Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Neh: Edsit Ement: After American Revolution: Free African Americans in the North

For Teachers 6th - 8th
In this lesson plan, learners will consider "After the American Revolution: Free African Americans in the North." The plan includes worksheets and other student materials that can be found under the resource tab.
Website
Other

Massachusetts Studies Project: African Americans in Massachusetts

For Students 9th - 10th
The full title of this page is "African Americans in Massachusetts: Case Studies of Desegregation in 19th Century Nantucket and Boston." It features a timeline that covers the mid-19th century cases in Nantucket and Boston concerning the...
Article
New York Public Library

African American Migration Experience: The Northern Migration

For Students 9th - 10th
This article explores the reasons African Americans left the South and migrated north both before and after the Civil War, and many aspects of what their lives were like.
Primary
Library of Congress

Loc: African American Odyssey: Free Blacks in Antebellum Period

For Students 9th - 10th
A site that chronicles through documents the accomplishments of African-Americans, both slave and free, from colonial times through the Civil War.
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Free (?) African Americans

For Students 5th - 8th
Not all African-Americans were slaves in the South. Some were freed by their owners, others escaped, but none had the same rights as free whites. Read about their restrictions that were put into law. Find out about the church...
Website
Library of Congress

Loc: The African American Mosaic: Colonization

For Students 9th - 10th
Library of Congress presents a collection of primary source material on the beginnings of the American Colonization Society and efforts of free blacks to return to Liberia during the Nineteenth Century.
Primary
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

Gilder Lehrman Institute: History Now: History Now: African Americans in World War Ii

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login Required] An article about the contributions of African Americans to the war effort during World War II, despite discrimination.
Website
Other

The African American Experience

For Students 9th - 10th
Provides information on African American history. Includes information on the following topics: slave and free in St. Louis, African-American immigration, segregated religion, African-American education, segregated housing, roots of...
Website
Other

The African American Experience

For Students 9th - 10th
Provides information on African American history. Includes information on the following topics: slave and free in St. Louis, African-American immigration, segregated religion, African-American education, segregated housing, roots of...
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: African American Leaders

For Students 2nd
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about five African American leaders: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Jackie Robinson, Condoleezza Rice, George Washington Carver, anD3845:D4144lable to help students build skills in...
Lesson Plan
Discovery Education

Discovery Education: African American Population Shifts

For Teachers 9th - 10th
After completing this mini-unit, students will understand some of the economic, educational, and lifestyle reasons why African Americans have moved from one place in the United States to another.
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Neh: Edsit Ement: African American Communities in the North Before the Civil War

For Teachers 6th - 8th
In this lesson plan, middle schoolers will consider "African-American Communities in the North Before the Civil War." The plan includes worksheets and other student materials that can be found under the resource tab.
Website
Texas State Library and Archives Commission

Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Forever Free: The 1860s: 19th Century African American Legislators of Texas

For Students Pre-K - 1st
An exhibit from the Texas State Library exploring the political achievements of African-Americans in the Texas state legislature and Constitutional Convention from 1865 through the 1890s.
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: African American Abolitionists

For Students 5th - 8th
Read about three African-American abolitionists who worked alone and in concert with white abolitionists. The most radical was David Walker, who was the founder of radical abolitionism.
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: African American Leaders

For Students 2nd - 5th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] This informational text passage shares facts about famous African American leaders. This passage reinforces essential reading comprehension skills. Opportunities for vocabulary acquisition are also...
Activity
PBS

Pbs: Free Black Revolutionary Patriots

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes free African Americans who fought in the American Revolution. Also find related text: "Colin Powell on blacks fighting during the Revolutionary War," and a Teacher's Guide.
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Famous African Americans Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This biographical passage shares information about the famous African American named Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and...
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: African American Leaders

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
[Free Registration/Login Required] Mini-biographical information is shared about the following African American leaders in this passage: Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson, and Condoleeza Rice. This passage is a...
Primary
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Soldiers: Making of African American Identity: 1500 1865

For Students 9th - 10th
Photographs of and letters from black soldiers-both enslaved and free-from the late-eighteenth to mid-nineteenth centuries that examine military experience for African Americans.
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Free African Americans in the Colonial Era

For Students 5th - 8th
Read about the ways some slaves gained their freedom and where they often lived once free.
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Great Americans

For Teachers 2nd
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about five famous African Americans: Oprah Winfrey, Robert L. Curbeam Jr., Nikki Giovanni, Savion Glover, and Rosa Parks. A question sheet is available to help students build...
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Famous African Americans Oprah Winfrey

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This passage contains biographical informationa about the multi-talented Ophrah Winfrey. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and strategies and...
Activity
PBS

Pbs Africans in America: The Boston Massacre

For Students 9th - 10th
From its series entitled "Africans in America," PBS offers a comprehensive overview of the Boston Massacre from the viewpoint of the poor, the oppressed, and enslaved or free Africans. The article highlights how these individuals were...
Website
Other

African American Pioneers: Richard Allen

For Students 9th - 10th
This page from Afgen.com contains the life history of Richard Allen. Richard was the founding bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.