When gold was discovered in Dahlonega, Georgia, the state's government, as well as the federal government, worked to push Native Americans out of north Georgia as quickly as possible by any means possible.

Examine Hutchinson’s rebellion (also known as the Stono rebellion), a slave revolt that started outside Charleston, SC, but ultimately failed in this video from The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross.

In September 1787, Elizabeth Willing Powel approached Benjamin Franklin after the signing of the Constitution and asked, “Well, Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?” Franklin famously answered, “A republic, if you can keep it.” In this lesson, students examine their place in America’s democratic republic and explore the role Franklin played in the creation of America’s founding documents, including the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Paris (1783), the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution. Students will interact with these documents in creative ways. Lesson activities include primary source document analysis, writing, annotation, discussion, and found poetry.

View images from the locations of famous Civil War battles, such as First Battle of Bull Run in 1861, near Manassas Junction, Virginia, and siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1863. The first and second battles of Bull Run, in 1861 and 1862, were Confederate victories and a blow to the Union Army’s confidence. The Union victory at Vicksburg, a Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River, would divide and weaken the Confederacy. The Civil War was fought in 10,000 locations across the United States.

View images of Jefferson, Monticello, and the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1846) was the third president of the United States of America, and served two terms between the years 1801-1809. He was a founding father of the country, and author of the Declaration of Independence. The son of a Virginia planter, Jefferson was educated at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. As president, he created the military academy at West Point; he expanded the size of the country with the Louisiana Purchase, and commissioned Lewis & Clark to explore the western United States.

In this set of artworks and suggested activities, students will explore the motivations of immigration and causes of displacement throughout American history, and they will practice telling stories, investigate transformational journeys, and reflect on the American dream.

The Immortal 600 is one story which has gone relatively unnoticed in the history of the Civil War. The 600 Confederate POWs were deliberately left on the battlefield, exposed to cannon fire from both the Confederate and Federal armies. In all, they endured 45 days of exposure to shellfire. The descendants on one of the survivors also express their believes in the importance of family.

This media gallery features video clips from the award-winning animated documentary Dead Reckoning: Champlain in America produced by Mountain Lake PBS. The film tells the story of Samuel de Champlain in the early 1600s, who failed to find a northwest passage to China, but instead laid the foundation for a multicultural nation in North America and the people who taught him how to survive in the wilds of North America.

Learn the fascinating story of Doña Teresa Aguilera y Roche, the wife of Santa Fe's colonial governor Don Bernardo López de Mendizábal and the only woman in New Mexico arrested by the Inquisition on account of secretly being Jewish. While imprisoned in Mexico City, she asks for a pen and paper and writes her defense, laying bare what life was like in the Palace of the Governors at that time. What led to her arrest? What happened to her? Her story is one that provides a rare view into the intrigue and social history of early Spanish colonial society in New Mexico. New Mexico History Museum Director Dr. Frances Levine and Colonial historian Gerald Gonzales share insights into this dramatic story. Featured is colonial Hispanic music performed by The Santa Fe Desert Chorale and celebrated Flamenco dancer Maria Benitez brings Doña T to life.

A timely depiction of a newsroom in crisis, While We Watched follows tormented journalist Ravish Kumar for two years as he battles a barrage of fake news, falling ratings and the resulting cutbacks. Are there viewers for fact-based analyses anymore? Will his show survive or become a swan song of reason – drowning out in sensationalism, misinformation, and ratings-driven editorial decisions?
In this lesson plan students will explore the relationship between an independent free press and a democracy.

The Indian Mounds experience includes virtual field trips to Ocmulgee National Monument, Kolomoki Mounds State Park, and Etowah Indian Mounds Historic Site

By examining various sources, students will analyze what it means to be anti-racist and better understand Mark Twain's experiences with race and how he depicted race in his work. Based on their analyses, students will construct a claim in which they defend their argument about whether or not Mark Twain would be considered anti-racist.

Learn how Spanish explorers and conquistadors profoundly affected the lives of Indigenous Peoples in what we now consider the American West, in these videos from the documentary series, The West. Videos look at Cabeza de Vaca, who was shipwrecked in Texas and over time transformed from conqueror to advocate for Native peoples; at Coronado, who terrorized the peoples he encountered in his quest for gold; at Popé, a Tewa Pueblo man who led a successful revolt against the Spanish occupiers; and at how the horses introduced by the Spaniards changed the lives of Indigenous peoples.

This interactive allows students to follow in the footsteps of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on one of the most important expeditions in American history—a voyage of danger and discovery from St. Louis to the headwaters of the Missouri River, over the Continental Divide to the Pacific Ocean. This interactive combines a compelling graphic interface with facts, lessons and video clips from the film.

Track the action of the American Revolution’s Battle of Trenton and increase your skills using maps of historic events with this interactive made by George Washington’s Mount Vernon.

This inquiry kit features Library of Congress sources about the Irish Brigade during the American Civil War.

In this lesson, students explore some of the religious and cultural variations and diversity within Islam, as well as the relation of Muslims to members of other religious groups.

Dive into the meaning and history of the idiom “it’s raining cats and dogs” with this video from Say What?! Explore possible origins featuring Vikings, sailors, poets, straw roofs, and old English.

Support materials include teaching tips, discussion questions, vocabulary, and an activity where students create a corresponding image and caption for one of the origin stories from the video.

Learn about abolitionist John Brown and his involvement in the violent events in Lawrence, Kansas, and Harpers Ferry, Virginia, as well as his trial for treason, in this media gallery from The Abolitionists |AMERICAN EXPERIENCE. Students will learn about Brown’s attempts to destroy the institution of slavery and depict himself as a righteous martyr.

Learn about actor Courtney B. Vance’s ancestor, an enslaved man named John Janey, who ran away to freedom and later fought on the Union side during the Civil War in this video from Finding Your Roots. Through newspaper archives, Underground Railroad chronicles, and military records, a dramatic story begins to unfold about the epic life of a true American hero.