Cause-and-effect disasters

In 1846, the eighty-seven members of the Donner Party left Illinois to begin a new life in California. Many pioneers made this journey, but the Donner Party faced delays and terrible misfortune. Trapped with few supplies in the snowy Sierra Nevada for the winter, what would the travelers do to survive? To understand the impact of a disaster, you must understand its causes. How did taking an untested shortcut affect the Donner Party's progress? How...

In the mid-1840s, potato blight ruined the crops of impoverished farmers across Ireland. Many families went hungry. As the government struggled to address the problem, disease struck down people weakened by starvation. Would the country ever recover?