Students examine problems faced by the states of the Confederacy following the Civil war. They predict how Lincoln wanted to handle the problem of reconstruction by listening to his words. They describe conditions in the South...

Students explore Civil Rights by analyzing U.S. history. In this African American workforce lesson, students discuss the history of African Americans in Baltimore and the need for steady work that formed. Students define vocabulary terms...

Students explore the rights of women in the United States and ancient Egypt. Comparisons between the two eras and countries are made as the wealth, business, marriages, court cases, divorces, and employment of women are probed.

This lesson plan explores the multiple causes of racial segregation and environmental racism, and helps students understand the perpetuation of institutional racism in the post-Civil Rights era. Students will perform a mock tribunal in...

Students consider the classification of people. In this race studies lesson, students examine the concept of race as it relates to U.S. history and trends. Students research racial discrimination and prejudice in order to support their...

From indentured servitude to involuntary race-based servitude, slavery has taken many forms in American history. Class members examine three manumission petitions that reveal how the rights of African Americans and African American...

Students read about the civil rights movement in their textbooks. They engage in a whole-class discussion of how nonviolent direct action can be a powerful tool for bringing about social, economic, or political change.

Students explore the Bill of Rights. In this Bill of Rights lesson, students compare the Federalist view of government to the Anti-Federalist view of government. Students consider the impact of the bill of rights as they take notes on...

Students discuss how the issues surrounding school integration have changed since the Little Rock Nine entered Central High School. They discuss the recent events in Jena, Louisiana. Students write a letter to a school administrator...

Students consider which aspects of world around them have roots in 1960s, research and compare 1960s to today with regards to Civil and Women's Rights, Vietnam, counterculture, music, voting, and economic rights, and explore legacy of...

Students analyze the Declaration of Independence and primary sources to explain civil rights. Then, students write a Declaration of Change to express the grievances of African Americans, and their desire to participate fully in the...

Students research the American Memory collection to explore the African-American experience from 1897 to 1953.

Learners analyze the role that Alabama played in three major events of American History and how those roles contributed to Alabama being dubbed the "Cradle of the Confederacy" and the "Birthplace of the Modern Civil Rights Movement."

Learners label assembly centers and relocation camps on a given map of the United States in order to create a better understanding of the relocation experience of Japanese-American citizens and the distance that families had to move and...

Learners research protest songs of the Vietnam War era. They search for information on the artists and motivation for the lyrics. They interview people who remember the music from that era and bring back information they found.

Young scholars explore justice issues. In this social activism lesson, students watch "Social Activism in the United States," and then locate newspaper articles from the 1960's and 1970's about events during the era.

Students study how a Quaker woman, Laura Smith Haviland, served as a lifeline for fugitive and freedmen during the American Civil War era. They research other philanthropic organizations and the associate vocabulary of this era.

Students describe how the brave word of one female Quaker served as a lifeline for fugitives before the Civil War. In this research instructional activity, students research several examples of the philanthropic work of individuals and...

Students study the legislation and Amendments of Reconstruction period in America. In this Reconstruction instructional activity, students work in groups to dissect the Black Codes, an article in the US Constitution, as well as the...

Pupils analyze a variety of primary source materials related to lynching (news articles, letters written to or written by prominent Americans, pamphlets, broadsides, etc.) in order to assess the effectiveness of the anti-lynching...

Students examine the cases of Henry Garnett and Moses Honner, both of the 1850s. Students analyze the political climate building up to the Civil War through the lens of these similar cases with different outcomes.

High schoolers conduct a mock Congressional Hearing to decide whether or not Japanese Americans who were sent to internment camps during World War II should be provided financial restitution. They research and create a time line of...

Eleventh graders demonstrate their knowledge of the effects of television on the political, economic, religious, social, intellectual and artistic life of the US nation from the 1950's. Research how television shaped public opinion with...

Ninth graders explore the history of the African Methodist Church in the United States. In this African American history lesson, 9th graders discover why the church was founded and research its history and noteworthy members. Students...