While examining slavery's impact on women, historians compare and contrast the perspectives of a plantation mistress and an enslaved woman, both reflecting on the system of forced prostitution. Text analysis and written responses create...

Students examine attitudes of children from the North growing up during the time of slavery. Using documents, they discover how abolitionists tried to change people's ideas of using slaves. They explore how women used antislavery fairs...

Students compare and contrast parallels between various aspects of slavery. In this anti-slavery lesson plan students examine types of slavery from the Holocaust to contemporary issues of slavery in the world today.

Students examine five sections of the U.S. Constitution to see what the Federal Government has said about slavery, past and present. Then, class members research individuals and interest groups who directly impacted slavery compromises.

Learners investigate the abolition of slavery by examining historical documents.  In this U.S. history lesson, students view photographs of East African residents who were forced into slavery.  Learners write about the...

Students discuss Stephen Foster's depiction of slavery. Using the internet, they discover what the life of a slave was really like in the antebellum South. As a class, they discuss contemporary arguments for and against slavery.

Students explore the concept of slavery and manumission through a variety of activities. In this civil rights lesson, students gather information from primary sources, then analyze the politics and historical context of the time....

High schoolers examine the child labor situation in India. Using the internet, they research the conditions these students work under and how they are part of the debt slavery system. They read the Human Rights Watch and determine if...

Students read excepts from various government documents on the issue of slavery in America. Using the internet, they research a topic related to slavery of interest to them and present to the class their findings. They examine the life...

"Words, words, words." Despite Hamlet's opinion, words can be significant. In this inquiry lesson, middle schoolers learn how the words in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, in the view of many, lead to the American Civil War. To...

Sixth graders investigate Civil Rights by participating in role-playing activities.  For this U.S. History lesson, 6th graders research the history of slavery in order to portray a story through their debating and acting...

Students analyze the Amistad case and how it impacted slavery in the United States. They, in groups, receive a document, answers the focus questions and presents their findings to the class.

Fifth graders explore slavery conditions by viewing a video clip on the Internet. In this slave ship lesson, 5th graders discuss the transportation of black men and women from Africa to the United States in the 1700's and how poor the...

A well-designed instructional activity teaches about the history of Harriet Tubman, the Underground Railroad, and the issues of civil liberties. Young historians watch a video, access Internet resources, and engage in cooperative...

Fifth graders examine the reasons for the Civil War. They identify and explain different social and political movements of the time period as well. They discuss the impact of the Civil War on the development of the United States.

Slavery not only involved the forced migration of African people from their homes, it also meant the forced removal of people within the United States. Using data and interactive graphics, scholars see how the tragedy of human slavery...

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.

"How did the slavery system undermine the United States' democratic principles?" This question launches a study of how the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence, Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, and Article IV,...

The 2018 film Anna, One Woman's Quest for Freedom in Early Washington, D.C., offers high schoolers an opportunity to examine the sacrifices one woman endured to gain her freedom from slavery.

Learners explore slavery by reviewing the written laws intended to keep African Americans subservient. For this U.S. slavery lesson, students analyze a time-line of the history of African Americans. Learners discuss the patterns of the...

Should land be redistributed to former slaves after the Civil War? This essential question guides a lesson on the Reconstruction Era, as learners analyze primary sources (linked), recording responses on a worksheet (linked). To model the...

Students investigate communication by analyzing lyrics from a song. In this music arts lesson, students discuss slavery, the Underground Railroad and African American traditions while listening to a song called "This Train." Students...

Students begin their examination of the Declaration of Independence. Using the text, they answer questions for their citizenship interview. They also examine the role of Jefferson in creating the document and how he participated in slavery.

Upper elementary and middle school learners engage in this awesome lesson plan on the Civil War. In it, they watch streamed video, perform Internet research, engage in hands-on activities, and use their geography skills to locate...