, National Endowment for the Humanities)
History of Cartography
http://free.ed.gov/resource.cfm?resource_id=1964
Volumes that have been completed examine cartographies of prehistoric, ancient, and medieval Europe and the Mediterranean; traditional Islamic and South Asian societies; traditional East and Southeast Asian societies; traditional African, American, Arctic, Australian, and Pacific societies; and the European Renaissance. (Multiple Agencies)
Vietnam Online
http://free.ed.gov/resource.cfm?resource_id=1952
This site includes a timeline, who's who, maps, personal essays, and key documents, including letters from Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy promising U.S. help against the Communist threat. It discusses U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia, war powers and the Constitution, the media's role, the Cold War, and the war in pop songs. (WGBH, National Endowment for the Arts)
1897 Petition Against the Annexation of Hawaii
http://free.ed.gov/resource.cfm?resource_id=1950
This site recounts the struggle for control of Hawaii between native Hawaiians and American business interests in the late 1800s. This 1897 petition and a lobbying effort by native Hawaiians convinced the U.S. Congress not to annex the islands. Months later the U.S.S. Maine exploded in Havana and the Spanish-American War began. The U.S. needed a mid-Pacific fueling station and naval base. (National Archives and Records Administration)
Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery
http://free.ed.gov/resource.cfm?resource_id=1940
This site tells the story of Camp Chase, one of the largest prisoner of war camps for Confederate soldiers. Located on the western outskirts of Columbus, Ohio, the camp—now a cemetery for Confederate soldiers—played a key role in the evolution of federal policy on marking Confederate graves. (National Park Service, Teaching with Historic Places)
Independence Hall: International Symbol of Freedom
http://free.ed.gov/resource.cfm?resource_id=1941
This site recounts the history of the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia where the Second Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence and where, a decade later, delegates to the Philadelphia Convention formulated the Constitution. It was considered the most ambitious public building in the colonies. (National Park Service, Teaching with Historic Places)
Along the Georgia-Florida Coast
http://free.ed.gov/resource.cfm?resource_id=1925
This site has a travel itinerary that explains key developments in America's past: encounters between Europeans and Native Americans, European settlement, plantation agriculture, and African American culture. Learn about more than 50 historic forts, churches, plantations, camps, cemeteries, districts, and monuments. (National Park Service)
Chronicling America
http://free.ed.gov/resource.cfm?resource_id=1932
This site includes newspaper pages from 1900-1910 and information about American newspapers published since 1690. (Library of Congress)
FREE Resources: History and Social Studies, K-12
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