Curated OER
Freedom from Slavery
Students are introduced to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They discuss slavery in the past and vote to determine views on whether or not slavery continues to exist today. Through images and stories, they discover it does...
Curated OER
What Events Led to Lincoln's Assassination?
Fourth graders use primary and secondary sources to research the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. They identify arguments supporting and opposing the position that Lincoln's assassination could have been prevented and write a report...
Bill of Rights Institute
Economics of the North and South Before the Civil War
How did economic issues lead to war? Viewers watch an AP review video to examine one of the main causes of the American Civil War, the Tariff of Abominations. They examine the issues concerning the economies of the North and South prior...
Annenberg Foundation
Antebellum Reform
Scholars investigate the Antebellum period in the United States in an engaging lesson. Groups analyze technological, religious, economic, and social changes occurring during the time period prior to the Civil War. Using their new...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Frederick Douglass’s Narrative: Myth of the Happy Slave
The firsthand accounts of what it was like to be an enslaved person in the mid-1800s riveted a nation and the issue ultimately led to civil war. Using excerpts from Frederick Douglass's autobiography, budding historians examine what it...
US House of Representatives
“The Fifteenth Amendment in Flesh and Blood,” The Symbolic Generation of Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1887
The reading of a contextual essay launches a study of Black Americans who served in Congress from 1870 through 1887. Young historians identify the African Americans who served during this period, investigate the ways they won national...
Digital Public Library of America
Fannie Lou Hamer and the Civil Rights Movement in Rural Mississippi
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...
US House of Representatives
Hispanic Congressional Representation in the Era of U.S. Continental Expansion, 1822–1898
New ReviewFrom the Louisiana Purchase to the Spanish-American War, the history of the United States is intertwined with the story of Hispanic Americans. Using an article about Hispanics in Congress during the 1800s, learners research their lives...
Center for History Education
Maryland During the Secession Crisis
While many think the United States was neatly divided between Northern and Southern states during the Civil War, border states like Maryland are more complicated. Using hands-on activities to measure distance and primary sources,...
C3 Teachers
Emancipation: Does It Matter Who Freed the Slaves?
Scholars generally agree on the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. This inquiry-based lesson asks high schoolers to consider more than the claims of who freed the enslaved people but the significance of the issues...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Reward: Valuable Slaves
To gain insight into the American institution of slavery and how African Americans were viewed during this time, groups examine run-away slave ads and slave auction broadsides. Teams use the provided worksheet to record their impressions...
Crafting Freedom
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper: Lover of Literacy
This, the sixth in a series of 10 related resources, examines the life and works of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, an African American author, born in 1825, who advocated literacy for both free and enslaved African Americans.
Curated OER
Freedom Timeline
Students explore the issue of the morality of slavery in the 18th and 19th centuries in the United States and construct a timeline containing freedom facts. Freedon issues and the rights and responsibilities of the time are examined.
Curated OER
Rights and Responsibilities, Is It Breaking the Law?
Students investigate the life and trial of Rev. John Mahan who was involved with the illegal Underground Railroad. The issue of breaking the law to help slaves escape is examined in this lesson.
NPR
This Isn't Right: Women Reform Leaders
The 20th century saw many new possibilities open up to women in America, thanks to many well-known female historical figures — and some women who are not as famous but who are equally accomplished. Learn about the women who contributed...
Curated OER
Human Trafficking & Modern Day Slavery - Debating the Fundamentals
Students research the trafficking and slavery issues in a country of their choice. In groups, they prepare arguments which support their point of view. They reverse their positions to make the debate more interesting.
Curated OER
The Beginnings of Slavery in South Carolina
Eighth graders conduct research to find information about the beginning of slavery in South Carolina. They compile the information they find into oral and written group presentations. Specific questions provided in this lesson plan need...
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
Abraham Lincoln: Our Man for All Seasons
Students analyze perceptions of slavery during the Civil War era. For this Abraham Lincoln lesson, students research Internet and print sources regarding Lincoln's view of slavery. Students also compare pro- and anti-slavery political...
Curated OER
Connecticut Complicity
Eleventh graders take a closer look at slavery in Connecticut. In this slavery lesson, 11th graders research the contributions of Connecticut residents who spoke out about the issue of slavery. Students take on the personas of the...
Curated OER
Learning About Life as a Slave
Students explore the history of slavery. In this slavery lesson, students take a closer look at slavery in the Americas and the abolitionist movement as they visit the suggested museums and their websites.
Curated OER
Religion in Uncle Tom's Cabin
Young scholars investigate the implications of religious beliefs on the issue of slavery and answer discussion questions.
Curated OER
Fugitive Slaves and the Underground Railroad
Eleventh graders consider the impact of the Underground Railroad. In this slavery activity, 11th graders examine primary documents as they conduct independent research to explore the role of the Underground Railroad during the fight for...
Curated OER
Who is Harriet Tubman?
Second graders read A Picture of Harriet Tubman, by David A. Adler. In this Harriet Tubman lesson, 2nd graders explore the concept of slavery and discover how Harriet helped free slaves in the past. The book is read out loud. They...