This article sets an historic context for Jules Verne's novel Captain Hatteras (1866), and presents an overview of day-to-day survival on the typical 19th century arctic voyage portrayed in this fictional account.

This NOVA site has information on the past and the future of the Northwest Passage. The first article discusses the effect of global warming and the possibility of an ice-free shipping lane through the Northwest Passage.

Read an excerpt from Roald Amundsen's book, "My Life as an Explorer" where he describes his passage through the Northwest Passage. Learn what he learned from the Inuit people that helped him in future explorations.

In this five-part audio slide show Russell Potter talks about what has been found from the ill-fated Franklin expedition. He also puts the expedition in historical context with drawings and newspaper articles from the time.

On this site you can see a note left by a member of the ill-fated Franklin expedition and read a transcript of it.

An essay detailing early English and French exploration and settlement in the New World to challenge Spanish control.

U.S. History is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of most introductory courses. The text provides a balanced approach to U.S. history, considering the people, events, and ideas that have shaped the United States from both the top down (politics, economics, diplomacy) and bottom up (eyewitness accounts, lived experience). U.S. History covers key forces that form the American experience, with particular attention to issues of race, class, and gender.Senior Contributing AuthorsP. Scott Corbett, Ventura CollegeVolker Janssen, California State University, FullertonJohn M. Lund, Keene State CollegeTodd Pfannestiel, Clarion UniversityPaul Vickery, Oral Roberts UniversitySylvie Waskiewicz

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Explain the significance of the Louisiana Purchase
Describe the terms of the Adams-Onís Treaty
Describe the role played by the filibuster in American expansion

An article on the history of the search for the Northwest Passage. The discussion focuses on the reality that there is no Passage - only a history of brave people suffering incredible hardships to learn that the region was impassable after all. This is a transcript of an accompanying radio broadcast.