National History Day®(NHD) offers year-long academic programs that engage over half a million middle- and high-school students around the world annually in conducting original research on historical topics of interest. Since 1974, NHD has continuously improved history education by providing professional development opportunities and curriculum materials for educators. The largest NHD program is the National History Day Contest that encourages more than half a million students around the world to conduct historical research on a topic of their choice. Students enter these projects at the local and state levels, with top students advancing to the National Contest at the University of Maryland at College Park.
2025 Theme: Rights & Responsibilities in History
While each year’s contest brings a new theme, they will always hold relevance to our collections, those of other Presidential Libraries, and the resources of the National Archives. This year's contest theme, Rights & Responsibilities in History, is no different. This theme is broad enough in scope to encourage the investigation of topics ranging from local to national to world history. Rights are freedoms or privileges that individuals possess as human beings or as citizens of a society. Submissions on the topic of Rights may include:
- Civil Rights
- Political Rights
- Social Rights
- Economic Rights
- Human Rights
Responsibilities are expectations of individuals as members of society. Submissions on the topic of Responsibilities may include:
- Legal Responsibilities
- Civic Responsibilities
- Social Responsibilities
- Ethical Responsibilities
It is important to remember that with rights come responsibilities. In the present day, we frequently read and hear discussions about “my rights” or “our rights.” While we all have the right to freedoms such as free speech, we also have a responsibility to use these freedoms in a manner that respects the rights and well-being of others, with an understanding of how that responsibility is necessary for the greater good of all. Thus, the NHD theme for 2025 is focused on both historical rights and responsibilities. NHD projects in 2025 must focus on both as well. The following are suggested topics related to the Carter Administration that fit within this year's theme, including hyperlinks to resources in the topic titles to get you started:
Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA)
With a stroke of a pen on December 2, 1980, Jimmy Carter signed into law what many hail as "the most significant piece of conservation legislation in United States History." The culmination of years of tense negotiations between the Federal Government, the State of Alaska, and Alaska Natives, ANILCA preserved more than 100 million acres of land in America's "Last Frontier", clarified subsistence rights for indigenous groups, and laid the foundation of the 49th State's economy supported by ecotourism and resource extraction.
The Antiquities Act was the turning point in the legislative history of the U.S. as the first law to establish that archeological sites on public lands are important public resources. It also authorizes the President to protect landmarks, structures, and objects of historic or scientific interest by designating them as national monuments; this was a critical tool for President Carter in securing passage of ANILCA. But is it the responsibility of the federal government to protect public lands? What rights do public land advocates or private interests have according to this law?
Does the United States have a responsibility to its people to provide political and economic stability at home and abroad? Is it responsible for ensuring human rights abroad? Arab-Israeli conflicts between 1948 and 1973 caused significant disruptions to oil-dependent nations, including the United States who experienced double-digit inflation and unemployment in the 1970s. Confronting these issues, Muhammad Anwar al-Sadat, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, and Menachem Begin, Prime Minister of Israel, met with Jimmy Carter, President of the United States of America, at Camp David from September 5 to September 17, 1978. These three leaders made a commitment unprecedented in modern diplomatic history to establish peace between Egypt and Israel that remains in place today.
Diplomatic Relations With China
Described by President Carter as "the most significant accomplishment" of his administration, the normalization of diplomatic relations with China was a turning point in U.S.-Sino relations, providing for the exchange of information and ideas between the United States and the most populous nation on Earth. This came at a time of détente, or easing of tension, between the U.S. and the Soviet Union; did President Carter have a greater responsibility to preserve détente or pursue diplomatic relations with China?
Diversity in the Carter Administration
President Carter was committed to transforming the federal government to be reflective of the diverse society it serves. Through congressional legislation and executive action, he drastically increased the number of women and people of color serving in the federal government, establishing a benchmark in representative democracy (see page four in link above). How did the Carter administration support the rights of all Americans, and what responsibility did it have to increase diversity in the federal government?
When mounting conflicts in the Middle East brought an end to decades of cheap fossil fuels, President Carter deployed all options provided by the Constitution to reach new diplomatic agreements to combat high fuel prices, rising inflation and unemployment. What rights do Americans have to engage their government to solve such problems? Is it the federal government's responsibility to intervene in a free market economy under these circumstances? What responsibilities, if any, do we have in supporting solutions to these problems?
Equal Rights Amendment of 1972 (ERA)
Strongly supported by President and Mrs. Carter, the ERA is a turning point in U.S. history, seeking to end questions of gender equality in our Constitution once and for all. While it remains unratified, it continues to be a focal point for gender equality activism and legal scholars alike.
On November 4, 1979, Iranian militants stormed the United States Embassy in Tehran and took approximately 70 Americans captive, initiating a turning point in U.S. hegemony and diplomacy. President Carter committed himself to the safe return of the hostages while protecting America’s interests and prestige. He pursued a policy of restraint that put a higher value on the rights and lives of the hostages than on American retaliatory power or protecting his own political future.
A benchmark in U.S. immigration law and policy, the Refugee Act of 1980 created The Federal Refugee Resettlement Program to provide for the effective resettlement of refugees and to assist them to achieve economic self-sufficiency as quickly as possible after arrival in the United States. This law provided for refuge for those experiencing persecution in their native countries; what is the federal government's responsibility to refugees?
These treaties addressed a turning point in of global trade and commerce in the 1960s-70s by providing neutrality to vessels of all nations, and joint U.S.-Panama control of the canal until December 31, 1999, when Panama took full control of its operations. It also helped quell civil unrest in Panama which had been increasing during the Cold War years. Numerous U.S. Senators took a calculated risk in supporting the treaty and President Carter, many of them would not retain their jobs during the following election cycle. The treaty also provided for U.S. military intervention on behalf of Panama if its control of the canal was ever threatened; did this treaty compromise the State Department's responsibility to promote U.S. interests abroad?
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
At the end of December 1979, the Soviet Union sent thousands of troops into Afghanistan and assumed complete military and political control of Kabul and large portions of the country. This event began a brutal, decade-long attempt by Moscow to subdue the Afghan civil war and maintain a friendly communist government on its border. Carter clung to hopes the Soviets would not invade but as the leader of the free world, the U.S. had to formulate a response. How did Jimmy Carter fulfill this responsibility? How effective was the U.S. response?
Do you still have questions about the contest or interested in getting individual or group assistance? Reach out to the Carter Library education staff.