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...
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...
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...
National Park Service
The Battle of Stones River: A Contrast in Leadership Styles
US Commanding General William S. Rosecrans led the Union soldiers and Confederate Commanding General Braxton Bragg led the rebel army at the Battle of Stones River. Young historians compare how the leadership styles of these two...
Teach With Movies
Title: "The Yearling" - Topics: Literature/U.S.; U.S./1865-1913 & Florida
Life in the Florida swamps after the Civil War comes alive in the 1946 film adaptation of Majorie Kinnan Rawlings’s The Yearling. The film of this powerful coming-of-age story, filled with love and loss, can be used with or without a...
Curated OER
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854: Popular Sovereignty and the Political Polarization over Slavery
Why did Stephen Douglas support the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854? Why did Abraham Lincoln oppose it? Young historians examine how the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 affected the political balance between free and slave states and explore how...
Curated OER
African American Life in the Pee Dee Before the Civil War
Third graders examine the life of the African American in the Pee Dee region during slavery. In this slavery instructional activity, 3rd graders explore primary and secondary documents related to the topic and create a timeline of...
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....
PBS
African American History: Climbing the Wall
Imagine the challenge of trying to trace your family genealogy if no records were kept of births and deaths. Where would you look for information? What types of documents could provide you with the information you seek? History...
Novelinks
Nightjohn: Bloom's Taxonomy Questions
After completing Nightjohn, Gary Paulsen's young adult novel about slavery set shortly before the Civil War, readers respond to a series of questions crafted to reflect Bloom's taxonomy.
Novelinks
Nightjohn: List-Group-Label Strategy
Encourage readers of Nightjohn, Gary Paulsen's young adult novel about slavery set shortly before the Civil War, to develop their categorization and organizational skills with a strategy that asks them to list all the words they can...
Curated OER
Not Just A Man's War
Students write 2 letters from a woman who may have lived during the Civil War and 2 letters from her relative which include factual information that they have research using the Internet and other resources, along with other activities.
Curated OER
Abraham Lincoln: The Face of War
Students compare life masks and photos of Abraham Lincoln that were made before and at the end of the Civil War. In this "Faces of War" instructional activity, students analyze images of Lincoln in a historical context and create a...
Center for History and New Media
Slavery and Free Negroes, 1800 to 1860
What was life like for enslaved and free black people before the American Civil War? Explore the building tension between states and the freedom of individuals with a thorough social studies lesson. Learners of all ages explore...
Curated OER
Southern Society during the Civil War: Black Society
Students research and discuss the societal changes during the Civil War as it relates to various parts of southern society. In this southern society during the civil war lesson, students examine what life was like for slaves during the...
Curated OER
The Changing Meaning of "Due Process"
Students examine the United States Constitution and how the application for due process differs in two amendments. They research the changing definition of the term since the Civil War. They use the internet to research press coverage of...
Curated OER
Underground Railroad
Students navigate the Scholastic Underground Railroad site and listen to journey of the Underground railroad. In this Underground Railroad lesson, students use maps and compare and contrast the differences between the North and...
Curated OER
Was There an Industrial Revolution? New Workplace, New Technology, New Consumers
Students examine the changes in the U.S. in the period of industrialization before the Civil War. They analyze census data, list/describe inventions and innovations, explore various websites, conduct a Factory Simulation activity, and...
Center for History and New Media
The Impact of the Jim Crow Era on Education, 1877–1930s
Even though American slaves were officially emancipated in 1865, the effects of slavery perpetuated throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Middle and high schoolers learn about the ways that discrimination and the Jim Crow laws...
PBS
The Sixties: Dylan Plugs in and Sells Out
Before Woodstock, there was Newport. Get plugged in to the social changes of the 1960s with a lesson that looks at Bob Dylan's performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival as a symbol of the radical changes that marked the era.