Was Thomas Jefferson a hypocrite? Tackle this question with primary source analysis and an essay. The packet includes historical background, a writing prompt, a combined outline and checklist, and ten primary documents paired with...

What did Jo write her stories with? How did the March sisters dress? A primary source set designed for Louisa May Alcott's Little Women prompts learners to look over images of household items and clothes from the 1860s before...

What does social security reveal about the political and social culture of the 1930s? After beginning with a brief introductory video on the impact of the Great Depression and how various Americans, such as Huey Long and Francis...

What led to the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and how might historians approach this question differently? This rich series of lessons includes a short introductory video clip, analysis of six primary source documents, and...

Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the focus of a teaching guide that introduces readers to some of the many controversies surrounding the use of the novel in classrooms. The packet includes 15 primary source excerpts and...

Being a historian requires serious sleuthing. They examine primary source documents and look for evidence, for clues that reveal who wrote the document, when, and why. After watching two historians model the process, young history...

A packet of 13 primary sources provides young historians with insight into the anti-lynching activism of civil rights Ida B. Wells. Included are images of Wells, her letters, a political cartoon, newspaper lynching announcements, and a...

Fifteen primary sources provide a context for a study of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The packet captures the excitement for the changes promised by the amendment as well as the backlash against it.

Long before modern labor unions, guilds worked to ensure that workers had a fair wage. But, in medieval Europe, they also cooperated with the government. Using a simulation and primary source analysis, young scholars become hatters in...

Was the Scopes trial more complicated than a simple debate between evolutionists and creationists? As part of a structured academic controversy (SAC) activity, pupils consider multiple perspectives of the Butler Act and engage in close...

Did Scopes violate the Butler Act? Why did so many Americans follow the Scopes trial? See analytical reading in action with a fantastic five-day lesson plan in which class members consider the historical context that provoked public...

While a catalyst for the labor movement, 146 people lost their lives in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in 1913. A series of photographs of the aftermath of the tragedy help young historians consider the impact of the fire. The...

The Harlem Renaissance brought forth many American art forms including jazz, and the writings of Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes. Using a carefully curated set of documents from the Library of Congress, pupils see the cultural...

Good primary resources, offering different perspectives on important issues and events, are hard to find. A packet of 12 primary source images, videos, audio recordings, records, and newspaper articles related to the 1960s civil rights...

What is the best way to get a point across: a petition or a protest? Using primary sources, including a petition from Susan B. Anthony and a photo of a White House protest from the early 1900s, young historians examine what women did to...

Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin has generated controversy since its publication in 1852. Here is a set of 12 primary sources that capture the controversies of the times while adding dimension and depth to any study of...

What freed enslaved people? The answer, it turns out, is complicated. Using a set of online documents and writing prompts, young historians examine a series of primary sources, including a letter from a woman asking if she was freed and...

Did the New Deal fundamentally shift the role of the American government in the economy? Your class members will examine the interpretations of various historians in answering this question, and use a variety of primary and secondary...

Introduce young historians to primary source analysis with a lesson that teaches them how to use a four-step process to analyze a photograph of a 1913 Suffrage Parade. Groups practice the process and share their observations with the...

Although popular culture tells the story of the American West simplistically, its reality is far more complex. Native American tribes—while already on the land—didn't have the same interests, and conflicts between white settlers and...

Although Westward Expansion is often romanticized, its impact was devastating on Native American communities. Primary source documents, including pictures of United States troops invading indigenous lands and Native American tribes, tell...

What do Abraham Lincoln and the Transcontinental Railroad have in common? Using a set of primary source documents, including pictures, maps, and treaties, class members link together the common themes of expansion into the American West....

Believe it or not, the plugs and wires on Alexander Graham Bell's patent application for telegraph improvements has a direct connection to devices today. Young historians examine the fine details of the patent application. After they...

Barbed wire may have made cattle farming easier, but it brought to an end the free-roaming days of the plains. No longer could Native American groups continue their nomadic lifestyle, and the days of cowboys herding large groups of...