In this lesson students will read, analyze, and assess two texts—the “Gospel of Wealth” (1889), an essay by the industrialist Andrew Carnegie, and What Is Man? (1906), a Socratic dialogue/short story by the American humorist Mark Twain—that address the ideas of destiny, free will, human nature, and philanthropy. The students will then engage in a written and oral debate with their classmates using quotations from these texts and their own words.

This resource is a Google Arts & Culture interactive presentation about the printing of the United States Constitution.

The Gilder Lehrman Institute has collaborated with the producers of the exciting new Broadway play What the Constitution Means to Me by playwright and two-time Obie Award–winning actor Heidi Schreck, showing at the Helen Hayes Theater, to reveal how the US Constitution came to be, how it has evolved, and how it affects our lives every day. Explore the links on this page.

Over the course of two lessons, students will analyze primary source documents in order to examine the factors that contributed to the exclusion of American women from the right to vote and the battle for full enfranchisement. They will read and interpret complex documents, engage in discussions, and, in order to demonstrate comprehension, answer critical thinking questions

This lesson provides an opportunity to analyze written texts and political cartoons in order to both understand the
participation of Black soldiers in World War I and sharpen literacy skills related to the distinction between imply
and infer, an essential skill tied to both historical thinking and literacy.

Contains 3 lesson plans on World War II: Posters and Propaganda with information on the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.