Northerners, Southerners, and abolitionists all had a different perspective on the American Civil War. To understand these different points of view, class members analyze primary documents including speeches by Abraham Lincoln, the...

The Price of Freedom: Americans at War is a collection of 13 resources from a printable exhibition curated by the Smithsonian Museum of American History.  Each resource begins with a summary and a table of contents. The resources...

The three lessons in the Civil War: Activity Pack collection provide young history detectives with an opportunity to examine artifacts the reveal African-American involvement in the United States Civil War. They watch videos to learn...

A three-lesson unit looks at the United States Civil War. In the first lesson, high schoolers analyze primary source materials to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the Union and Confederate armies at the beginning of the war. The...

Excerpts from Reconstruction: America After the Civil War, Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s documentary series provide young historians with insight into the struggles the country faced in the years after the Civil war. Viewers learn about the...

Designed for teachers, a 15-lesson collection curated by the Smithsonian, examines how wars have impacted American society. Each resource includes a lesson plan, background information, a materials list, maps, images, and worksheets. An...

A five-resource collection looks at the complex series of events that led to the American Civil War. Using primary source documents, scholars research the social and economic issues that led to the country-fracturing conflict.

Based on contextual essays from the book "Hispanic Americans in Congress," four lesson plans examine the Hispanic pioneers who served on Capitol Hill from 1822 to 2012. The first lesson features materials from the Louisiana Purchase to...

Seven lessons make up a unit about African Americans who served in the United States Congress from 1870 to 2007. Young historians read contextual essays, engage in activities, examine primary source images, and artifacts to gain an...

Seven lessons examine the Reconstruction Era that followed the United States Civil War. The series of detailed lessons provide background information on the era, teaching strategies, videos, and primary source materials.

A three-lesson collection from PBS’s History Detective series has young historians investigating women's contributions to American history. Young sleuths search for clues in artifacts, images, and videos. They hold a mock convention,...

The mission statement of the National Museum of American History’s Becoming US: Teaching Immigration and Migration History in the 21st Century series is to provide “educational resources for high school teachers and students to learn...

Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow is the anchor text in a 10-lesson unit that looks at some of the issues of race and justice in American society and how issues have changed over time. High schoolers look at the history of race and...

The National Constitution Center offers this collection of informative and entertaining videos intended to start conversations and develop critical thinking skills. Viewers learn about the rights granted by the constitution, about the...

A seven-resource curriculum set presents primary source materials that permits young historians to examine the programs and initiatives advanced by Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt,...

Introduce middle schoolers to the roles and powers of the three branches of the United States government, with the 21 resources in the C-SPAN Civics collection. Sorted into the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial...