Possible History Day Topics
California History
American History
The occupation of Alcatraz Island by
Native Americans in 1969
Jamestown settlers and the Powhatan
tribes
Building the transcontinental railroad
with Chinese and Irish labor
The Salem Witchcraft Trials
The California missions and forced
Native American labor
California statehood: slave state or
free state?
California’s Constitutional Convention
of 1849
The Black Panther Party and its fight
for social justice
The LA Watts riots of the 1960s
Life for workers and their families at
the Richmond Shipyards during WWII
The Dust Bowl migration and its
impact on California
Hoovervilles and Hobo Jungles along
the American River during the Great
Depression
San Francisco’s 1934 General Strike
that shut down the Port of San
Francisco
Building the Golden Gate Bridge –
protecting workers
1906 San Francisco earthquake
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
John Muir’s efforts to preserve
California’s Yosemite Valley
Murder and mayhem in the Gold Rush
era
The effect of gold mining on
California’s environment
The trial of Peter Zenger and freedom
of the press
The Boston Massacre Trial – Patriot
John Adams defends British soldiers
accused of killing American colonists
The rights of youth in 18th century
colonial America – indentured
servitude
Benedict Arnold – trusted by
G.Washington but betrayed that trust
and turned traitor
The Great Compromise – large states
and small states
The Three-Fifths Compromise – how
to count enslaved people
The Indian Removal Act of 1830 and
the Trail of Tears
Broken treaties – the legacy of
diplomacy with Native Americans
The Amistad Case – John Quincy
Adams defended the slaves who took
over the slave ship, the Amistad, in
1839
The Dawes Act of 1887 – should
Native Americans be forced to live like
white Americans?
Horace Mann – improving public
education in the 1800s
The effect of the transcontinental
railroad on Native Americans
Civil disobedience – Henry David
Thoreau’s refusal to pay taxes in
response to the Mexican American
War
City College of New York – basketball
players fix games in the 1940s and 50s
The annexation of Hawaii –
overthrowing the Queen
Henry Ford and the introduction of
the assembly line
Jefferson – the 51st state – secession
from California and Oregon
The founding of NAACP by W.E.B.
DuBois in 1909
Brown vs Board of Education of 1954
– the Supreme Court ruled that racial
segregation of children was
unconstitutional
Japanese American internment during
WWII
The Scopes “Monkey” Trial – the
theory of evolution on trial
Women in the workforce during WWII
The Manhattan Project – Einstein and
Oppenheimer
The New Deal – getting people back to
work during the Great Depression
Construction of the Hoover Dam on
the Colorado River
Dorothea Dix and the treatment of the
mentally ill
Lewis Hine – the photographer
instrumental in helping to change
child labor laws
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady
Stanton – fighting for women’s right to
vote
Jack Johnson – first African American
heavyweight champion touching off
debate about segregation in sports
The Black Sox Scandal – throwing the
World Series in 1919
Jackie Robinson – breaking the color
barrier in major league baseball
All-American Girls Professional
Baseball League 1943-1954
Girls in sports – the history of Title IX
1894 Pullman railroad workers strike
protesting wage cuts
The decision to bomb Hiroshima and
Nagasaki – President Truman’s ethical
dilemma
The 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory
Fire leads to improved factory safety
and the establishment of the
International Ladies’ Garment
Workers’ Union
1931 Santa Clara Cannery Strike
Child labor laws
Billie Holiday’s controversial jazz
standard, Strange Fruit – musical
commentary on racism
The space shuttle Challenger disaster
– setback for the U.S. space program
The history of Ellis Island and the
experience of immigrants
Rights of prisoners
Rights of prison guards