ABC-CLIO Solutions Helps Nevada Student with National History Day Contest

Each year more than half a million children across the country participate in the National History Day Contest. Students are challenged to choose a historical topic related to the annual theme, and then conduct primary and secondary research. They are then asked to present this research in a creative way via performance, exhibit, documentary or website.

This year student Bennett Wallace's creative website on Valley Forge has been selected from his state to compete at the national level. Bennett used ABC-CLIO Solutions as his primary source of information in creating his website. We took a moment to ask Bennett about this project and how ABC-CLIO Solutions helped him create his winning website.

Screen shot of Bennett's webpage. Visit it here: http://94560837.nhd.weebly.com/index.html

ABC-CLIO (AC): Why did you choose this topic?


Bennett Wallace (BW): I chose Valley Forge as a topic because I had visited the Valley Forge National Park when I was 11 and learned so many interesting things there about how Valley Forge was a turning point in the war. I felt like it would fit the topic perfectly. 

AC: How did ABC-CLIO resources help your research for this project? 

BW: ABC-CLIO resources helped me so much on this project because it was quick and easy to find reliable sources from their database and they even have the MLA citation at the bottom of each source. ABC-CLIO made it easy to cite sources for my annotated bibliography. 


AC:What challenges did you face during the course of this project? How did you overcome these challenges?

BW: The challenges I had during this project were trying to keep under the word limit. There is quite a lot of information on Valley Forge and I wish I could have added more.  Another problem I faced was making the annotated bibliography. I used so many sources that it was hard to cite them all. I overcame these problems by getting rid of some pages on my website and also by using sites like EasyBib and ABC-CLIO that made making my bibliography easier. 

AC: What surprised you the most about your subject during the course of your research?

BW: The thing that surprised me most about my subject is that Valley Forge was a turning point not only in the Revolutionary War but also in George Washington's life and really our country's history.  Also, what surprised me were the conditions at Valley Forge and how harsh the winter was.  

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We also asked Bennet's teacher, Lindsey Clewell, for her perspective on the ABC-CLIO and the project:

AC: What made you decide to have your students participate in the contest? 

Lindsey Clewell (LC): I heard about National History Day from the coordinator of Social Studies for Washoe County, Sue Davis.  I thought that this sounded like an amazing opportunity for students to learn lifelong skills while researching something they are interested in.

AC: What did you find most useful about ABC-CLIO Solutions for your students while working on this project? 

LC: ABC-CLIO offers students reliable information.  In today’s world students have the tedious task of sorting through information to find out what is correct and reliable. ABC-CLIO offers a resource that students can go to and know that the information they are reading about is accurate. 

AC: What challenges did you face during the course of this project? How did you overcome these challenges? 

LC: I feel the biggest challenge of this project was teaching the students what is a reliable resource and what is not. They are used to going to Google and typing in a search term and believing everything they read is reliable. To get them digging a bit deeper into the resource and asking the questions, “Where did this source come from?” and “How do I know if this is reliable?”, was a task that is important and something that we spend a lot of time on. I also made sure to give my students websites that are reliable and offer many primary and secondary resources. This is a skill that my students will need to know throughout their lives and is one that is worth spending extra time to teach. 

AC: How does ABC-CLIO Solutions compare to other research tools you've used in the classroom?  

LC: ABC-CLIO is easy to navigate for students and this is why my students tended to gravitate to the source.  Their generation is used to getting answers fast and ABC-CLIO offered great answers in a timely manner.  My students found multiple resources relating to their topic in one place and they really enjoyed this online resource as a primary source that they used. 

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We asked Christine Hull, Director of Social Studies and Content Literacy Programs at the Nevada Department of Education, to give her feedback on how ABC-CLIO Solutions plays a role at the state level:

AC: What made you decide to have NV schools participate in the contest?

Christine Hull (CH): When I took the position I am in currently I inherited the role of History Day Coordinator for the State of Nevada. I encourage schools to participate in this contest because the process to prepare their projects aligns with Common Core as well as gives the teachers an authentic learning and assessment opportunity in their classrooms. I really believe the process is the most important part of the entire contest. The Director of National History Day, Cathy Gorn always says, History Day is every day! I truly believe that and the skills that students learn through this process truly are preparing them for their next step in education.

AC: What challenges did you face during the course of this project? How did you overcome these challenges?

CH: Our state is so diverse in geography and population. We are unable to have one state contest like every other state so the first time our entire delegation meets is in Maryland. We also run into problems reaching our districts in the eastern part of the state and something that I would really like to focus on in the future.

AC: How has ABC-CLIO Solutions helped you accomplish your overall goals for the social studies programs in NV schools?

CH: Having the ABC-CLIO Solutions available to every K-12 student in the entire state makes it so great for me to encourage teachers to use this as their starting point for research. Knowing that they can all access the same articles and resources I know that if I show an example during a webinar or face to face training that everyone has access to a trusted source of information.

AC: How has ABC-CLIO Solutions helped NV teachers to implement the Common Core State Standards?

CH: Our teachers are loving the ability to search by not only content standards but also by CCSS. Using the primary sources and articles available in ABC-CLIO Solutions gives our teachers the ability to have an updated textbook of sorts that is aligned to the types of literacy activities they are implementing in their classrooms. 

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ABC-CLIO's American History online solution

The Bicentennial of the War of 1812

June 18, 2012, marked the 200th anniversary of the start of the War of 1812 (1812–1815). Although largely unpopular at the time and virtually forgotten today, this conflict, which pitted Great Britain against the newly independent United States, was in fact a critical turning point in American history. This excerpt from the preface of Dr. Spencer C. Tucker's The Encyclopedia of The War of 1812: A Political, Social, and Military History discusses the impact this conflict had on the future of the United States.

The War of 1812 is an often overlooked conflict in American history. Sometimes called the Second American Revolution, it was in fact noteworthy for that which did not happen. The United States was not defeated by Great Britain or forced to cede territory but did not realize its primary war aim of the conquest of Canada. Indeed, the War of 1812 was probably the most important factor preventing the absorption of Canada by the United States, for the war fostered Canadian nationalism while simultaneously heightening nationalism in the United States. Fortunately for both sides, it was a small war in human cost, paling in comparison to the vast losses of the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleononic Wars, and the American Civil War. 

In addition to its impact on Canadian and American nationalism, the war is important from a number of other standpoints. The U.S. Navy firmly established its reputation from the very beginning of the war, and this led to substantial increases in the size of the navy afterward. The U.S. Army, on the other hand, began the war poorly trained and saddled by inept leadership, but by war’s end professionalism had taken hold, and the U.S. Army was able to compete with the British Army on an equal basis. The experience of war also demonstrated the importance of the nascent United States Military Academy at West Point, which had been established only a decade earlier and whose graduates greatly distinguished themselves in combat. With the cutoff in British manufactured goods and military demands, the war also hastened the Industrial Revolution in the United States. 

Politically, the conflict advanced the fortunes and reputations of individuals such as Andrew Jackson and William Henry Harrison, both future presidents. It also contributed directly to the demise of the Federalist Party, the end of the first two-party system, and the inauguration of the so-called Era of Good Feelings.

A Senior Fellow in Military History for ABC-Clio Publishing since 2003,  Dr. Spencer C. Tucker has been instrumental in establishing ABC-CLIO as the premier military history reference publisher in the country. Spence's interest in military history began while he was a student at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and was enhanced by a Fulbright Fellowship in Franceand while serving as a captain in military intelligence in the Pentagon during the Vietnam War. Although he concentrated on Modern European History in his graduate studies, he became interested in all periods of military history. Spence taught at the university and college level for 36 years, 30 of these at Texas Christian University and the last 6 as holder of the John Biggs Chair of Military History at VMI. Spence is particularly excited to be the editor of ABC-CLIO's award-winning series of war encyclopedias, which includes The Encyclopedia of the War of 1812: A Political, Social, and Military History.

Clash of the Ironclads

March 9, 2012, marks the 150th anniversary of the naval engagement between USS Monitor and CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimack) off Hampton Roads, Virginia, during the second year of the Civil War. Although inconclusive, the three-hour battle—the first conformation between a new vessel type known as ironclads—was an important turning point in naval history. In this excerpt from Dr. Spencer C. Tucker's The Civil War Naval Encyclopedia, the initial encounter between the two ironclads is described.


At about 9:00 p.m. the Monitor pulled alongside the frigate Roanoke, where Worden conferred with Captain John Marston, senior Union officer in the Roads. Marston ordered Worden to defend the Minnesota, and at 1:00 a.m. on March 9 the Monitor anchored alongside the grounded Union flagship. Shortly thereafter, fires on the Congress reached the magazine, and that ship blew up. Few men on the Monitor slept that night.


At about 6:00 a.m. on March 9, the Virginia got under way. The sea was again calm, and the day clear. Jones ordered the Virginia to make for the Union flagship. At 8:00 a.m. Worden saw the Virginia and its consorts steam out into the main channel and head for the Minnesota, and he immediately ordered battle preparations. The Monitor was far more maneuverable than the Virginia, but it also was only a fraction of the Confederate ship's size and mounted but 2 guns to the 10 on the Virginia. There must have been serious doubts aboard the Monitor as to whether the ship would prove a worthy opponent.


Jones intended to ignore the Union ironclad until he had finished off the Minnesota with hot shot. At about one mile from the grounded Union ship, Jones commenced fire. Almost immediately a round struck the Minnesota and started a fire. Shot from the Minnesota's stern guns simply ricocheted off the Virginia's armor. Worden now set the Monitor straight for the Virginia. The Minnesota and Virginia exchanged fire until the Monitor had closed the range. The Union ironclad's small pilothouse prevented its guns from firing directly forward, so Worden conned the Monitor parallel to the Virginia. At 8:45 a.m. the Monitor fired the first shot of the battle.


The duel lasted three and a half hours. This time, the Virginia's consorts were only spectators, for the Monitor's heavy guns would have made short work of them. The battle was fought at very close range, from a few yards to more than 100. The crew of the Virginia was surprised that the Union guns did not inflict greater damage. Not a single shot struck the Virginia at its vulnerable waterline. The Confederates believed that the Monitor's crew simply fired their guns as rapidly as possible (every five or six minutes) without aiming. The Virginia was also extremely vulnerable when it ran hard aground, and the Monitor, with half the draft, could circle its antagonist and fire at will. With the Virginia's very survival now at stake and its boiler safety valves tied shut to provide maximum steam, the Virginia at length pulled free.

A Senior Fellow in Military History for ABC-CLIO Publishing since 2003, Dr. Spencer C. Tucker has been instrumental in establishing ABC-CLIO as the premier military history reference publisher in the country. Spence's interest in military history began while he was a student at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and was enhanced by a Fulbright Fellowship in France and while serving as a captain in military intelligence in the Pentagon during the Vietnam War. Although he concentrated on Modern European History in his graduate studies, he became interested in all periods of military history. Spence taught at the university and college level for 36 years, 30 of these at Texas Christian University and the last 6 as holder of the John Biggs Chair of Military History at VMI. Spence is particularly excited to be the editor of ABC-CLIO's award-winning series of war encyclopedias, which includes the 2nd edition of The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History.

The Roots of the Arab Spring

The Arab Spring that buffeted the Middle East and North Africa in 2011 shows no signs of abating, with countries like Egypt, Liberia, and Syria continuing to experience turmoil and violence. In this excerpt from William Mark Habeeb's The Middle East in Turmoil: Conflict, Revolution, and Change, the author discusses the roots of the upheaval, which can be traced back to the break up of the Ottoman Empire during World War I.


The Middle East erupted in 2011 as a wave of revolutionary fervor spread from Tunisia to Egypt and then throughout the Arab World. . . . The tumultuous events took on different characteristics in different countries, were met with different responses by the various regimes in power, and will produce different long-term outcomes. Yet if one steps back and takes a macro-historical perspective, the events that began in the Arab world in 2011 (some might say they began with the Green Revolution in Iran in 2009) were simply the latest developments in a process that started with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire—a process of forging states and creating national identities, often within multiethnic and multisectarian boundaries; of negotiating the role of Islam in public life; of determining the distribution of political power and economic benefits within societies; of jockeying for leadership within the Arab world; and of defining the Arabs’ role on the world stage.

The Middle East state system as we know it has existed for less than 100 years. When the Ottoman Empire collapsed following World War I, new states emerged—or rather, were created by the victorious European powers—in a region where transnational empires and caliphates had ruled for centuries. With only a few exceptions—principally Iran and Egypt—the new states of the Middle East had no history as nation states or even national entities (Israel is a unique case in that its establishment was the process of a dispersed nation—the Jewish people—seeking to create a state in their ancestral homeland). Many were merely collections of tribes and clan groups that lived in close proximity with one another. These new states' boundaries were delineated to fit the needs and strategic agreements of the European powers, not the ethnic, sectarian, or communal loyalties that characterized their societies. Much of the violence and conflict that has scarred the Middle East is reflective of this fact. Moreover, the inherent tensions and contradictions caused by the way in which the modern Middle East was born are still being played out, and the most likely future conflicts in the region—domestic as well as interstate—continue to reflect the regional state system's troubled birth.


William Mark Habeeb has worked in international affairs for over 20 years. He specializes in conflict resolution and Middle East affairs. His extensive published works include Power and Tactics in International Negotiation: How Weak Nations Bargain with Strong Nations; Polity and Society in Contemporary North Africa; and numerous book chapters and journal articles.

Succession in North Korea: A Family Affair

When Kim Jong Il died of a heart ailment on December 17, 2011, the international community focused its attention on his son and successor Kim Jong Un. Little is known about Kim Jong Il's third son, who is reported to be 27 years old and was recently made a full general. Kim Jong Un was not publicly acknowledged to be the successor to his father until 2010, in sharp contrast to how his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, carefully managed his own succession over a long period of time. This excerpt from the second edition of Dr. Spencer C. Tucker's The Encyclopedia of the Korean War: A Political, Social, and Military History recounts the details of North Korea's previous leadership change.

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Kim Il Sung had early on chosen his son to be his political heir. He wanted to avoid the years of confusion and the ultimate repudiation that followed the deaths of his Soviet and Chinese contemporaries. Throughout the 1970s the ground was carefully laid for Kim's succession of his father. The North Korean top leadership, including Pak Song Chol, O Chin U, Kim Yong Nam, Yi Chong Ok, Chon Mun Sop, and So Chol, supported the succession. In preparation for this eventuality, North Korean authorities went to extraordinary lengths to glorify Kim and his accomplishments.

North Koreans began placing Kim's portraits along with those of his father in their homes, offices, and workplaces. In September 1973, Kim became a secretary of the Central Committee of the North Korean Workers' Party (NKWP) and, the following year, a member of its Politburo. By then, songs were being sung about him among party cadres, which carried special notebooks to record his instructions. And a slogan came into being: "Let's give our fealty from generation to generation."

 Despite his prominence in the NKWP, Kim's rise to power and selection as his father's successor were unacknowledged for several years, and his activities were masked under the mysterious "Tang Chungang" (Party Center), who was given credit for wise guidance and great deeds. This veil was lifted at the Sixth Congress of the NKWP in October 1980, when Kim was publicly named to the Presidium of the Politburo, the Secretariat of the Central Committee, and the Military Commission. In other words, he was openly designated as successor to his father.


Kim received the title of Dear Leader, close to that of Kim Il Sung's Great Leader. Both Kims were addressed and referred to in specific honorific terms not used for anyone else. As was done for his father's birthday of April 15, Kim's birthday of February 16 came to be celebrated as a national holiday. In December 1991 Kim was named supreme commander of the North Korean armed forces. By the time of his father's death in July 1994, Kim had come to be ranked second in the leadership, behind his father and ahead of his father's old comrade-in-arms, O Chin U, who died of cancer in early 1995.




About Dr. Spencer C. Tucker:
A Senior Fellow in Military History for ABC-CLIO since 2003, Dr. Spencer C. Tucker has been instrumental in establishing ABC-CLIO as the premier military history reference publisher in the country. Tucker's interest in military history began while he was a student at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and was enhanced by a Fulbright Fellowship in France and while serving as a captain in military intelligence in the Pentagon during the Vietnam War. Although he concentrated on Modern European History in his graduate studies, he became interested in all periods of military history. Spence taught at the university and college level for 36 years, 30 of these at Texas Christian University and the last six as holder of the John Biggs Chair of Military History at VMI. Spence is particularly excited to be the editor of ABC-CLIO's award-winning series of war encyclopedias, which includes the 2nd edition of The Encyclopedia of the Korean War: A Political, Social, and Military History.

The Evolution of U.S. Special Forces

Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, U.S. Special Forces played a major role in the U.S.-led attack of Al Qaeda and Taliban forces in Afghanistan. Thanks in part to their efforts, by early December 2001 Kandahar, Afghanistan, the Taliban's last stronghold, fell to coalition forces. During the Iraq War, U.S. Special Forces were once again front and center, securing several large areas of the country. In this excerpt from the Introduction to John C. Fredriksen's Fighting Elites: A History of U.S. Special Forces, the author discusses the recent evolution of U.S. Special Forces into one of the key components of current U.S. military strategy.

Modern American special forces are a far cry from their historical antecedents, but threads of continuity persist in their tactical mastery of unconventional warfare. Moreover, the extreme dangers posed by the Soviet Union and Red China to the United States finally triggered a lasting resurgence in terms of special operations doctrine and, for once, the American military not only raised new special forces units, but also grudgingly maintained them as part of the standing military establishment. These include not only storied formations such as the Army’s Green Berets and Rangers, and the Navy’s SEALs, but also lesser known entities like the Air Force’s Air Resupply and Communications Command, the Marine Corp’s Force Recon companies. All performed dutifully during the Korean and Vietnamese conflicts, assuring that, while special forces may not enjoy wide popularity within military institutions, they were no longer considered expendable and subject to immediate disbandment at the end of hostilities.


The United States received an abject lesson in the utility of possessing appropriate special operations units for each service and every contingency following the disastrous Iranian hostage rescue attempt of 1980, which exuded dramatic remedial effects to that end. The interval between the end of the Cold War and the beginning of the War against Terror found special forces employed in minor fare like hunting war criminals in the Balkans and Somalia, tasks for which they are trained to do, but they acquired little distinction. However, the attack against the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, again spelled in stark relief the growing and sometimes dire necessity of recruiting, training, equipping, and preserving a viable special operations capabilities. That the cruel Taliban regime in Afghanistan and their al-Qaeda terrorist consorts were run out of that rugged country in only three months proffers incontrovertible proof that U.S. Special Forces are a potent factor to reckon with. They currently operate everywhere around the globe, wherever American interests and security are threatened, and scores of dead terrorists offer mute testimony to their deadly effectiveness. Given the implications of terrorism to national security, there is little wonder that, over the past two and a half centuries, America’s special forces have evolved steadily from episodic tactical novelties into battlefield force multipliers and standing strategic necessities. The 21st century may very well prove itself to be a golden age of unconventional warfare, and high-tech, special warriors to wage it.


John C. Fredriksen, PhD, is an independent historian. He is the author of 30 books and reference encyclopedias on military history, most recently Fighting Elites: A History of U.S. Special Forces. His other publications include ABC-CLIO's American Military Leaders: From Colonial Times to the Present and America's Military Adversaries: From Colonial Times to the Present. Fredriksen has also authored a series of chronologies detailing the histories of the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps.

Gen. David Petraeus to Become Director of CIA

When Gen. David Petraeus assumes his duties as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in September, he will do so as someone uniquely qualified to lead the nation’s most prominent collector of foreign intelligence. The CIA is already a high-performing organization boasting talented and dedicated agents and analysts serving around the world. You can expect Director Petraeus to take the organization to even greater heights. This isn’t unabashed adulation, but simply where the Petraeus’ record points. Consider what some naysayers have suggested:

Petraeus will overstep his bounds or try to make policy on his own. Doubtful. Petraeus is always keenly aware of the limits of his authority. He is always loyal to his chain of command. He will try to persuade, he will work to impose his will, and he will be aggressive. But Petraeus will follow the rules and will find ways to operate within the authorities of his office.

The CIA won’t accept him because Petraeus is a military officer. The CIA consists of professionals who share the same ambition as does Petraeus – to succeed. They know full well how difficult it is to sustain their credibility in a dangerous world (not to mention the dangers of DC bureaucratic struggles). So they will have no problem at all welcoming Petraeus because he brings credibility demonstrated by a proven track record working the toughest national security challenges. And what many do not realize is the extent to which Petraeus integrated the work of intelligence professionals into his military decision-making as the top general in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Petraeus will try to ‘militarize’ the CIA. He won’t need to, and wouldn’t want to, either. Petraeus is the rare senior military officer that is very comfortable moving between cultures. Whether it is an elite university, an Army unit, or the CIA, Petraeus will adapt. He’s supremely confident in himself and his abilities. He will impose his priorities on the CIA, but he’ll do it smartly and creatively. Soon enough, the CIA will be embracing his changes.

The CIA isn’t a flawless organization. It’s big and faces such an array of national security challenges that it’s difficult to keep pace. But expect it to move forward aggressively under Petraeus’ leadership. And don’t heed the pundits who project that Petraeus is eager to enter the political ring. His focus will be on the CIA, and on providing and assessing intelligence to ensure the national security of the United States. There are other duties ahead of him – likely secretary of defense and/or state, director of national intelligence, or national security adviser. But political office isn’t on the horizon for him, not now, and likely not for a long while, if ever. Politicians, even presidents, wield their power for too short of a period. General, now director, Petraeus is playing a longer game.

----Bradley T. Gericke, PhD, is the author of David Petraeus: A Biography. Dr. Gericke is a military historian and U.S. Army strategist who is currently stationed with the 8th Army in Seoul, South Korea.


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David Petraeus: A Biography

Bradley T. Gericke

11/2010

This in-depth and forthright biography examines the personal and professional life of General David Petraeus, today's most prominent military leader.

President Obama Awards Increasingly Rare Medal of Honor

When Sgt. First Class Leroy Petry receives the Medal of Honor today from President Barack Obama at a White House ceremony, he will become only the ninth recipient of the nation's highest military decoration for actions in Afghanistan or Iraq. The award of the Medal of Honor has been exceedingly rare for conflicts since the end of the Vietnam War. There were no awards of the Medal of Honor during Grenada, Panama, Lebanon, or Desert Storm. Two Medals of Honor were awarded for action in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1993. Of the nine recipients awarded the honor in the 21st century, seven of them received it posthumously. Besides Petry, the other recent recipient who lived to receive the award in person was Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, who was honored last year by Obama, also for heroic actions in Afghanistan. 

To learn more about some of the most famous and heroic Medal of Honor recipients in our nation's history, check out ABC-CLIO's America's Heroes: Medal of Honor Recipients from the Civil War to Afghanistan. This book features the stories of 200 heroic individuals awarded the Medal of Honor for their distinguished military service while fighting for their country, from the Civil War to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

- Pat Carlin, Manager, Editorial Development for Military History, ABC-CLIO