Carolina K-12
Group Project: Freedom Parade
Parades are a great way to celebrate. Get young historians into the festivities by asking them to create an informational float for a Freedom Parade. Picking a topic from the provided list or suggesting one of their own, class members...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
George Washington: General, President, Slave Owner
Times change; behaviors that were once considered acceptable can be seen in a very different light. Middle schoolers revisit the legacy of George Washington in a three-day lesson plan that uses primary sources to reveal Washington as a...
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
Making a Patriot Inquiry: Are Independence, Freedom, and Liberty the Same Thing?
As part of a study of the American Revolution, class members engage in an inquiry-based lesson that has them watch a scene from the play Slave Spy, examine multiple primary source documents, and then discuss the similarities and...
Student Achievement Partners
You've Been Lied To: The REAL Christopher Columbus
Looking for resources that explore alternative perspectives of the Christopher Columbus story? Check out the images, videos, cartoons, primary source documents, and other texts in a packet designed to spark debate.
Curated OER
Early Colonial Labor Force: Indentured Servants and Slaves
Learners study the labor force used during Colonial America. In this Colonial America lesson, students discuss labor types used in the colonies. Learners read about indentured servants and the use of African slaves. Students use the...
Curated OER
Slavery, Manumission, and Freedom: Free Blacks in Charleston before the Civil War
Students explore the concept of slavery and manumission through a variety of activities. In this civil rights lesson, students gather information from primary sources, then analyze the politics and historical context of the time....
Curated OER
Virginia History Mini Quiz: Tobacco and Slavery
In this history of Virginia worksheet, students complete a quiz over the tobacco and slave industry that existed in the Virginia colony. Their objective is to illustrate the facts they know about cash crops, tobacco plantations, and...
Curated OER
How Africans Became Slaves for the Colonists
Students complete a t-chart identifying the advantages and disadvantages of having indentured servants. In groups, they research the use of serfs and slaves in various cultures and share their responses. To end the lesson, they...
Curated OER
What makes a Southern Colony a Southern Colony
Eighth graders answer questions put to them by the teacher that are intended to help them understand the different lives of slaves and indentured servants in colonial times. They make a list of Aristocrats and Farmers from their text...
Curated OER
The Trading Post with the Most: Colonial Dorchester's Settlement and Economy
Eighth graders explore the Dorchester settlement, In this American colonial history lesson, 8th graders examine primary resources and maps from the Dorchester trading post in order to learn about its contributions to the Revolutionary War.
Curated OER
VA History Mini-quiz - Women and Africans arrive in Jamestown
For this Virginia history worksheet, students examine their knowledge of Jamestown once women and Africans arrived there as they answer 13 multiple choice questions.
Curated OER
A Colony is Born : Lesson 3 - Marking Time
Fifth graders refer to text and timeline to fill in a graphic organizer and timeline from 1492-1607. They participate in a class discussion that allows for speedy accumulation of events and fill in their own timelines. They work in small...
Curated OER
From Slavery to Segregation
Students study the causes and effects of slavery and segregation. They write an essay (including either pictures, charts, graphs or copies of documents to support their essay) which addresses the African American's journey from slavery...
Curated OER
Slavery During the Nineteenth Century
Students research the life and daily activities of a slave during the nineteenth century. They write an essay role playing a slave during this time period.
Curated OER
Trial of John Brown, 1857
Students examine how John Brown's 1857 trial related to conflicting viewpoints on slavery, view perspectives of radical abolitionists, moderate abolitionists, and slave owners, and form their own opinions on issue of slavery.
Curated OER
Social Studies: Towne Planning in Tidewater
Learners discover how European values dominated colonial life. They also examine the effects of slavery in the Americas. Students compare the planning of their home town with that of colonial Williamsburg. They locate key sites such...
Curated OER
Life on Two Colonial Plantations in South Carolina
Fourth graders compare two colonial plantations. In this South Carolina history lesson plan, 4th graders compare the Drayton Hill plantation of Charleston Co. to the Walnut Grove Plantation of Spartanburg Co. This lesson plan uses...
Curated OER
Mission US: Think Fast! About the Past
Players can test their knowledge of important, interesting, or trivial facts in US history with a timed interactive game. The two mission options available on this tablet version focus on the events leading up to the Revolutionary War...
Curated OER
National and Regional Identity
Learners examine state quarters to identify symbols that represent national and regional identity. They discuss the process used to determine what is put on the quarter. They review colonial money, and euros to look for cultural images.
Curated OER
People, Not Numbers: Bringing 12 Million into Personal Ter
Students forge a compassionate link to the large numbers of people who were the victims of slavery as opposed to thinking of them simply in terms of numbers. They perform a math exercise to put the number of people in slavery into...
Curated OER
Indians and African Americans 1780-1820
Students explain that opportunities for African Americans remained severely limited by slavery until 1783. They examine the 1783 Massachusetts abolishment of slavery and its impact.
Curated OER
The Terrible Transformation: Freedom Denied
Students learn about the legal foundations for slavery and explore autobiographical writings of slaves. Students trace the development of laws that enforced the slave status of Africans and their descendants.
Curated OER
Underground Railroad
Fourth graders use internet cites to explore the Underground Railroad. They also learn the importance of the Emancipation Proclamation. Focus questions are included.
Curated OER
Massachusetts Blacks in the American Revolution
Eighth graders examine the experiences blacks were having in Massachusetts before and after the American Revolution. They also discover that many blacks migrated to Canada in search of a better life.