Engage your scholars by having them create "magic lantern shows" inspired by the film Dr. Toer's Amazing Magic Lantern Show: A Different View of Emancipation. As they study the South's Reconstruction through primary sources, learners...

Pose the question to your historians: who really freed the slaves? They critically assess various arguments, using primary sources as evidence. In small groups, scholars jigsaw 5 primary source documents (linked), and fill out an...

Learners determine how President Lincoln promoted emancipation. In this slavery lesson plan, students examine primary documents, including the U.S. Constitution, to reconstruct Lincoln's attempts to end slavery and deliver the...

Students examine the contributions of African American soldiers during the Civil War. In pairs, they complete Civil War timeline worksheets. They use character cards to assume the identities of African Americans and determine whether or...

Students analyze primary and secondary sources to explore slavery and emancipation, and write letter or diary entry from point of view of slave Hannah Harris or plantation owner Robert Carter. Students then dramatize their creative...

True to its titles, this engaging and appealing presentation brings the 1860's into close focus with a number of images and statistics that would delight any Civil War buff. A few graphs allow for pupil input, such as listing the...

Your history students will be on the edges of their seats during this fascinating presentation, which details the abolition movement and slave life during the Antebellum period in the American South. Students will be left agape at the...

Easily broken into pieces for several class sessions, this presentation is a great way to transition your class out of a Civil War unit and closer to the 20th century. Engaging photographs, including relevant maps and humorous political...

Give your WWI study collaborative energy using a group research project. Groups are assigned one of the six main themes (included). Each group has an outline to guide research but will need an assignment guide. Consider supplementing the...

The eyes of an American History teacher (or Civil War buff) will open wide with this series of maps, which detail the campaigns and battles of the Civil War. Meant to supplement chapter 21 of The American Pageant, this presentation would...

The physical and economic depression of the post-war South was discouraging to Southerners. Reconstruction was inevitable but exhausting. Learn about life in the South after the war. This resource provides a lot of education, but it...

Learners evaluate the provisions of the Emancipation Proclamation. They trace the stages that led to Lincoln's formulation of this policy. Explore the range of contemporary public opinion on the issue of emancipation.

Students read the narrative, Caribbean Immigration and examine how sugar production and migration of people of African origin have been intertwined for centuries. Working in three groups, they present oral reports on the three eras of...

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.

Learners research on the Web and in books the "age of majority" in general and how it applies in their particular states. Explore, too, "emancipation" and whether this is another way for teens to earn additional rights. Students write a...

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

Students are be able to analyze the contrast between the rights and privileges referenced in the Declaration of Independence and the Maryland State Constitution in comparison to the rights and privileges of slaves. They are be able to...

Sixth graders read chapter 5 of the book Emancipation about the Civil War and complete a Civil War KWL chart. In this Civil War lesson plan, 6th graders discuss the qualities of an effective leader.

Students complete matching activities and write an essay about Black Americans in Delaware from 1639.