Historical Simulations

Abstracts

Farming: Farming is a 25 minute role playing simulation in which pairs of students act as a farm family, deciding which crops to plant and livestock to raise on their 160 acre farm for a three year period from 1872 to 1874. These student "farm families" have different economic arrangements with one third acting as homesteaders, one third as tenant farmers, and one third as sharecroppers. This simulation acquaints students with the basic economics of farming, the vagaries of farming "success," and the farmer's dependence on weather and national markets. The comparison of the relative success of homesteaders, tenant farmers, and sharecroppers in the simulation stimulates a class discussion of the social effects of these differing economic arrangements.

Gilded Age: Congressional Politics in the Gilded Age is a 25 minute game simulation which introduces students to political issues in late nineteenth century United States. The simulation incorporates a reward system that creates a competetive situation while necessitating negotiation and compromise to reach a consensus or political bargain on each issue. Groups of six to nine students, each acting as the US Senate, discuss, amend and vote on historical pieces of legislation. Subsequent discussion can focus on the political issues, the supporting arguments, the historical personalities or a comparison of the simulation with actual events.

Sectional Politics: Sectional Politics is a 30 minute game simulation focusing on the political issues that divided the United States along sectional lines between 1830 and 1850. The simulation incorporates a reward system that creates a competitive situation between sections while necessitating negotiation and compromise to reach a consensus or political bargain to achieve sectional goals. Groups of six students each act as the U. S. Senate has with one pair of students representing the Northeast, one pair the Southeast, and one pair the West. Subsequent discussion can address the political issues, examine the basis of sectional arguments, and compare the simulation results with actual events.

Struggle For The Continent: Details currently not available for this simulation.

Treaty Of Versailles: The Treaty of Versailles is a 25 minute map simulation that requires student triads to determine the boundaries of the new countries in Eastern Europe following World War I. Each triad receives one map depicting the location of ethnic groups, a second map indicating the areas that contained religious majorities, and a transparency map to superimpose over the others. In the process of determining boundaries, students discuss various aspects of nationalism and the relative importance of religious and ethnic identities as well as recognize a variety of boundary disputes that have plagued the region throughout the twentieth century.

Yalta Conference: Yalta Conference is a 30 minute game simulation which places each student in the role of either an American, British or Soviet negotiator at the Yalta Conference near the end of World War II. Handouts provide the national goals for each country and the points to be awarded if that countries negotiator is successful in achieving each goal. After discussing the agreements reached at the conference, those agreements are assessed based upon subsequent history. This analysis reveals that while agreement corresponded closely with the goals of the United States, its long term effects were quite detrimental to the US.

Congress Of Vienna: Congress of Vienna is a 20 minute map simulation that requires students to decide territorial issues at the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars. Utilizing an outline map depicting major provinces and principalities in central Europe, and a worksheet listing territorial options, student triads decide how to reestablish the balance of power in Europe by rearranging territorial boundaries to achieve four goals. The simulation not only serves as a conclusion to the Napoleonic Wars but also as an introduction to the European revolutions of 1830 and 1848 as well as to the unification of Germany and Italy.

Recent Crises: Recent World Crises is a 30 minute role playing simulation in which groups of four or five students simulate a United Nations commission seeking a political resolution to one of the following world crises: Northern Ireland, West Bank, Bosnia, or Kosovo. Students receive ethnic and religious data for their specific region and the two countries contending for the region, but all labels and names are fictitious so the students cannot determine which crisis they are considering. Subsequent discussion can contrast the decisions of the various student groups, compare aspects of the four crises, or focus on any discomfort or shift in position when the identities in the crisis are revealed.

Scramble For Africa: Scramble for Africa is a 20 minute simulation that places students in the role of European colonial powers seizing colonies in Africa. The first two stages of the simulation address the contacts associated with the slave trade from 1500 to 1815 and the gradual increase in coastal domination from 1815 to 1880. The third stage addresses the rapid and haphazard establishment of colonies after 1880 and prepares students to better understand the political, social and economic problems faced by African nations when they achieve independence in the 1960s.