North is to factory as South is to plantation—the perfect analogy for the economy that set up the Civil War! The first lesson in a series of five helps teach beginners why the economy creates a driving force for conflict. Analysis of...

North and South: two opposite directions and two opposite economic and social systems in time of the Civil War. Pupils peruse census websites and primary source photographs to understand what life was like for the everyday person before...

The American Civil War was a complex test of a relatively young democracy in the mid-nineteenth century. Discuss the events and factors that led to the Civil War with a thorough slideshow presentation.

The unseemly world of American slavery is on display in these slides, which include informational images about slavery in the South. From maps about cotton production to graphs about slave-owning families, these images will make a...

Women's lifestyles before the Civil War made a huge impact as a point of causation. Give middle schoolers the opportunity to view firsthand the lives of women before the Civil War. They analyze primary source documents, view photographs,...

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...

This is a fantastic resource designed for learners to envision what it was like for the three million African-Americans who migrated to urban industrial centers of the northern United States between 1910 and 1940. After reading a...

The industrialization and urbanization of Alabama during the New South era (1865-1914) is the focus of a instructional activity that asks class members to use primary source documents to examine the impact of industrialization on Alabama...

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...

Eighth graders select their own plot of land in the Backcountry to settle in the 1700s in SC.  Students first find a point for settlement and sketch out the best route from the Lowcountry to arrive at the point.  They...

Considering Christopher Crowe's Mississippi Trial, 1955 with reading groups or as a whole-class text? Check out the background information and instructional ideas in this seven-page resource packet.

The National Women's History Museum provides this interactive resource that permits users to explore women who played key roles during the Progressive Era in the quest for workers' rights, the Settlement House Movement, the Suffrage...

Adult language learners will benefit from this 20-slide presentation about active and passive voice constructions. Learners craft active and passive voice questions in the simple present and simple past tenses.

Slaves laboring in the cotton fields of the old South singing joyously may have convinced overseers that their workforce was happy and content, but in truth, these spirituals contained secret codes. After viewing a short video about...

Eighth graders interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this South Carolina history lesson, 8th graders examine sources that require them to examine the life of William Ellison, a black slave owner.

Students analyze illustrations of workers in the 19th and 20th centuries. In this social science lesson, students examine photographs of workers and identify the types of work that were available in the 19th century compared to the 20th...

Seventh graders identify and explain the economic differences between the North and the South incorporating photographs and a Venn Diagram to interpret the two sides. They complete a KWL and T-chart to assist them with their task for the...

Third graders explore the Charleston Railroad. In this South Carolina history lesson, 3rd graders examine the impact of the rail line on economy and citizens of the state. Students create posters to advertising...

Students investigate the personal accounts of slaves in the United States. They participate in various activities according to grade level to examine the role of slavery in the South.

High schoolers are introduced to an early American inventor, Eli Whitney, and his experiences with the Patent Office. The economic importance of the cotton gin and its impact on slavery are also addressed.

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.

Learners read the book, The Great Migration by National Geographic, then complete this set of related worksheets. They review vocabulary, complete five short answer questions, discuss push and pull factors for the migration, then write a...

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.

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.