Why Is the American Flag Red, White & Blue?
This short video clip explains why he American flag is red, white and blue. It is red, white, and blue because these colors symbolize inherent American values. The American flag is red for heartiness and valor, white for purity and innocence, and blue for vigilance, perseverance and justice.
"The Boston Tea Party"- Song
In this animated video, students will be introduced to a friendly sea creature character that sings a song about what happened in 1773 when the "tea was poured to sea". Words to the song appear on screen and each word is highlighted as it is sung. It explains why this was done and how the British reacted. This is a wonderful teaching companion for a lesson/unit on the Revolution and its causes. Content is appropriate for upper elementary and early middle school students.
The Boston Tea Party
Video for high school about the Boston Tea Party. "In 1773, the British East India Tea Company faced bankruptcy. More than 17 million pounds of tea sat idle in warehouses, in part because American boycotts and smuggling damaged the English tea industry. The British government, set to lose a large amount of tax revenue if the company failed, ratified a Tea Act that allowed the company to bypass English and American wholesalers and sell directly to American merchants at reduced prices..."
Federalists and Democratic-Republicans
This video is accompanied by text. "With the two-party system of government in its founding stages in the United States, a continent away events were taking place that would further the evolution of the Federalist and the Democratic-Republican parties. The people of France were taking their cues from the American Revolution and rebelling against the authoritarian leadership of King Louis XVI. As war ensued between France and Great Britain in 1793, conflict arose in America as the Federalists and
Moonlight Sonata-Beethoven
The "Moonlight Sonata," by Beethoven, is one of the most beloved piano compositions of all time. There is an interesting story about its creation which is explained by the Beethoven-Haus (Beethoven House) in Bonn, Germany:
In the middle of the 19th century there arose a striking fable surrounding the composition of Beethoven’s "Moonlight Sonata." Beethoven meets a blind girl sitting at a piano and, stricken by her fate, he sits down himself at the piano and can suddenly feel t
South Carolina Against the Tariff
Video accompanied by text. "South Carolina, in particular, acted out against the Tariff of 1828. South Carolinians campaigned heavily against the tariff, justifying their arguments with the principles set out in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions written in the previous century by Jefferson and Madison to support states’ rights. They also supported their case by arguing that the U.S. Constitution allowed states to individually nullify federal laws for the whole union.
The South Carol
Jackson and the Bank War
Video accompanied by text. "In its first years, the Second Bank of the United States weathered an economic panic and an important court case. These were not, however, to be the last of its troubles. Other forces were at work that would oppose and eventually destroy the Second Bank of the United States..."
Early in the 1820s, Henry Clay, a representative from Kentucky and political rival of Jackson, advocated and helped implement what became known as the American System for developing a st
Jackson and Van Buren
Video accompanied by text. "Historians are divided on President Andrew Jackson’s feelings toward Indians. Some claim he was a virulent Indian hater and cite as evidence the fact that he commanded the American troops that killed nearly 900 Creeks in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814. On the other hand, Jackson led an invasion of Florida in 1818 to capture runaway slaves and punish those who aided them. There he ordered Indians, Spanish, and British alike hanged or otherwise killed. Rather th
Awesome Alliteration by Amazing American Academians
Here you will find a slide show video put together by early elementary students to give examples of alliteration. The slides give clear and examples of how to use alliteration. Some of children's narration is garbled and the video quality is fair. Worth a look at the children's work. (2:52)
The Annexation of Texas
This video is accompanied by text. "When Mexico gained its independence from Spain, Texas was a sparsely settled frontier province bordering the United States. Texas, explored by the Spanish as early as the 1500s, was largely neglected in the centuries that followed. Only a few thousand Mexicans—known as Tejanos—lived in the province by the early 1820s, most of them clustered around the mission at San Antonio. The Mexican government encouraged Americans to emigrate to Texas in an effort to c
The Mexican American War, Causes and Events
This video is accompanied by text. "The process of admitting Texas as a slave state was well under way by the time Polk became president on March 4, 1845. One plank of the Democratic platform was thus resolved. In his first annual message to Congress, Polk asserted that the American claim to the entire Oregon country was “clear and unquestionable.” The British, who had refused on several occasions to relinquish any territory north of the Columbia River, now had a change of heart. Their chief
What Is the Alamo?
Learn why the Alamo is a sort of shrine to Texas heroism from an American history teacher. The Alamo began as an old mission of San Franciscan friars, but it is most well-known as the site of the last stand for people fighting for the independence of Texas.
Who Died in the Alamo?
In this clip learn about the many people died in the Alamo. The most famous names include Barrett, Bonham and Davy Crockett. Learn the approximate number of men who died in the Alamo from an American history teacher.
Past Participles
This lesson will review and give examples of common past participles and show how they are used in American English. This helps to give a better understanding of them when they are spoken in fast English. Intended for high-intermediate to advanced level.
The Reconstructed South
This video is accompanied by text. "The postwar South, where most of the fighting had occurred, faced many challenges. In the war’s aftermath, Southerners experienced collapsed property values, damaged railroads, and agricultural hardships. The elite planters were faced with overwhelming economic adversity perpetuated by a lack of laborers for their fields. However, it was the newly freed slaves in the former Confederate states that faced the greatest challenge: what to do with their newfound
Indian Resistance to Relocation
This video is accompanied by text. "Warfare was constant between whites and Indians in the late nineteenth century, as Native Americans fought to protect their land and their heritage from white encroachment. Although they had the benefit of state-of-the-art weapons (repeating rifles obtained from fur traders), they were up against formidable U.S. forces.
As the dust settled from the Civil War, soldiers from both sides of that conflict were ready to step into another fray..."
Effects of the Indian Wars
This video is accompanied by text. "The cruelty inflicted on the natives during the Indian Wars was chronicled by Helen Hunt Jackson in her book “A Century of Dishonor,” which was published in 1881 and distributed by Jackson to every member of Congress. Jackson had become incensed at the harsh treatment of Indians during a lecture by Chief Sitting Bear of the Ponca tribe in 1879. Her mission to improve Indian conditions furthered the effort to assimilate Indians onto reservations “for thei
Gilded Age: The Tweed Ring and Machine Politics
This video is accompanied by text. "The late nineteenth and very early twentieth centuries in America are often referred to as the “Gilded Age.” The origin of this name is usually attributed to Mark Twain who co-authored a novel entitled The Gilded Age. The term is metaphoric on several levels. It can be taken to reference an obsession with appearances. Unlike “golden,” which has positive associations of beauty and value, the word “gilded” carries connotations of cheap commercializat
Corruption in Business and Government
This video is accompanied by text. "In the decades between the end of the Civil War and the turn of the twentieth century, new technologies, cheap immigrant labor, maturing methods of industrialization, and a mechanized, streamlined transportation system of railroads and steam-powered ships proved a formula for astoundingly rapid growth in the business sector. Government, however, could not keep pace with these changes. Governments were naive about business and the ways that individuals and comp
Legislation: The Government Steps in
This video is accompanied by text. "The rapid expansion of industry and the concentration of ownership by fewer and fewer people changed the way many Americans felt about the role of government in economic affairs. With the growing number of trusts in America, reformers in the late nineteenth century began to voice their concerns about the expanding gulf between the rich and the poor. Although the new class of millionaires brought economic and material progress, they also created deepening class
