Introduction: Ancient & Medieval History

Next Class Period will be spent examining Ancient History beginning with the Fertile Crescent to the Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Rise of Islam and the Middle Ages. We will finish the class period by taking a matching quiz on Ancient -Medieval History and you can work in pairs or trios.

PowerPoint:  Ancient to Medieval History

As we finish the Medieval period we will examine Gothic architecture and Westminster Abbey. We’ll also see the tribute to Martin Luther King Jr in London with his inclusion as a 20th-century martyr with his statue on Westminster Abbey.

 

Martin Luther King Jr. on the West entrance to Westminster Abbey

 

 

Welcome Back and Primary & Secondary Sources

First Day of class we will review our syllabus and classroom rules and expectations. Remember this website will help you know both what you are going to cover and what you missed. I will attempt to provide the daily classroom assignments and powerpoints.

Classroom Rules and Expectations Powerpoint

On the Second day we will look at the importance of Priamry & Secondary sources and how they are used by historians. Our goal is to understand why sources are so important to our study of history. We will use the Powerpoint below and then  you will complete one handout with a partner and then work alone. You will write at least one paragraph stating how sources are helpful in writing a family history.

Primary & Secondary Sources Powerpoint

Defining Primary & Secondary Sources Reading (for those who missed class)

Examine Primary & Secondary Sources with a Partner (complete by yourself if you were absent)

Comparing Primary and Secondary Sources Worksheet

 

Getting ready for the End

We’re nearing the end of the school year and it’s time to review. We have one more big test to go. You can use the Powerpoint below as a review.

World History Review Powerpoint

 

Interwar Period and World War II

With the end of the school year in sight, we will go through the rest of the class faster with the opportunity for you to finish much of the work on your own. With many students being pulled out of class for testing classroom discussion becomes difficult. These lessons will also be put on Google classroom and Nearpod so see me for the appropriate Nearpod codes.

Hyperinflation was so bad that German currency had no value. German children playing blocks with money!

The Interwar Period: 1919-1939

The Interwar period is the time from the end of World War I to the beginning of World War II. While this is a relatively short period of time, it included events such as the Roaring Twenties, the Worldwide Great Depression, the rise of militarism, fascism, and totalitarian communism.

Because we are so close to the end of the school year we will cover this period of history in one class period.

The Interwar Period Powerpoint

The Interwar Period guided notes

World War II

Next we will examine the largest war in history, World War II. We will look at both the war in Europe and the war in the Pacific. After the war in Europe, we will look at the tragedy of the Holocaust. If we have time we will discuss African Americans and World War II. After World War II, we will work on the study guide and prepare for the final exam.

The Tuskegee Airmen

World War II- Causes and the War in Europe Powerpoint

Causes and the War in Europe Guided Notes

The Holocaust Powerpoint

Holocaust Guided Notes

World War II-War in the Pacific Powerpoint

World War I Ends

As the war dragged on into 1916 and then 1917 it seemed to be a war with no end. The Western Front was a stalemate with battles that yielded little progress but costs thousands of lives. In response to a British blockade the Germans utilized U-boats or submarines to attack British naval vessels but then the Germans began to target British merchant ships delivering goods to Great Britain. When the passenger ship Lusitania was sunk by a U-boat killing over 1200 people including 120 Americans. Fearing the entry of the US into war Germany soon ceased attacking passenger ships but by 1917 the Germans returned to unrestricted submarine warfare because they saw it as vital to defeating the British navy.

The attacks on shipping began to draw the US closer to war and then the discovery of the Zimmerman note which was a secret message from the German government to Mexico promising the southwestern US if they came into the war on the side of Germany. So with the pressure from different directions, the US declared war in April 1917.

The Zimmerman Note

Today we will examine the end of the war and the Treaty of Versailles which formally ended the war. We will examine the conditions of the peace treaty and how it also set up the conditions that led to World War II.

End of WWI and the Peace Treaty Powerpoint

End of WWI and the Peace Treaty Guided Notes

Afterwards catch up on all your work

African, Asian, and African-American Troops in World War One

Because most of the action and fighting during WWI took place within Europe many have the mistaken idea that only Europeans fought in WWI. But the reality is that WWI was a truly global war that included troops from around the world. Many African and Asian troops took part in the fighting as colonial troops with the hope that their courage and valor world win them respect and eventually self-rule and independence.

When the United States entered the war in 1917 one of the most decorated and prestigious units was the  369th Infantry Unit better known as the Harlem Hellfighters. The Harlem Hellfighters were an all African-American unit who fought with amazing tenacity and courage alongside French troops in Europe. Because of racial discrimination in the US during training, the 369th was sent to France ahead of other troops and were allowed to fight alongside French troops because American generals did not want them fighting with white US troops. The

The French government awarded the entire regiment the Croix de Guerre. The video above and below by the National Guard & the History Channel highlights the courage of the Harlem Hellfighters.

Below are links to the Powerpoint and assignments for the day.

Black and Asian Troops during World War One Powerpoint

Black and Asian Troops during World War One Guided Notes

Harlem Hellfighters Reading

Harlem Hellfighters Organizer Worksheet

We will also watch a trailer from the movie Joyeux Noel a movie which recounts the true and extraordinary Christmas truce of Christmas 1914 when German and Allied troops exchanged Christmas presents and played each other in soccer.

 

The graphic novel below is based on The Harlem Hellfighters; 200 Bonus points will awarded to students who read the novel and write a 1-page typed review.

For more information on Black history in Great Britain see the website Black Presence in Britain- Black British History

Asian troops also fought courageously in WWI. Many South Asians fought for Great Britain; above you see a Sikh regiment.

Bhagat Singh Thind was an Indian who enlisted in the United States Army in 1917. He settled in California after arriving in America in 1913.

World War I: A new type of warfare

Today we will continue to examine World War One or The Great War as it came to be known. World War One began with great waves of patriotic enthusiasm but the enthusiasm soon died down as the war reached a stalemate on the Western Front and thousands died trying to claim a few feet.

World War One-A New Kind of War Powerpoint

World War One- A New Kind of War Guided Notes

Europe Plunges into War Textbook reading

After we take notes we will examine the Battle of the Somme. You will read primary and secondary accounts then trace the main events of the great Battle. If you are absent then you can complete the worksheet below.

Battle of The Somme Primary Source Worksheet

New Unit: World War I & Russian Revolution

Next, we will begin looking at World War One sometimes called the Great War.We will first examine the complicated causes and events leading up to World War One. These events are complicated but are based on four basic causes. These four causes or tensions were

• Militarism
• Alliances
• Imperialism
• Nationalism

But the spark that caused the explosion of World War One was the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914. As the Archduke and his wife were traveling through the streets of Sarajevo they were both killed by Gavrilo Princip a member of a Serbian nationalist group. Soon after recriminations and ultimatums were issued that led to multiple declarations of war that plunged all of Europe into a war that spread worldwide.

The Best way to remember the causes of WWI is to remember the acronym M.A.N.I.A.

• Militarism
• Alliances
• Nationalism
• Imperialism
• Assassination

Remember many assignments will be on Google classroom and some will be on Nearpod. Make sure to check Google Classroom as well as this website when you are absent.

Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife

Below are the links for the day:

Beginnings & Causes of World War 1 Powerpoint

Beginnings & Causes  of World War 1 Guided Notes

Causes of World War One Organizer 

Nationalism & Imperialism

We are starting a new Unit with an examination of Nationalism and Imperialism.

Which nation-state is oldest Germany, Italy or the United States? Most people would assume Italy or Germany but the fact is that the United States is the oldest nation-state of the three. Both Italy and Germany have older civilizations than the U.S.A. but when the United States was formed as a nation both Italy and Germany were divided into multiple states and kingdoms.  Italy had not experienced any real unity since the fall of the Roman Empire.

We will then look at imperialism by examining, the British in India, the domination of china by Europeans, the rise of Japan, and the scramble for Africa.

During the 1800s European countries began to dominate territories in Africa and Asia. The competition for overseas colonies became intense between the nations of Europe.

Introduction to Imperialism Powerpoint 

Introduction to Imperialism Guided Notes

Scramble for Africa Powerpoint

Scramble for Africa Guided Notes

Britain takes over India powerpoint

Britain Takes over India Guided Notes

Imperialism in China/Japan emerges as a World Power Powerpoint

Imperialism in China/Japan emerges as a World Power Guided Notes

Africa Colonial Map & Current Africa Map  (You can use the maps above)

New Economic Ideas: Capitalism vs. Communism

As Industry grew and populations grew from primarily rural to urban society began to change and new ways of thinking about the economy emerged. Next, we will examine the new ideas and the thinkers who struggled with how to understand the consequences of the industrial world. Laissez–faire economics as presented by the writer Adam Smith supported free market capitalism while Karl Marx advanced the theories of socialism and communism.  Links to the Powerpoint & work are found in the links below. The Crash Course World History video is a helpful summary.

New Ideas in Society Powerpoint

New Ideas in Society Guided Notes

Industrialization Spreads Textbook Reading

Jeremy Bentham proposed utilitarianism the idea that the goal of  society should be “the greatest happiness for the greatest number of citizens.”  After he died his body was stuffed and it is still on display at University College London. I met Jeremy in 2002.