Mr. Nussbaum
Battle of Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter, the site of the Civil War's first battle, taught the Union and the Confederacy an important lesson: they would both need to take stronger steps than anticipated if they wanted to win the war. History pupils read about the...
Curated OER
Invetories Slave owner or not?
Primary source analysis is a great way to bring history to life. Learners examine a series of personal inventories taken from Southern white males who died during the Civil War era. They analyze the documents to determine the social and...
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....
Curated OER
Lessons in Looking: Contraband in Paintings
Using the paintings On to Liberty and A Ride for Liberty, 10th graders analyze historical perspectives on life after the Civil War. They attempt to determine what the Civil War meant for free slaves, then read a paragraph highlighting...
Curated OER
The Pre-Civil War Era (1815–1850)
In this online interactive U.S. history worksheet, learners respond to 9 short answer and essay questions about 19th century America. Students may check some of their answers on the interactive worksheet.
Curated OER
Homer's Civil War Veteran: Battlefield to Wheat Field
Young scholars examine Civil War-themed artwork. For this visual arts lesson, students compare and contrast paintings by Winslow Homer and Timothy O'Sullivan. Young scholars analyze the symbolism in the artwork representing...
Annenberg Foundation
A Nation Divided
Can a presidential election cause a civil war? Learners research the events surrounding the presidential election of 1860 in a lesson that explores America's history. Using maps, videos, and primary sources, they uncover, brainstorm, and...
National Constitution Center
Dred Scott v. Sanford
Dred Scott v. Sanford was a watershed moment for the country—and a key moment leading up to the Civil War. Using videos and analytical worksheets, scholars consider the facts of the case and then develop their own arguments before the...
PBS
An Attack on Syria- What Would You Do?
Has United States military intervention in the conflicts of other countries always been warranted? After reviewing a brief background on contemporary US conflicts and reading articles describing the civil war in Syria, your learners...
Curated OER
Cotton Pickin' Before and After the Civil War
Students explore the impact of cotton. In this economics lesson, students listen to a lecture presented by their instructor on the Southern crop of cotton and its impact on the South prior to and following the Civil War. Students...
Curated OER
Slavery in America at the Time of the Civil War: Navigating a Website
Students discover how to navigate websites. In this Civil War lesson, students conduct research on slavery as they visit a website to experience oral, written, and digital texts and performances by slaves from the Civil War era.
PBS
Malcolm X: Minister and Civil Rights Activist
Any study of the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement would be incomplete without an examination of the life of Malcolm X. Class members view a short biographical video and analyze primary source documents to gain an understanding of the...
Mr. Nussbaum
Abraham Lincoln Reading Comprehension—The Middle Years (Part 2)
Abraham Lincoln's face may only be worth one cent, but the online reading passage and questions about his life are an invaluable resource. Pupils read a passage about Lincoln's experience with the Illinois Legislature, earning his law...
Curated OER
Was There an Industial Revolution? Americans at Work Before the Civil War
Students tabulate the First Industrial Revolution where a significant number of inventions and innovations appeared transforming American life. Cite examples of change (ex. telegraph) in the lives of Americans during the era of question....
American Chemical Society
Norbert Rillieux, Thermodynamics and Chemical Engineering
The man who invented the earliest examples of chemical engineering was an American-born, French-educated, free man of color before the Civil War, and went on to translate Egyptian hieroglyphics. There is something of...
Carolina K-12
African Americans in the United States Congress During Reconstruction
The Civil Rights Act of 1866, which granted citizenship to all males in the U.S., resulted in the first African Americans to be elected to Congress. Class members research 11 of these men, the challenges they faced, and craft...
Curated OER
American Civil War
Eighth graders read a collection of stories about the Civil War. Based upon their readings, they perform various activities to reinforce facts about the Civil War. Students create time lines, maps and reports about the war. They...
Curated OER
Civil War "Who Am I?" Worksheet
In this American Civil War figures activity, students create 20 questions that they will ask to find out the identity of the mystery war figure they are assigned.
National Endowment for the Humanities
A Debate Against Slavery
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...
Curated OER
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...
Center for History and New Media
A Look at Virginians During Reconstruction, 1865-1877
The transition between rebellion to reunification was not smooth after the Civil War. Young historians compare primary and secondary source documents in a study of the Reconstruction era in Virginia, noting the rights that were not...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Cells for Sale - Convict Leasing in Alabama
The benefits and drawbacks of convict leasing following the Civil War are the focus of a lesson that asks groups to examine primary source materials to gain an understanding of the program before individuals decide whether they...
Teaching American History
A Word Fitly Spoken: Lincoln's Most Famous Speeches on Union
Abraham Lincoln's words carried American democracy through one of its most tenuous and violent moments in the nation's short history. Explore an interactive timeline that places events of the 19th century in the context of Lincoln's...
Annenberg Foundation
Antebellum Reform
Scholars investigate the Antebellum period in the United States in an engaging lesson. Groups analyze technological, religious, economic, and social changes occurring during the time period prior to the Civil War. Using their new...