Ambitiously spanning American history from 1865 to 1941, this video discusses and clarifies topics such as women's suffrage, the sinking of the Maine, and the development of America as a world empire. Maps and photographs will engage...

The American Civil War is the theme of this packet of materials prepared for Black History Month. Class members learn about the roles that African Americans played during the Civil War and examine the African-American experience after...

Anti-democratic violence is not new in the United States. Learners watch videos and then compare and contrast the 1873 Colfax and the 1898 Wilmington massacres. They then watch a video about the Capitol Hill insurrection of 2021 and...

The United States faced a myriad of difficult questions at the end of the Civil War:  What should they do about the newly freed people? How should the South be treated for the rebellion? How to rebuild the Union? Using primary source...

Young scientists meet Edward Alexander Bouchet who, in 1876, was the first African American to receive a PhD in Physics. This two-part lesson first looks at the debate between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois about the type of...

In 1954 in Brown v. Board of Education the Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Yet in 2022 some schools still are. To gain an understanding of the complexity of the question, "What does it...

To launch a study of racial segregation and integration, young historians first watch a news video about a prom in Georgia that was first integrated in 2013. They then compare the goals in Lincoln's Gettysburg Address to King's "I Have a...

The debate over voting rights continues. To begin their study of voting rights, class members first vote on proposed new classroom rules. After a discussion of the activity, groups are given a copy of the 1965 Alabama Literacy Test and...

Why did African American voters switch from the Republican Party to the Democratic party during the Depression Era? That is the question young historians attempt to answer as they study primary source documents from the period. The focus...

Reconstruction amendments: a helping hand or another form of slavery? An inquisitive lesson plan compares the Reconstruction legislation that ended slavery, granted citizenship, and protected voting right for African American men....

From the Louisiana Purchase to the Spanish American War, the history of the United States is intertwined with the story of Hispanic Americans. Using an article about Hispanics in Congress during the 1800s, learners research their lives...

Despite the passing of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, as well as the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the struggle to ensure fair voter registration and election procedures continues. Young historians...

Escaping Enslaved people attempting to escape didn't need a ticket to ride on the Underground Railroad. Here is a packet of primary sources that reveal the kind of courage and determination they did need to face the challenges to gain...

Frederic Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, although dissimilar in their backgrounds, were united in their views about slavery. A set of 14 primary sources permits scholars to examine the views of these two powerful men.

Fifteen primary sources provide a context for a study of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The packet captures the excitement for the changes promised by the amendment as well as the backlash against it.

Vivandieres and cantinieres, nurses and soldiers, loyalists and unionists. A primary source set provides young historians an opportunity to investigate the many roles women played in the United States Civil War.