Curated OER
The Antebellum South
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...
Civil War Trust
Contrasting the North and South before the War
Learners create a standing cube with four panels that display information on the North and South's economy, geography and climate, society, and means of transportation before the Civil War. Through discussion and reading informational...
Curated OER
The Antebellum South (2)
In this online interactive American history worksheet, students answer 10 multiple choice questions regarding the Antebellum South. Students may submit their answers to be scored.
Curated OER
Before Brother Fought Brother: People and Places in the North and South
Students use census records to research and compare the population and economies in two counties within the same valley (Franklin Country Pennsylvania (North) and Augusta County, Virginia (South) in the pre Civil War era.
Curated OER
Buying, Selling, and Trading in Antebellum South Carolina
Students research the role of general stores in the development of communities. For this South Carolina history lesson, students study the economic development of early U.S. communities. Students write essays and create advertisements...
Livaudais-Baker English Classroom
Kindred
This first in a series of four resources is designed for instructors to use Octavia E. Butler's Kindred in their classes. The packet includes an overview of the unit, a day-to-day calendar, links to background articles, and reading...
Curated OER
Slavery in the Antebellum South
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.
Library of Virginia
Antebellum Freedom
From indentured servitude to involuntary race-based servitude, slavery has taken many forms in American history. Class members examine three manumission petitions that reveal how the rights of African Americans and African American...
Curated OER
Running for Freedom: The FUgitive Slave law and the Coming of the Civil War
In order to understand the complicated nature of slave laws during the Civil War, learners compare and contrast an abolitionist poster and a runaway slave ad. They use an attached worksheet to consider each primary source document, then...
Curated OER
Social Studies: The Ideology of Slavery
Students examine the development of racial stereotyping beginning with the antebellum years. They research how blackface minstrel songs reinforced the antebellum mindset of African-Americans. Secondly, students investigate "Uncle Tom's...
Crafting Freedom
Thomas Day's Letter to His Daughter, Mary Ann
Why is a letter a better way to learn about a person than a different primary source? Explore Thomas Day's ideas and advice to his daughter in a letter from 1851, which details the struggles of the American South before the Civil War....
University of Richmond
Canals 1820-1860
While canals are not a common mode of transportation today, they were part of the fuel for America's industrialization. However, most of them were located in the North, also feeding regional differences and sectionalism. Using an...
Library of Virginia
Life as a Liberated People
Imagine having no control over your life and then suddenly having to provide for yourself. Such was the challenge faced by many American slaves after emancipation. Class members are asked to consider these challenges are they examine...
Curated OER
Visual History of the Civil War III
Eighth graders examine the Civil War. In this Civil War lesson, 8th graders analyze various images about the Civil War. Students write an essay in relation to the images of the Civil War.
Annenberg Foundation
Slavery and Freedom
How do nineteenth-century texts by African American and Native American writers contribute to the country's ideals of freedom and individuality? Learners explore the topic by watching and discussing a video, reading biographies, writing...
Curated OER
The Colonization of Liberia
Students analyze how slavery shaped social and economic life in the South. They study methods of passive and active resistance to slavery, and the similarities and differences between African-American and white abolitionists.
Curated OER
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.
Curated OER
When Rice Was King
Students examine the origins of rice production in the South. They identify the steps involved in rice cultivation, examine photos of plantation life, conduct interviews, and research the economic base of their own community.
University of Richmond
The Forced Migration of Enslaved People 1810-1860
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...
Curated OER
U.S. History Worksheet #75
Get the facts straight when it comes to the Reconstruction Era! In this United States history worksheet, learners utilize a word bank of 10 terms or phrases to answer 10 fill in the blank questions about the nation following the Civil...
Curated OER
Free Market Labor vs. Slave Labor
Young scholars summarize support for free market labor vs. slave labor in antebellum America. They explain how existing economic conditions influence support for free market labor vs. slave labor.
Curated OER
Primary Source Adventures: Runaway Slaves Lesson Plan
Fourth graders examine social changes in Texas during last half of ninteenth century relating to the institution of slavery. They brainstorm methods that unhappy slaves may have used to avoid obeying their masters, and read and discuss...
Curated OER
Slavery, Manumission, and Freedom: Free Blacks in Charleston before the Civil War
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....
Curated OER
African Americans: 1800 - 1870
Students explore living and working environment of both slave and free African Americans from places throughout the United States.