For this lesson, 8th graders look at how slavery contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War, at Abraham Lincoln's efforts to save the Union, and at what impact the Emancipation Proclamation had on the North's view of the war. Includes...

This site details the controversial issues regarding slavery and the effects they had on the Civil War amendments as well as on the fifth amendment. The site discusses events such as the Dred Scott case, the addition of the Civil War...

Given primary and secondary resources, students will be able to trace the historical development of the civil rights movement in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, and describe the roles of political organizations that promoted civil...

What a wonderful resource for researching the attempts to solve the issue of slavery prior to the Civil War, and the eventual ratification of the 13th Amendment. Find a timeline of legislation limiting the spread of slavery from 1787...

Using primary documents, oral histories and other historical resources, learn about the African American reaction to emancipation and to events from the Reconstruction period following the Civil War.

Read the text of the 13th Amendment, adopted in January, 1865, even before the end of the Civil War, which ended slavery in the United States. Click on the image to see a larger picture of the document itself.

After the Civil War, the 14th amendment granted citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the United States. This included former slaves. Learn about the protections this amendment offers to citizens, including those who were once...

Collection of primary documents that depict the social revolution and drama of the Emancipation in the words of the participants. Includes the voices of liberated slaves and defeated slaveholders, soldiers and civilians, common folk and...

This video segment from The Supreme Court introduces viewers to the 14th amendment.

In this video segment from The Supreme Court, learn about the 1883 Supreme Court decision that marked the end of federal protections for individuals in states and the beginning of Jim Crow segregation.

Web page on the proposed Corwin Amendment which, if ratified, would have forbade Congress from interfering with states' right to make decision to slavery. Site contains textual information, video [3:28], and fun facts for students.

[Free Registration/Login Required] "A variety of materials demonstrates the rise and fall of civil rights for African Americans during the latter half of the nineteenth century, including constitutional amendments, sharecropper...

This collection uses primary sources to explore the Fifteenth Amendment.

A very good overview of Reconstruction in the South after the Civil War. Find the questions that needed to be answered about how to reincorporate the Confederate states, what rights freed blacks would have, and how terms of...

The complete text of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Find the text of the amended Section 3 of the Espionage Act.

This site describes the jurisdiction of the Federal Court system. The site breaks the court's jurisdiction into three main areas of institutional conflict: Federal Restraint of State Courts by Injunctions, Habeas Corpus: Scope of the...

A detailed account of the history of African Americans is presented in this article. Divided by main topics or periods of time, the coming of slavery to America is the first focus. Followed by plantation life and escapes to freedom and...

A collection of original manuscripts, letters, photographs, rare books, and other materials on abolitionism from the 1700s through 1865.

A lesson plan from the producers of the 16-episode PBS series "Freedom: A History of US" that guides students through an examination of the outcomes of the Civil War. Includes discussion prompts related to the effectiveness of...

A brief article outlining reasons for the anger and frustration of many whites in the Memphis area after the Civil War which resulted in the Memphis Race Riot.

Passge of the 13th amendment. Scene in the House on the passage of the proposition to amend the Constitution, January 31, 1865.

A short timeline on the main events of the period of Reconstruction from 1865 to 1897. A few of the events are clickable and can be followed for additional information.

Our Documents is home to one hundred milestone documents that influenced that course of American history and American democracy. Includes full-page scans of each document, transcriptions, background information on their significance, and...