While researching the historic Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858, I uncovered a video on YouTube that would great for teaching younger audiences about the debates.  “The Lincoln Douglas Debates” condenses an overview of the 1858 debates into a simple format designed to keep children engaged. The video’s runtime reaches only two minutes, fourteen seconds and uses both voice-over acting and background music to catch and maintain the audience’s attention.  I recommend this site for anyone who wishes to gain a basic background of the debates through a simplistic and entertaining format.

In an interview available on House Divided’s YouTube channel, Kate Larson explains several myths surrounding the famous Underground Railroad conductor, Harriet Tubman. “The most important ones to talk about,” she explains “is the myth about returning to the south nineteen times and rescuing 300 people.” She further expounds that these myths developed from an early Tubman biography by Sarah Bradford. If interested in following the development of such a myth, Bradford’s book, “Harriet, the Moses of Her People,” is available at the ever expanding Google Books, a great place resource for early Tubman historiography and myths.

Late last year, Michael Burlingame published a two volume collection titled Abraham Lincoln: A Life. Civil War Memory, another Civil War era focused blog, has a post relating to this publication and Mr. Burlingame himself. More importantly, the post contains a great video (separated into Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4) of Mr. Burlingame speaking at Illinois College. For anyone who has used the book in a class or is interested in his work, I think watching this video would be of great value.

When it comes to history, preserving it is as important as learning it.

Preserving the hallowed grounds of the Civil War is the mission of the Civil War Preservation Trust. The mission of this non-profit organization is “the preservation of our nation’s endangered Civil War battlefields” and to promote “educational programs and heritage tourism initiatives to inform the public of the war’s history and the fundamental conflicts that sparked it.”

Not only does the Trust’s website explain the group and its mission, it also has a number of useful tools and pages. This includes an extensive collection of videos of various battlefields, an interactive library of Civil War books, and a classroom and history center. It is clearly evident that the Civil War Preservation Trust is doing great things to preserve and teach this important era in our nation’s past. �

Open Yale Courses is a great online resource that teachers should check out. This project provides free access to courses on a variety of subjects, including Professor David Blight’s HIST 119: The Civil War and Reconstruction Era, 1845-1877. This is not simply a single lecture. Instead, you can listen or watch all twenty seven classes. Transcripts of each lecture are also available.

Only two other history courses are available –  France Since 1871 and Introduction to Ancient Greek History.

Don’t miss the Lincoln Bicentennial National Teach-In on February 12, 2009 at 1:30pm (EST).

House Divided co-director and Dickinson College Professor Matthew Pinsker, Lincoln Bicentennial co-chair Harold Holzer, and Doris Kearns Goodwin (Team of Rivals) will discuss the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln during a live webcast available at this site: http://www.history.com/lincoln

The Lincoln Bicentennial Commission has more information about this event and the participants.

Two questions to consider before the webcast -

What can we learn from Lincoln?

What should we be doing to honor his 200th birthday?

History teachers should check out Northern Illinois University’s digital collections. While some collections focus only on Illinois history, others cover a broad range of topics such as the Mexican-American War and election campaigns (1840 – 1860). Each site offers primary sources, maps, lesson plans, audio files, and other materials. Be sure to take a look at Mark Twain’s Mississippi for a number of interesting resources, such as large collection of videos. In addition, Northern Illinois University provides free access to articles published in the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society between 1979 and 2006.

John Stewart’s The Daily Show on Comedy Central recently aired a clip about Obama’s “Team of Rivals.” Many compare this move to the team of rivals Lincoln created during his administration. While the clip may not have as much information as other resources, it certainly is a creative and comical way to introduce the topic to students in the high school grade levels.

Yesterday at a teacher training workshop at the Lincoln Cottage in Washington, I discussed Abraham Lincoln’s use of war powers and his approach to civil liberties with a group of K-12 colleagues from the DC and northern Virginia area. We had an excellent exchange at a forum hosted by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and funded by the NEH. They still have spaces available for qualified teachers who would like to participate. The program offers a monthly series of workshops on topics related to teaching Lincoln and his legacy. Teachers who prepare related lesson plans receive stipends. For more information, contact Scott Ackerman at Scott_Ackerman@nthp.org. Also, if you’re interested in the question of Lincoln’s approach to civil liberties, we have posted an interview with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Mark Neely in the House Divided video channel that offers a thoughtful assessment of Lincoln’s civil liberties record.

A House Divided has a great clip on the Video Channel of Kate Clifford Larson and her book Bound for the Promised Land.  In this clip, Larson explains one of the many myths that surrounds the story of Harriet Tubman.