Introduction to Curriculum Packet on “Documents on Diplomacy: Primary Source Documents and Lessons from the World of Foreign Affairs, 1775-2011”


This title is out of print. Download the Project Index (PDF, 821 KB).

Introduction

The Foreign Relations of the United States series, published by the United Stated Department of State's Office of the Historian, is one of the world's most comprehensive series of primary source documents. Inaugurated in 1861 during the administration of Abraham Lincoln, the series celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2011. It seemed a fitting tribute to bring this series, long valued by professional researchers, foreign policy experts, and college students, to a new audience—secondary school teachers and their students.

Designed for secondary school teachers, who may not have the time to comb through tens of thousands of documents searching for the perfect classroom resources, this CD-ROM publication includes more than 300 primary source documents, paired with over 120 classroom-ready lessons, covering key events from 1775 to 2011—as well as lessons that incorporate art, music, dance, and drama. It contains everything you need to educate—and engage—students in the world of foreign affairs.

Documents on Diplomacy includes the following sections, with full teacher resources (briefing memos for teachers and students, lists of key terms and players, timelines, and teaching tips) for each section:

  • I. The Revolutionary Age
  • II. The Articles of Confederation
  • III. The Early Republic
  • IV. The Age of Expansion
  • V. The Civil War & the Gilded Age
  • VI. A Great Power Emerges
  • VII. World War I
  • VIII. Isolationism & the Interwar Period
  • IX. World War II
  • X. The Early Cold War
  • XI. The Later Cold War
  • XII. The Post-Cold War World & the 21st Century