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The History Cat

The History Cat: The Jim Crow Era: The Life and Death of Jim Crow

For Students 9th - 10th
Looks at how Southerners continued to discriminate against blacks after the Civil War through Black Codes, or Jim Crow laws, which permitted practices such as segregation in public places and requiring literacy tests in order to vote.
Handout
The History Cat

The History Cat: Karl Marx: Father of Communism

For Students 9th - 10th
Summarizes the capitalist conditions, brought on by the Industrial Revolution, that led to the fostering of the socialist ideas espoused by Karl Marx, and to the writing of The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels.
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The History Cat

The History Cat: Christianity

For Students 9th - 10th
Discusses the Christian religion, the province of Judea, the story of Jesus, belief system, persecution by the Romans, the spread of Christianity, and the different Christian sects that have evolved.
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The History Cat

The History Cat: Marie Antoinette

For Students 9th - 10th
A profile of Marie Antoinette of France.
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The History Cat

The History Cat: The Beaver Wars

For Students 9th - 10th
Discusses the wars the Iroquois fought with other tribes and with the French in the last half of the 17th century, in their efforts to win control of the fur trade. A peace treaty was signed in 1701 to end the fighting.
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The History Cat

The History Cat: Vasco De Gama

For Students 9th - 10th
Vasco da Gama (this is the accepted spelling) was a Portuguese explorer from the 15th and 16th centuries who established the first trade route to India that went around the southern tip of Africa. Read about his life, his...
Handout
The History Cat

The History Cat: The French Revolution: The Reign of Terror

For Students 9th - 10th
Discusses the awful events that took place during the French Revolution with France's Reign of Terror, when Christianity was banned and even the calendar was rewritten.
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The History Cat

The History Cat: Age of Exploration: Christopher Columbus

For Students 9th - 10th
The story of Christopher Columbus, of how he became an explorer, his encounter with the Arawak people in the Caribbean, and the exaggerated tales he told the King and Queen of Spain when he returned to Europe.
Handout
The History Cat

The History Cat: Islamic Arts and Literature

For Students 9th - 10th
An introduction to the art and literature that were produced during the Islamic Golden Age. A brief look at Islamic calligraphy, mosaics, geometric designs, and the story behind the 1001 Tales of the Arabian Nights.
Handout
The History Cat

The History Cat: Japan and the Black Ships: The Meiji Restoration

For Students 9th - 10th
Explains how Japan isolated itself from contact with Europe and America for two hundred years. This ended when it agreed to sign a treaty of friendship with America that was brought to Tokyo in 1853 by Commodore Matthew Perry and his...
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The History Cat

The History Cat: Great Escapes From East Germany

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes a variety of unusual methods East Berliners used to try to escape over or through the Berlin Wall into West Germany.
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The History Cat

The History Cat: Johannes Gutenberg

For Students 9th - 10th
The story of Johnannes Gutenberg (1398-1468), who is credited with inventing the printing press in 1450, although it was actually first invented by the Chinese hundreds of years earlier.
Handout
The History Cat

The History Cat: Galileo on Trial

For Students 9th - 10th
An explanation of the rationale behind the trial of Galileo by the Roman Catholic Inquisition for his scientific theories of heliocentrism. He was convicted of heresy and placed under house arrest, eventually confessing to his alleged...
Handout
The History Cat

The History Cat: Uncovering Pompeii

For Students 9th - 10th
It is hard to imagine a day any hotter than 110 degrees, but on August 24, 79 CE some people experienced 570 degrees. Find details of the disaster in Pompeii.
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The History Cat

The History Cat: The Neolithic Revolution

For Students 5th - 9th
A look at some of the earliest humans and their cultures from the prehistoric era.
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The History Cat

The History Cat: Age of Imperialism: European Imperialism

For Students 9th - 10th
The White Man's Burden was another name for Imperialism. It was an ethnocentric idea that emerged from Darwin's Theory of Evolution to explain why white people were living in what they believed were more advanced civilizations than...
Handout
The History Cat

The History Cat: History of Colonial America: Witchcraft in Salem

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes what happened in the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 when a group of young girls began to have visions and were accused and tried for witchcraft.
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The History Cat

The History Cat: Hinduism

For Students 4th - 8th
Discusses what Hinduism is, the Hindu view of God, how Hindus worship, the belief in reincarnation, the concept of Karma, the caste system and Untouchables, the celebration of Diwali, and the practice of yoga.
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The History Cat

The History Cat: The Greek Olympic Games

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about how the Olympic games started in ancient Greece. In 394 A.D., Emperor Theodosius I abolished the Olympics and they were not revived until the late 1800s.
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The History Cat

The History Cat: Yin, Yang, and a Little Feng Shui

For Students 9th - 10th
Discusses the Three Ways, which are a blend of Taoist, Buddhist, and Confucianist schools of thought, and what each of these philosophies contributes to the Three Ways.
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The History Cat

The History Cat: The Great Wall of China

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes the building of the 5,500-mile-long Great Wall of China. Many of the workers who helped to construct the Wall ended up dying and are buried along its length.
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The History Cat

The History Cat: The Death of Caesar

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes the life of Julius Caesar up until his assassination at the hands of his 'friend' Brutus and a group of Senators.
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The History Cat

The History Cat: Sun Tzu and the Art of War

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about Sun Tzu, famous for his skills in military strategy and for his book, The Art of War, which is required reading for American army cadets.
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The History Cat

The History Cat: Mayan Religion: Gods and Sacrifice

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes the religious practices followed by the Maya, including human sacrifice, a ritual that horrified the Spanish explorers.