http://www.merlot.org:80/merlot/ A search of MERLOT materials Copyright 1997-2013 MERLOT. All rights reserved. Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:27:01 PDT Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:27:01 PDT http://www.merlot.org:80/merlot/images/merlot.gif http://www.merlot.org:80/merlot/ 44 34 http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=79032 "Crisis at Fort Sumter" is an interactive historical simulation and decision making program. Using text, images, and sound, it reconstructs the dilemmas of policy formation and decision making in the period between Abraham Lincoln's election in November 1860 and the battle of Fort Sumter in April 1861. The program primarily focuses on Lincoln, both as President-elect and as President. Viewers place themselves in Lincoln's position, consider the events that transpire, and choose a course of action at five critical junctures, called "problems." At each of these five junctures, Lincoln made a decision that helped determine the outcome of the crisis at Fort Sumter. In order to assess each problem and make a decision, advice is available from official advisors, such as cabinet members, and from various informal channels, such as newspapers, friends, and public spokesmen. The program divides the information about the Sumter crisis into nine chronological sections. The text within the sections also contains hotword links that permit viewers to explore information in a topical rather than a chronological manner and commentary links that provide additional information including material about debates among historians about events, action, or people. The site also contains an extensive bibliography on the civil war. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=91375 An interactive site that has students browse reproductions of records and documents pertaining to two similar towns in Pennsylvania and Virginia just before and during the Civil War to determine for themselves how the issues of the day and events of everyday life. affected ordinary people http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=87784 This website has been produced by the Smithsonian Institution to highlight a major new exhibit on Viking exploration of the North Atlantic prepared for the millenary commemoration of Lief Eriksson’s Vinland landing. But it provides a broad overview of the Vikings and their great expansion across northen Europe and the Atlantic during the 9th and 10th centuries with an eye toward revising the common perception of Vikings as barbarian despoilers. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=87799 This site includes a complete collection of historical documents and images related to a famous murder case in British Columbia. When three Black men are murdered in the space of 18 months around 1868 on bucolic Salt Spring Island, alarm bells go off. Who is killing the Blacks of Salt Spring? A year later an aboriginal man was charged, tried and hanged in short order for one of the murders, that of William Robinson. But did he really do it? Visitors can look at the collection of archival materials and develop their critical thinking skills by analyzing the evidence provided. Students are encouraged to come up with their own interpretations of primary documents, rather than relying on other peoples analyses. Educators have access to a Teachers' Guide and experts interpretations of the mystery. The site is available in English and French. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=91376 Based on a case of a tragic assassination of character in an 18th century New England town, this interactive site seeks to teach students how historians must piece fragmentray evidence together to reconstruct past events. It has them browse diaries, newspapers, and town records to decide for themselves what happened and with what justification. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=80777 This site provides an analysis of the French Canadian/Indian raid on Deerfield in 1704 and its causes and impact on the participants and victims. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=77446 This is a site for law students. It includes notes about important constitutional issues, links to Supreme Court opinions, images, quizzes, and questions for students. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=90754 This site offers "a collection of sources on Southern history, literature and culture from the colonial period through the first decades of the 20th century." The collection is categorized by First-Person Narratives of the American South, a Library of Southern Literature, North American Slave Narratives, The Southern Homefront, 1861-1865 and The Church in the Southern Black Community. The collection can be searched by subject, author or title. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=89999 This site is an extensive collection of multimedia materials concerning Harriet Beecher Stowes as an American cultural phenomenon, Uncle Tom's Cabin and the historical and cultural context of the novel. This easy to navigate site features historical text, newspaper reviews of the novel, as well as the novel's adaptations in songs, children's books, plays and films. An interactive timeline and lesson plans are just some of the other features the site offers. It also includes primary materials (texts, images, film clips, and images), essays, and lesson plans that touch upon the sources for the story and its impact. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=90367 Exploring "Thomas Jefferson, his slave and mistress Sally Hemings, their descendants, and the mysterious power of race," the site offers sections such as View the Jefferson-Hemings story, Is It True?, The Jefferson Enigma, The Slaves' Story, Mixed Race America, quiz, chronology, teacher's guide, tapes and transcripts, and more.