Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Annenberg Learner: America's History in the Making: Civil War, a Nation Divided

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A wonderful resource using primary and secondary source materials to explore many facets of the Civil War from the war itself to its impact on the home front. Includes video and text downloads.
Website
Digital History

Digital History: Why Do People Fight? The Causes of the Civil War [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
Throughout the years since the end of the Civil War, historians have been weighing in on the causes of that terrible time in the history of the United States. Interpretations have changed over the generations. Read the questions that...
Primary
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Primary Source Set: Secession of the Southern States

For Students 9th - 10th
This collection uses primary sources to explore the secession of southern states from the United States prior to the Civil War.
Primary
University of Groningen

American History: Essays: Black Lost Cause. Colored Service in Confederate Army

For Students 9th - 10th
This well-researched extensive essay by Peter Stam looks at the issue of the number of African Americans serving in the Confederate Army as soldiers. By examining information from many historians, some of whom turn out to be unreliable,...
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Northern Homefront

For Students 5th - 8th
The military-industrial complex thrived in the North during the Civil War, but read about how inflation affected the ordinary worker. See how the role of women expanded to fill in for men who were away fighting. Women also had an impact...
Handout
Forum Romanum

Outlines of Roman History: Reforms of Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus

For Students 9th - 10th
This chapter in William Morey's 1901 text discusses the land reforms of the Gracchi brothers. Find out how well they worked and the problems they caused.
Article
University of Groningen

American History: Essays: The Black Lost Cause:critical Analysis of Examples

For Students 9th - 10th
Discusses the research by historians to try to determine the extent to which African Americans fought for the Confederate cause. They examined letters, service records, anecdotes, photographs, pension records, etc. but were unable to say...
Article
University of Groningen

American History: Essays: The Black Lost Cause: Elaboration

For Students 9th - 10th
Explains how the idea of African Americans fighting in large numbers for the Confederate cause is a wrong one that has been propagated by untrained historians who used unreliable sources.
Primary
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Primary Source Set: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

For Students 9th - 10th
This collection uses primary sources to explore Louisa May Alcott's novel, Little Women.
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Pottawatomie Creek Massacre

For Students 5th - 8th
John Brown, seeking revenge for the sack of Lawrence, Kansas, made Kansas even more bloody. Read about the Pottawatomie Massacre and its reverberations throughout Kansas.
Article
University of Groningen

American History: Essays: Black Lost Cause: Implications of Colored Service

For Students 9th - 10th
Discusses the difficulties involved in developing a true picture of how many African Americans actively supported the Confederate cause.
Website
PBS

Pbs: American Roots Music

For Students 9th - 10th
If teaching a unit about the history of popular music in America, this PBS web site supporting their four-part TV broadcast of a few years ago would make a great resource. Includes lesson plans and oral histories too.
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Dred Scott Decision

For Students 5th - 7th
Read the terms of the Dred Scott decision which determined that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. See why this decision was so controversial and completely unacceptable to the northerners, thus driving an additional wedge...