Daily Life America Usage Ideas

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Here are some examples of both content areas in, as well as research topics possible with, Daily Life America.

Domestic life (Children, Family Life, Marriage, Sexuality, Women)

• Compare the role of women in the Colonial period with women during World War II on the home front
• Explore changing attitudes towards sex, sexuality, gender, romance, and courtship
• Learn about the rituals and ceremonies surrounding family occasions such as births, marriages, and deaths

Economic life (Money, Rural Life, Trade, Travel and Transportation, Urban Life, Work)

• Trace the relationship between trade, exploration the opening up of the New World and the growth of American industry and cities
• Consider the growth of industrialization and its effect on immigration to America
• Compare and contrast typical workdays in the 18th and 20th centuries

Intellectual life (Art, Education, Literature and Language, Writing, Science, Calendar and Time)

• Investigate the development of specifically "American" literature
• Learn how children were educated on the frontier
• Examine the ongoing battle between science and religion in American culture

Material life (Food, Clothing, Drink, Appearance, Housing, Science)

• Taste history! Follow an recipe for Jonnycakes, or prepare authentic Native American A-Ni-Ka-Yo-Sv-Hi Tsu-Ya (green beans and pork)
• Find out what women really thought about corsets and stays
• Compare and contrast household characteristics in the Antebellum South and North

Political life (Government, Social structure, Warfare, Weapons)

• Trace the changes in political participation over four centuries, from Plymouth Plantation to the present day
• Learn how America prepared for and fought its wars
• Follow the changes wrought to society as Americans moved off the farm and into the city

Recreational life (Holidays, festivals and spectacles, Sports and games, Dance, Music and Theater)

• Learn how Union soldiers during the Civil War elevated baseball to the national level
• Discover when, where, and why the celebration of Christmas was outlawed in America
• Examine how popular dancing reflects contemporary relations between men and women

Religious life (Beliefs, Rituals, Death, burial and the afterlife, Magic and superstition, Churches)

• Gain insight into wide variety of Christian and non-Christian practices in America
• Examine the structure and symbolism of religious buildings, from cathedrals to parish churches
• Trace changes in funeral customs and burial rites