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Persuasion in Historical Context: The Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address is a powerful text. Use it to teach persuasion and the importance of word choice. The activity detailed here includes a scaffolded background knowledge activity that includes image analysis of photos from the Civil...
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Harriet Tubman Warns "Kill the Snake Before It Kills You"
Harriet Tubman developed a rich extended metaphor for slavery and the imperative for Lincoln to abolish it in this dictated letter from 1862. Young historians read the original document and interpret Tubman's allegory with a pair of...
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Gender, Sex, and Slavery
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...
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A House Dividing: The Growing Crisis of Sectionalism in Antebellum America
High schoolers explore the debates over American slavery and the power of the American federal government for the first half of the 19th century and how the regional economies and political events produced a widening split between the...
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Rights and Responsibilities, Is It Breaking the Law?
Students investigate the life and trial of Rev. John Mahan who was involved with the illegal Underground Railroad. The issue of breaking the law to help slaves escape is examined in this lesson.
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Freedom Timeline
Students explore the issue of the morality of slavery in the 18th and 19th centuries in the United States and construct a timeline containing freedom facts. Freedon issues and the rights and responsibilities of the time are examined.
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The American Civil War: A Nation Divided (1861-1865)
Intended for use with atlases, this presentation details the causes and effects of the Civil War. It includes historical pictures of battles and discussion points about the technology which emerged during (and for) the war. The final...
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Landmarks of the Underground Railroad
Ninth graders explore the impact of the Underground Railroad. In this slavery lesson plan, 9th graders read about the Shadrach Minkins case and discuss the details of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Students consider how the Underground...
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Landmarks of the Underground Railroad
Young scholars explore the impact of the Underground Railroad. In this slavery lesson, students read slave accounts and discuss the details of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. Young scholars consider the impact of anti-slavery efforts in...
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Abolition of Slavery
Students examine the Triangle Trade Route. In this slave trade lesson, students investigate the profits brought by the goods and people traded. Students also participate in a classroom activity that requires them to replicate how slaves...
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Abolishing Slavery In America
Students discover details about abolition. In this slavery lesson plan, students watch Abolishing Slavery in America and then conduct further research about the events that took place on the Zong and Amistad. Students write essays that...
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This Guilty Land
Students investigate the actions and motives of John Brown. In this abolition lesson, students discover details about Brown's background as a free-state and abolition supporter. Students discuss his role as that of a martyr or terrorist....
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Underground Railroad
Students explore the Underground Railroad. In this U.S. history and technology lesson, students research an assigned topic related to the Underground Railroad, such as "abolitionist," "conductor," or "station houses." Students design a...
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Fredrick Douglass...A Digital History
Seventh graders research the life of Fredrick Douglass. In this Fredrick Douglass instructional activity, 7th graders read about his life and discuss it. They write poetry describing his experience as a slave and create their own...
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Examining Slave Auction Documents
Students compare the social and cultural characteristics of the North, the South, and the West during the antebellum period, including the lives of African Americans and social reform movements such as abolition and women’s rights.
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Building a Memorial to the Underground Railroad
Students interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this Underground Railroad lesson, students examine the attributes and function of the Underground Railroad in order to...
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The 1808 Slave Trade Abolition Deadline
Students study the trans-Atlantic Slave trade. In this slave trade lesson, students study the Constitutional Convention Notes and the impact on United States slavery. Students research the slave trade database and other primary sources...
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Slavery and Abolition: Three Unforgettable Names
Students research the people and events involved in the abolitionist movement prior to the U.S. Civil War. They read about and discuss the roles of Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman, and John Brown. Students complete a word splash, Venn...
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Expansion and Reform: Applying the Declaration of Independence
Students conduct inquiries and research-acquiring, organizing, analyzing, interpreting, evaluating, and communicating facts, themes, and general principles operating in American history. They use the Declaration of Independence to...
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Reforms of the Mid-1800's
Seventh graders complete a unit of lessons on the reform movements of the mid-1800's in the U.S. They participate in an Internet scavenger hunt, analyze primary source documents, and develop and perform a simulation of a mid-19th century...
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The Underground Railroad Before and After the Fugitive Slave Law
Students consider the impact of the Fugitive Slave Law on the activity of the Underground Railroad. In this slavery lesson, students examine primary documents that describe the role of the Underground Railroad during the fight for...
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Underground Railroad Activity
Eighth graders practice their interviewing skills as they learn about the Underground Railroad. In this slavery lesson, 8th graders discuss the existence and operation of the railroad. Students then interview one another in the personas...
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Slavery: Matching
For this slavery identification worksheet, students match the 11 terms and names associated with slavery in the United States to the appropriate descriptions.
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Abolitionists
In this online interactive history worksheet, students respond to 14 multiple choice, matching, and true/false questions about American abolitionists. Students may check some of their answers on the interactive worksheet.