How did black Americans contribute to colonial society in the United States and make active choices to exert some control over their lives as slaves? Explore the often overlooked yet incredibly important roles of Africans and African...

Foster reader confidence when encountering complex text and reinforce the skills readers have acquired to build and extend their understanding of text. The plan uses a section of Douglass’ narrative as an exemplar text. Directions for...

Showcase the religion, conflicts, daily life, and politics of Colonial North America. A very well-done presentation highlights all the major colonial groups, social norms, demographics, and political struggles of the time. Perfect for an...

An amazing resource, with images, rich text, and working hyperlinks. It covers one of America's most horrible crimes against humanity, slavery. Thankfully a change took place during the Reconstruction Era. Learn about the laws, key...

A reading of a New York Times review of the movie Beloved launches research into how the Civil War affected the lives of people living during this period. Creative thinkers select a person from an included list of historical figures and...

Research characteristics of slavery during the 19th century by reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Also view several informational texts, pictures, story illustrations, and primary source documents. Pupils write an expository...

Use this cross-curricular history lesson to work on your students' informational writing skills. After listening to songs and stories related to Sultana, they engage in a several activities to boost their understanding of slavery and...

Picking up at the betrayal of Toussaint L'Ouverture by Charles LeClerc during the Haitian (Saint-Domingue) Revolution, this video details the ambiguity of the role of slavery in early 1800's France. Equipped with maps, images, and...

Providing background information on a topic is key to building a deep understanding. This resource is less of a presentation and more of a complete lesson which will use images, bio information, and activities to build your students...

Slavery is a serious topic that can be challenging for middle schoolers to study. Young scholars can see firsthand through primary sources what occurred during that time period in the United States. The third of five lessons provides...

Was Thomas Jefferson a hypocrite? Tackle this question with primary source analysis and an essay. The packet includes historical background, a writing prompt, a combined outline and checklist, and ten primary documents paired with...

Pay tribute to the sixteenth president of the United States with this fun song and activity. From his birth in a Kentucky log cabin and childhood in Indiana, to the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and his eventual assassination,...

The history of the northern states' involvement in the slave trade is not widely known. This resource uses the PBS documentary, Traces of the Trade, and the nonfiction book, Children of the New England Slave Trade, to examine this aspect...

This resource is rich with primary and secondary source material regarding major events in the Atlantic world during the Age of Revolution. While there are suggested classroom activities toward the beginning of the resource, its true...

What is sectionalism? A loyalty to the interest of one's region, or sectionalism, is really what sparked the Civil War. Learn about the South's attempt at expanding slavery westward and the power struggle between the two regions...

Learners view and analyze various artists' representations of slavery. They create their own illustrations of slavery.

Young scholars investigate African American culture by reading aloud an African folk tale and illustrating the tale. They use their illustrations to create a book or a bulletin board that retells the folk tale.

After engaging learners in a set of wonderful lessons of the Civil War, test their knowledge with a Civil-War-themed Jeopardy game. Included here are 25 Civil War questions related to battles, key people, events, and slavery. 

Oh I love the blues! Here is a wonderful four page reading passage that focuses on the Delta Blues. It covers topics such as, the music's cultural influences, origin, form, terminology, and significance. A great way to integrate...

Students explore the Underground Railroad communication system.  For this cross curriculum fine arts and United States history Civil War lesson, students view several websites that feature quilts constructed by slaves during the...

Having questions to focus on during a class lecture can help learners know what topics to hone in on. Here are 61 short answer questions, intended to accompany a lecture on the Civil War. They can use the packet as a study guide, for...

The period of slavery and division in the United States is the topic of this lecture guide. Learners will answer each of the 32 questions as they view a slide show or lecture on the Free Soil Party, Fugitive Slave Act, Missouri...

Could you win a million dollars by being good at your US history? Maybe not, but kids can pretend they will, as they play Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Civil War Edition. There are 15 fantastic questions about slavery, Lincoln, the...

High schoolers use a map of the Missouri Compromise to explain the geographical changes it brought to the U.S. and why the changes provoked a debate over the expansion of slavery in the U.S.