History (General)

In Alan Bennett's play, The History Boys, one of the students refers to the line, attributed to Arnold Toynbee, that history is "just one damn thing after another." This idea encapsulates the worst...

As other Educators have already noted, the negative effects of war include the loss of millions upon millions of lives. In World War Two, around 60 million people were killed. Conversely, a...

This is an excellent question, as any source you use will have strengths and limitations. Primary sources, which are generally understood to be eyewitness accounts of an event or the original...

A century is any 100 year period, however the accepted calendar century of today was instituted in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII. Known as the Gregorian calendar, his confirmation of 'Anno Domini'...

The quote “Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it” is attributed to the American philosopher George Santayana and it can be accurately quoted as “Those who cannot remember the past are...

Dates are important, as they note when certain events happened. This is very important because history is recorded chronologically. It helps to know that one event happened before another event so...

Check out Napoleon's reign. He even had to return some Egyptian artifacts that he had stolen.

Throughout history, empires have come into being and then come to pass. They grow by acquiring or conquering neighboring territories, and once large enough, can stabilize the politics of a region...

Historians ask many questions when trying to understand the past. One set of questions deal with the who, what, and where surrounding an event. These are the basic questions dealing with who was...

Cultural artifacts are of critical import to the study of humans and civilizations over the course of history. Artifacts are the concrete items cultures leave behind, such as Native American...

History is reconstructed by the use of “documents,” “artifacts,” and “chronicles” (which category includes official accounts of events, memoirs, and personal correspondence.) They use these...

There can be some negative effects of following a policy of imperialism. When an imperialist power conquers or controls a country, there may be problems if that country doesn’t want to be...

That is an interesting question. Written laws are important for several reasons. Written laws provide a shared reference. Once a law is written down, there is an objective record of what the law...

I adhere to the old saying that "he who refuses to learn from the past is doomed to repeat it." Recognizing mistakes--or, for that matter, learning from positive examples of historical...

In terms of history repeating itself, there are two examples that come to mind. During World War II, the Nazi regime in Germany systematically attempted to annihilate not only the Jewish...

There are many factors that lead to countries going to war. Some of these factors include imperialism, nationalism, and militarism. Imperialism is the desire for land. There are many reasons why...

During the twentieth century people communicated much the same way as they do today. There are advancements in the technology but we used mobile phones, land-line phones, e-mail, snail-mail and...

The characteristics of an empire (specifically a modern one) include a centralized government, a strong military, a dominant position in the global political theatre, and imperialist control over...

There are very close ties between economics and history. Economic policies help to determine which groups stay in power and which ones fall out of favor. In 1932, Herbert Hoover's failed economic...

Geography has an incredible influence on how we live. The buildings we build, the food we grow, the clothing we wear, and the kinds of work we do are just a few ways in which geography matters. A...

Even if we live in a society in which everyone is of the same religion, it is a small world, and it is inevitable that we will encounter people of other religions. To function in the world today,...

Let's talk about terminology for a moment before we discuss what it is you need for your essay. In an essay with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion, the sentence that sets up the...

Archaeology is the evidence of history. Of course we know that history exists, but archaeological evidence is what gives that history its shape and color. It is of most importance for learning...

I would go back to Elizabethan England and go to the Globe Theatre to see each of Shakespeare's opening nights! I can only imagine how interesting it would be to see the plays as Shakespeare...

Militarism is the idea that a state, government, or people believe in keeping a strong military and in actively using it to maintain rights, property, or to expand their nation. A major cause of...

If a place is of "strategic importance", it usually means it is vital to the military and economic wellness of a country. These places become targets during times of warfare. In times of peace,...

In simple words, the women of the 20th and 21st century have had the brilliant opportunity to expand their philosophical, psychological, physical, and professional potential by obtaining their...

The war veterans in my life (father, uncles, grandfather) have always said that a just war is when we defend ourselves, but don't start it. Everyone has the right to defend themselves if attacked....

The word prehistoric refers to a time before a culture has written records. The word itself, therefore, points to the chief challenge in studying and understanding prehistoric cultures: they lack,...

Just as speaking takes a culture to a new level, writing brings a culture to an entirely new level. Writing gives a culture a sense of permanence. It also has constant practical applications that...

A nation is a large group of people who share the same ethnicity, culture, language, beliefs, history, or passions (as with "nations" of sports-teams fans). A nation might be a country, like China,...

John Steinbeck and Charles Dickens. Both wrote about society in order to expose injustices and humanize the faceless masses. Dickens still reaches a wide audience today with his message that each...

The use of nonviolent protest is an example of how deviant behavior may bring about social change. This is especially true in the Civil Rights movement. When Rosa Parks got arrested, the...

Giuseppe Mazzini was a nineteenth-century Italian revolutionary, propagandist, and leading figure of the Risorgimento, a political movement whose goal was the unification of the nation's disparate...

Perhaps the most significant difference between urban life and country life is that existence in the city depends almost entirely upon money. Food is grown in the country but it has to be...

Early modern globalization, which began in the late fifteenth century, had numerous lasting effects. The people in many geopolitical entities that promoted globalization were primarily European and...

I often tell my students the best way to understand history is to understand Newton's second law: For every action, there is an equal opposite reaction. Precious few events in history have occurred...

War shapes society. Different wars make it possible for social action to take place. For example, after the Civil War, slavery no longer existed. The Vietnam War made people question US...

There are so many historically significant people. I suggest you choose one with which you identify. Someone you respect will make this task more meaningful. For example, a particular athlete or...

I feel that historical fiction is a great supplemental resource when teaching history. I would have the students compare and contrast details from the fiction pieces with nonfiction resources and...

You will gain a variety of answers to this question. Some will argue that it is futile because of the massive loss of life and displacement that results from it. Even in the most compelling of...

The Chinese Treasure fleet, commanded by Zheng He, was sent to carry the message of the grandeur of China, and offer tributary status to those states it visited. The Chinese did not seek trade or...

I think that there are value judgements associated with the term civilzation, at least historically. It implies that there are some civil people and some uncivil ones. Civil is also a value...

In the early 1930s, Adolf Hitler promised "change." The Germans did, indeed, get change. In the 2008 Democratic Campaign was based upon the word change. What might have happened if people had...

Technology plays an enormous role in history, by allowing historians to analyze data that used to be inaccessible. In the 1920s and 30s scientists tended to unwrap mummies to find out what the...

The fourteenth century was known as the age of adversity for several reasons. One factor was the continued growth of the population, which reached about 100 million people in Europe by the end of...

I think you need to study your own country, but be aware of others as well. We tend to view things in America by our own slant, in our own best interest. Everything does not revolve around us....

Generally speaking, rulers throughout history have used religion to add a touch of spiritual legitimacy to their rule. Think of it this way, if it's widely believed that a king or queen has been...

The Paleolithic Era is significant because people established the process of hunting-gathering, which has supported humans for the majority of their existence on earth. Their means of survival was...

It both helps to develop thinking skills and gives meaningful material/knowledge with which to think. I like posts 1 and 4 above.