Digital History
Digital History: Manifest Destiny
A brief explanation of where the term "manifest destiny" came from, and a look at how the term meant different things to different segments of American society.
Digital History
Digital History: Life on the Trail
Read what life was like for the pioneers traveling west in wagon trains, especially along the Oregon Trail.
Digital History
Digital History: Pioneers
Read about the pioneers that migrated West and see what drove some of them to seek a new way of life.
Digital History
Digital History: Trailblazing
Read about two of the trails used for both commerce and settlement. Many hardships had to be endured on both trails.
Digital History
Digital History: Mountain Men
The life of the fur trappers and traders was harsh, and fur, as a valuable commodity, was short-lived. Read about the effect the traders had on life in the West.
Digital History
Digital History: Pathfinders
Read a brief description of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the Pike Expedition which sought to map out the newly acquired Louisiana Territory.
Digital History
Digital History: Opening the West
Read how quickly the borders of settlement explanded once the pioneers got started moving west.
Digital History
Digital History: Impact of the Mexican Revolution
Seee how Mexico's independence from Spain affected not only the Mexicans who lived in California, but also the native population, and the white Americans.
Digital History
Digital History: Spanish America
Read about Spanish influence in the northern part of its empire in America. See what American cowboys borrowed from the vaqueros, and how Spanish architecture came to spread across the Southwest.
Digital History
Digital History: Zorro: Ficton and Fact
Read about the popularization of Zorro and his swashbuckling protection of the poor and weak. See the exploits of real life Zorros who lived in Spanish America.
Digital History
Digital History: The u.s. Canadian Border
The border between the United States and Canada in the east and Midwest was still not settled in the 1840s. See what happened that precipitated a final decision.
Digital History
Digital History: The Face of Battle
A brief look at the frustrating course of the Mexican War. Read about California's revolt from Mexico, Gen. Scott's capture of Mexico City, and Mexico's refusal to surrender.
Digital History
Digital History: The War's Significance
Did the Southern slaveholders rush headlong into a war with Mexicoin an attempt to spread slavery in new territories? Read about those who felt this was the reason for the war.
Digital History
Digital History: The Gold Rush
See how the discovery of gold changed California and introduced lawlessness, violence, and vigilantism.
Digital History
Digital History: Southern Radicalism
A look at a little-studied action in American History when men, known as filibusters raised private armies to invade foreign countries. See what these filibusters had to do with the desire to spread slavery.
Digital History
Digital History: The Crisis of 1850
A preview of will prompt the passage of the Compromise of 1850. Read about California's bid for statehood as a free state.
Digital History
Digital History: The Revival of the Slavery Issue
A brief account of how the Kansas-Nebraska Act split apart party coalitions and helped create the new Republican Party. See who joined this party and read about its goals.
Digital History
Digital History: The Election of 1856
A brief account of the election of 1856, the first in which the new Republican Party put forth a presidential candidate. See how the election split down regional lines.
Digital History
Digital History: The Gathering Storm
A look at how the Northerners perceived the conflict between North and South, a conflict between people who were for freedom and and those who were for slavery.
Digital History
Digital History: The Atlantic Slave Trade
A brief but sobering look at the slave trade and the number of slaves in the New World in the 16th, 17th, and early 17th centuries. Slaves could be found from Nova Scotia to Argentina.
Digital History
Digital History: Toward Slavery
A brief description of the course toward making African slaves chattel property, which greatly restricted any hints of personal freedom.
Digital History
Digital History: Antebellum Slavery
The ideals of liberty after the Revolutionary War brought freedom to many slaves. Read about why the institution of slavery rebounded after the introduction of the cotton gin.
Digital History
Digital History: Social Security
A brief look at the Social Security Act of 1935 which expanded the government's role in providing social welfare to those in need. See whom the Act did not help and read about how the legislation exanded the Americans' view of what...
Digital History
Digital History: The Market Crashes
Read about how in just five days a shaky stock market crashed and helped plunge the country into the Great Depression.