Lesson 1. Upton Sinclair, Theodore Roosevelt, and Harvey W. Wiley

In this lesson, students learn how Progressive reformers in government used the public outrage over Upton Sinclair’s book The Jungle as a catalyst for legislation. The story of how two progressives, Theodore Roosevelt and Harvey W. Wiley, worked together within the federal government is not as well-known as the role played by Sinclair’s The Jungle, but it provides the needed historical and political context for the landmark Progresssive era legislation

• The Lesson
• The Basics
• Resources

A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825

A New Nation Votes is a searchable collection of election returns from the earliest years of American democracy. The American Antiquarian Society and Tufts University Digital Collections and Archives have mounted it online for you with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

View A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825

Peoples of the Mesa Verde Region

Crow Canyon Archaeological Center illustrates the story of this rugged land through a chronology that is still unfolding, detailing the artifacts, housing and food of the region's Paleoindian, Pueblo, Ute, Navajo, and European inhabitants.

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The Italian Americans

The Italian Americans is a PBS documentary that reveals the distinctive qualities of one immigrant group’s experience and how they have shaped and challenged America. Educational resources trace their evolution from their arrival as migrant laborers with a role in the nation’s modernization, to the struggle against discrimination and lingering stereotypes, to a central role in the making of postwar America.

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Mission US 4: City of Immigrants

“City of Immigrants” is the fourth entry in the Mission US multimedia project series that immerses players in U.S. History through free interactive educational games. Mission 4 engages students in the dynamic, dangerous world of New York City in the early 20th century as they assume the role of Lena Brodsky, a 14-year-old Jewish Russian immigrant.

View Mission US 4: City of Immigrants