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Modern (1800 CE - 1950 CE)

Title page of Dr. William Ruschenberger's memoir
Source

Memoir of William Ruschenberger

Dr. William Ruschenberger (d. 1895) was a United States Navy surgeon and was assigned to the USS Peacock, serving with Edmund Roberts as part of an American delegation representing the Jackson Administration to negotiate treaties with the Omani Empire and the Kingdom of Siam.

Painting of The Batavia Castle seen from the Kali Besar West
Teaching

Short Teaching Module: Spatial Histories of Law, Race and Empire

Law is not only to be found in doctrine and documents, but also in structures and materials, in buildings and in cloth, in paintings and in photos.

Photograph of the landraad in Pati in 1865
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The landraad in Pati

This is a photo of a mixed colonial law court, the landraad, in Pati, a town located on the island of Java, now part of Indonesia. The photo was made by the British photographers Woodbury & Page on the request of the bupati (regent) Raden Adipati Ario Tjondro Adhi Negoro.

Picture of families in Togo cracking oil palm kernels
Source

Togo farm families cracking oil palm kernels

This photo was part of a short photo series documenting palm oil production in the German colonies in Africa, included in a report by a special oil commission of the German Colonial Society (Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft) in 1913.

Picture of Stephen Robinson Parson's notebook where he recorded an ideal ration
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Ideal ration recipe

This is one page out of a notebook kept by Stephen Robinson Parsons, a somewhat improvement-minded farmer in South Paris, Maine. Around 1896, Stephen copied into his fact book an ideal ration: 

Clip from Wolff's article on hay's nutritional values
Teaching

Short Teaching Module: Agricultural Knowledge in the Late Nineteenth Century

Knowledge knows no national boundaries. Therefore, the history of knowledge also has to move beyond national boundaries to understand how knowledge was produced, moved, and adapted. Telling such a history without the limitations of national boundaries is challenging.

Clip from Wolff's article on hay's nutritional values
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Wolff’s justification for omitting hay values

In 1864, for the first time, Emil Wolff did not include hay values alongside nutritional components in the data tables published annually in the calendar. In this accompanying article, Wolff reframed his previous translation into hay values as merely educational.

Inset of Ukraine from larger map of 1918 Europe
Teaching

Long Teaching Module: Border Changes of the Soviet Union

Border changes have been a central part of 20th century European history. This lesson will examine a few key maps and documents that explore the creation, expansion, and dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Map of Europe with countries shaded based on year they joined NATO.
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History of NATO Expansion Map

This map shows the expansion of NATO over time. Have students identify the most recently states to join NATO. Which states have joined NATO after the collapse of communism? Which of these newer NATO states had been Soviet satellite states as opposed to full republics of the Soviet Union?

Map of Europe with countries shaded based on membership in NATO, the Warsaw Pact or nonaligned.
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Cold War Europe Military Alliances Map

This map illustrates which states in Europe belonged to NATO or the Warsaw Pact military alliance. The white states were neutral. This map illustrates the infamous Iron Curtain and the split between West and East. Which of these states belonged to the Warsaw Pact?