Civil War Era - Influential People Teacher Resources

The three lessons in the Civil War: Activity Pack collection provide young history detectives with an opportunity to examine artifacts the reveal African-American involvement in the United States Civil War. They watch videos to learn...

Northerners, Southerners, and abolitionists all had a different perspective on the American Civil War. To understand these different points of view, class members analyze primary documents including speeches by Abraham Lincoln, the...

Excerpts from Reconstruction: America After the Civil War, Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s documentary series provide young historians with insight into the struggles the country faced in the years after the Civil war. Viewers learn about the...

The Price of Freedom: Americans at War is a collection of 13 resources from a printable exhibition curated by the Smithsonian Museum of American History. Each resource begins with a summary and a table of contents. The resources...

Designed for teachers, a 15-lesson collection curated by the Smithsonian, examines how wars have impacted American society. Each resource includes a lesson plan, background information, a materials list, maps, images, and worksheets. An...

A five-resource collection looks at the complex series of events that led to the American Civil War. Using primary source documents, scholars research the social and economic issues that led to the country-fracturing conflict.

Seven lessons examine the Reconstruction Era that followed the United States Civil War. The series of detailed lessons provide background information on the era, teaching strategies, videos, and primary source materials.

The Laurel Grove school was established by freedmen and freedwomen after the United States Civil War. The school is now a museum and offers this collection of six lessons that use primary and secondary source materials to tell the story...

In this well-organized and inquiry-based collection, high schoolers examine primary and secondary source documents and video clips in preparation for an investigation into the Cold War. Scholars analyze its beginnings, the global impact...

A five-lesson collection examines the history of the Cold War from a global point of view. World History students analyze primary and secondary source documents, as well as video clips, to investigate the beginnings of the Cold War, its...

A three-lesson unit from PBS’s History Detective series has young historians investigating women's contributions to American history. Young sleuths search for clues in artifacts, images, and videos. They hold a mock convention, create...

Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow is the anchor text in a 10-lesson unit that looks at some of the issues of race and justice in American society and how issues have changed over time. High schoolers look at the history of race and...

The 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 are all statues pushed by Lyndon Baines Johnson. Presdient Johnson also established programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Head Start. Young...

The National Constitution Center offers this collection of informative and entertaining videos intended to start conversations and develop critical thinking skills. Viewers learn about the rights granted by the constitution, about the...

A seven-resource curriculum set presents primary source materials that permits young historians to examine the programs and initiatives advanced by Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt,...

The module's six lessons in "Looking Back Reaching Forward: Exploring the Promise of Brown v. Board of Education in Contemporary Times" commemorate the historic Supreme Court decision Brown V. Board of Education. High schoolers discuss...

Five lessons comprise the Persuasion Across Time and Space Instructional Unit module. Middle schoolers examine the persuasive techniques used in video and print advertisements and how ethos, pathos, and logos appeals are used in...

Introduce middle schoolers to the roles and powers of the three branches of the United States government, with the 21 resources in the C-SPAN Civics collection. Sorted into the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial...

A seven-resource collection of worksheets ask students to examine letters written by Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, as well as an excerpt from the diary of a Union soldier. After a careful reading of these primary sources, class...

The mission statement of the National Museum of American History’s Becoming US: Teaching Immigration and Migration History in the 21st Century series is to provide “educational resources for high school teachers and students to learn...

Used with the PBS film The Armenian Genocide (Two Cats Productions), the eight lessons in this collection teach high schoolers about the Armenian Genocide. Students use primary and secondary sources to research the history of the Ottoman...