The 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic vs. the 2020 Covid-19 Pandemic

The novel coronavirus of 2019-2020 is neither the first global pandemic that the United States has endured nor, unfortunately, is it likely to be the last. 

Truly, besides teaching students how to be engaged in civics, teaching students to think critically, or teaching students historical causation, a primary goal of educating the next generation in history is to equip young adults with the knowledge and wisdom necessary to avoid repeating the same mistakes our ancestors made in the past. 

This lesson seeks to put the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic into its historical context, to understand its effects, and to challenge students to examine what lessons a disease that struck over 100 years ago can teach us today.