Stanford University
Sheg: Document Based History: Read Like a Historian: Civil War Reconstruction
[Free Registration/Login Required] In the Civil War and Reconstruction unit, students engage in contentious historiographic debates about the period: Was Lincoln a racist? Was Reconstruction a success or failure? Was John Brown a...
US National Archives
National Archives: The Civil War: Celebrate or Commemorate?
To try to understand both sides of the Civil War, students will think about some of the different aspects and perspectives involved. In this activity, students will match Civil War terms to their definitions to familiarize themselves...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: African American Christianity Pt Ii: From Civil War to the Great Migration
Essay focussing on African American Christianity from emancipation to the great migration. Site offers photos, student discussion guidelines, historian debate and links to related material.
Social Studies Help Center
Social Studies Help Center: What Caused the Beginning of the Civil War
Discusses what caused the Civil War, including a section on the political parties of the mid 1800's.
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
Jfk Presidential Library and Museum: Campaign of 1960
John F. Kennedy would be elected in November, 1960, as the youngest president ever voted into office. Here read about the Democratic convention, the debates between Kennedy and Richard Nixon, and find out about the issues of the...
Other
Famous Illinoisians With Civil War Ties: Stephen Douglas
Provides biographical facts about Stephen Arnold Douglas in bulleted list format.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: Reconstruction and the Formerly Enslaved
What are the "big questions" of Reconstruction? Article provides an overview of the Reconstruction period when Americans debated rights and the nature of freedom and equality. It focuses on who was an American and how citizenship should...
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Civil Liberties in Wartime (Lesson Plan)
Examine the rights and responsibilities of a citizen in a democratic system and those guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Consider the conditions of war and debate the pros and cons of the wartime curtailment of civil liberties.
Digital History
Digital History: September 11, 2001
This site has a comprehensive overview of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S., including information on Osama bin Laden's background, the formation of Al Qaeda, the attacks themselves, the US response, civil liberties and national...
OpenStax
Open Stax: Contesting Futures: America in the 1960s: The Kennedy Promise
Discusses Kennedy's rise to power and the challenges he faced from within the government, his focus on foreign policy, the conflict with Cuba, American involvement in Vietnam, support for racial equality and civil rights, and Kennedy's...
US National Archives
National Archives: Congress and Harriet Tubman's Claim for a Pension
Harriet Tubman is best known for the Underground Railroad, but she also served critical roles in our federal government during the Civil War and requested a federal pension for her work. Congress debated whether or not to extend to her a...
Curated OER
Map of Illinois Showing
This site provides historical information and pictures regarding the Fifth Lincoln Douglas debate in 1858.
NPR: National Public Radio
Npr: Is the Republican Party on the Verge of a Crackup?
Article reports on the chaos in the Republican party, and the long term effects this presidential election season could have on the GOP.