Complete learning module with lesson plan, video, vocabulary and activities on free speech and social media. Students examine arguments through video and text and debate to what extent should social media be protected as free speech...

This site from the Douglass Archive provides the text of Frederick Douglass's speech "A Plea for Free Speech in Boston."

Robert LaFollette was an engine behind the Progressive movement. His brief biography here recounts his actions in political office and his devotion to labor issues and civil liberties.

This mini-lesson covers the basics of the Supreme Court's decision that allowed schools to require students to salute the flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Students learn about the First Amendment and how the interests of...

Dave Winer ponders the issues of privacy on the Internet, citing an email from Bill Gates and discussing digital encryption. Goes into depth about the debate on free speech and censorship of the internet.

A learning module that begins with "Elie Wiesel's 'The Perils of Indifference' Speech," accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through...

A learning module that begins with "Red Coud's Speech after Wounded Knee" by Chief Red Cloud, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online...

Learning module with primary resources and questions for discussion on the Copperheads and the limits of free speech and government criticism in times of war.

Ben Tillman, senator from South Carolina, gave a speech at the Democratic Convention in 1896, advocating for the free coinage of silver, the same issue addressed in a later speech by William Jennings Bryan. Read Tillman's speech here,...

[Free Registration/Login Required] This resource provides activities and assignments for The Merchant of Venice including looking at 16th century Venice, the societal structure and hierarchy, and at Portia's speeches.

Describes what happened to Germany at the end of World War II and the start of the Cold War, how it was divided into East and West Germany with the construction of the Berlin Wall. Western countries worked to rehabilitate their half of...

This resource presents lessons on the First Amendment. It contains many resources for use with children, and links to primary source documents.

A learning module that begins with "Booker T. Washington vs. W.E.B. Du Bois" an excerpt from the "Atlanta Compromise" speech, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be...

This archive from Vanderbilt University contains an "extensive and complete" collection of television news broadcasts. "The collection holds more than 30,000 individual network evening news broadcasts from the major U.S. national...

A learning module that begins with "Capitalism Will Eat Democracy-- Unless We Speak Up" by Yanis Varoufakis, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or...

A learning module that begins with "The Leaders Who Ruined Africa and the Generation Who Can Fix It" by Fred Swaniker, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a...

A learning module that begins with "The Man in the Arena" by President Theodore Roosevelt, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online...

The House Un-American Activities Committee gained noteriety in the 1950s with Joseph McCarthy and his witch hunts. The committee was still in existence in the early 1960s. Read this brief article to see what it was investigating then.

This mini-activity covers the basics of the Supreme Court's decision that burning the American flag is a form of political speech protected by the First Amendment. Students learn about the First Amendment freedom of speech and the...

The second of three pages of simple definitions for literary terms. This page, F - R, covers forty-seven terms from "Fable," to "Romance."

[Free Registration/Login Required] Students reading primary source documents to solve a problem surrounding a historical question. This inquiry instructional activity allows students to explore the social and economic factors that fueled...

[Free Registration/Login Required] Students use primary source documents to solve a problem surrounding a historical question. This document-based inquiry lesson allows students to read two Populist speeches in order to explain why the...

[Free Registration/Login Required] Students use primary source documents to investigate a central historical question. In this investigation, students contextualize President Theodore Roosevelt's turn-of-the-century speeches and letters...

[Free Registration/Login Required] JFK was known for being supportive of the Civil Rights Movement. In this instructional activity, students will review two speeches and evaluate the devotion the President had to civil rights.