Curated OER
The Brief American Pageant: The Second War for Independence and the Upsurge of Nationalism
Use this series of bright, informative maps to illustrate important events of America's infancy. Detailing the Missouri Compromise, the Battle of New Orleans, and the Presidential Election of 1812, this presentation would be a good...
Curated OER
An Early Threat of Secession: The Missouri Compromise of 1820 and the Nullification Crisis
Students analyze an interactive map of the Missouri Compromise to identify the regions and their relation to slavery. In this pre-civil war era lesson plan, students read primary source documents and research online to answer questions...
American Battlefield Trust
Pre-1861: Disunion
Nat Turner, John Brown, and Abraham Lincoln all played a key role in the run-up to the bloody American Civil War. Using a PowerPoint, timeline activity, and essay prompt, young historians consider the roles of these men and more to...
Curated OER
Sectionalism, Popular Sovereignty and Secession
Young scholars read and discuss background material on several key decisions that played a role in the Civil War including the Missouri Compromise, the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Dredd Scott Decision. They create a timeline and write an...
Curated OER
Sectionalism
Students examine sectionalism. In this sectionalism lesson, students explore reasons sectionalism developed. Students realize the conflicts that led to the Civil War and how sectionalism affected citizens on the border of Kansas and...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Newscast on the Battles of the Ironclad Ships
Fifth graders create multi-media newscasts based on their knowledge of Civil War battles of the ironclad ships.
Curated OER
Before Brother Fought Brother: People and Places in the North and South
Young scholars 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
A Nation Divided: Why Couldn't They Just Get Along?
Fourth graders examine both perspectives of the Civil War as related to the differing economies. In this nation divided instructional activity, 4th graders view primary sources, examine paper money and a political chart, and review...
Curated OER
The Battle Over Reconstruction: The Aftermath of Reconstruction
Students examine the Reconstruction Era. In this American history lesson, students explore the condition of the United States following the Civil War as they read statistical data. Students analyze the Reconstruction policies to...
Curated OER
Causes of the Civil War
Students identify the various causes leading to the Civil War. Students create a timeline of the actual events that led to it. Students form small groups and read from one of the included paragraphs about the causes of the war to each...
Curated OER
How does it feel? Why is the Civil Rights Movement so Important?
Fifth graders study the Civil War. In this US history lesson, 5th graders simulate what life was like during the Civil War by having two groups with one group given more materials than the other group. Students then draw a...
Curated OER
How We Got to Kansas-Nebraska
Students explore the causes of the Civil War. In this lesson plan on slavery students use primary sources to examine the evolution of the issue of slavery and in the American political system. Students will then write a follow-up...
Curated OER
The Brief American Pageant: Drifting Toward Disunion
A series of maps take viewers through the Antebellum period in American history. Focusing on the elections of Buchanan and Lincoln, as well as the Southern opposition to secession, the slideshow would make a good companion to a lecture...
Curated OER
The Brief American Pageant: Renewing the Sectional Struggle
A panorama of the mid-19th century in America, this series of images present several issues that were prevalent before the Civil War. Territorial and social conflicts were heated during this time, and one map in particular shows a...
Curated OER
Election of 1860
Learners determine how the presidential election of 1860 led to the American Civil War. In this election of 1860 lesson plan, students discover details regarding the election and hold their own mock debate and election. Learners also...
Cornell College
Dred Scott v. Sandford Supreme Court Decision
Dred Scott was a harbinger of the Civil War. An enslaved man claimed freedom because his owner had taken him into free territory. Not only did the Supreme Court rule that Dred Scott and his wife were to remain enslaved, but it also ruled...
Curated OER
Issues that Divided the Nation
In this history issues instructional activity, students write supporting statements on how each of these issues lead to the Civil War and answer short answer questions about them. Students complete 8 questions total.
Curated OER
The Plight of Four Million Newly Emancipated Slaves: Reconstruction - 1865-1877
Students study the Reconstruction Era after the US Civil War. In this Reconstruction lesson set, students examine the problems that were encountered by the South after the Civil War, look at different plans for Reconstruction, and...
Central Bucks School District
Making Generalizations
Being able to recognize patterns, craft generalizations, and draw conclusions based on information in a text passage are essential critical thinking skills. Encourage learners to hone these skills with a instructional activity that asks...
National First Ladies' Library
The Debate on Slavery
Young historians research the debate over slavery; some students take the pro-slavery side and others the anti-slavery side. They take the role of a character such as a plantation owner, a legislator, a free Black, a slave, or a northern...
Curated OER
The 1808 Slave Trade Abolition Deadline
Students study the trans-Atlantic Slave trade. For this slave trade lesson, students study the Constitutional Convention Notes and the impact on United States slavery. Students research the slave trade database and other primary sources...
Curated OER
To Compromise or Not to Compromise: The Missouri Question
Students evaluate the fairness of the Missouri Compromise. They read the Missouri Compromise and discuss how it reflected the North-South, anti-slavery and pro-slavery division in the country. They work in groups to debate the Missouri...
Curated OER
Stories of Freedom and Justice: Learning Resources
Students are introduce to the topic of nonviolence and civil rights by watching a video. In this stories of freedom lesson, students examine the Supreme Court's role in interpreting the U.S. Constitution. Students analyze how conflict...
Curated OER
Sectionalism, Popular Sovereignty, and Secession
Pupils examine sequence of national events that resulted in the Civil War by using primary sources, and creating timelines and maps.