In this activity, students will analyze a historical map showing percentages of enslaved people by county following the 1860 Census. Students will form an understanding of the distribution of slavery in the southern United States prior to the Civil War.

In this explainer video, students learn about the abolition movement. They examine the development of the movement, its eventual success, and its legacy.

This primary source set includes documents and images from the life of Alexander Hamilton. A teacher guide is included to assist educators in utilizing the primary sources in their instruction.

This primary source set includes documents and images from the lives of American authors in the 19th century. A teacher guide is included to assist educators in utilizing the primary sources in their instruction.

This is an activity that involves analyzing a map of the Louisiana Purchase. Guiding questions are offered.

In this activity, students examine photographs from an Alaskan Native Tribe who converted to the Anglican faith; they look for evidence of cultural assimilation and provide an opinion as to whether or not this type of cultural assimilation is beneficial or harmful to the tribe.

Prerequisite: Students need to have studied the Dawes Act of 1887 and the breaking up of reservations. In this activity, students analyze primary resources to determine how the federal government tried to assimilate Native Americans. Online activity. Focus: Compare and contrast.

Baseball has been part of the culture of the United States since the earliest days of the nation, and the ways in which the game has changed through the centuries provide opportunities to explore changes in U.S. society. This primary source set includes documents and images. A teacher guide is included to assist educators in utilizing the primary sources in their instruction.

In this lesson, students will examine a copy of twelve possible amendments to the United States Constitution as originally sent to the states for their ratification in September of 1789. Students will debate and vote on which of these amendments they would ratify and compare their resulting “Bill of Rights” to the ten amendments ratified by ten states that have since been known by this name.

This lesson relates to the westward movement in the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Students analyze the role that gunfighters played in the settlement of the West and distinguish between their factual and fictional accounts using American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940.

Stories with morals, like "Coyote and Bobcat," were often used by the Ute Mountain Ute people to teach their children about proper behavior and the consequences of their own actions. Coyote tales are only told during the winter time. This Ute Mountain Ute story booklet is part of the Native American Indian Literacy Project storybook series for the six main Utah Tribal Nations. The project was led by Shirlee A. Silversmith, American Indian education specialist for the Utah State Office of Education. There are five stories per Tribe, with a total of 30 booklets, plus an ABC book. The set of Indian Tribal stories may be utilized by elementary classroom teachers to (1) develop an understanding and appreciation of Native American culture and societal contributions (2) provide a genre of text for the application of reading strategies, and (3) facilitate the mastery of various Utah Core Content Curriculum objectives. The Native American Indian Literacy Project was made possible by funds from the Utah State Office of Education (USOE). It is a joint effort of the USOE and San Juan School District Media Center.
The original set has 30 booklets, measuring 5.5” x 8.5” each, and illustrated by tribal members. The booklets were formatted to be printed and assembled. This version of the book has been updated to accommodate using a projector or smart board with pages appearing in order.

Students analyze a picture of the Boston Tea Party. This can be used as an introduction to the American Revolution. Students observe details of the image and develop questions for discussion.

C3. Inquiry based lesson plan. Using supporting questions and formative performance assessments, students explore the impact of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Students analyze a summary of the plot of the book, find the main idea(s), look at connected videos, illustrations, and utilize graphic organizers to assess the power of words within this specific historical context.

Prerequisite: Students need to know the function of each of the branches of government. In this activity, students examine documents from U.S. history to examples of specific "checks and balances."

Mission US is a role-playing game (RPG). In each mission you’ll step into the shoes of a young person during an important time period in US history. While your character and many of the characters in the game are fictional, they are based on the experiences of real people. (You will also encounter some actual historical figures and witness historical events in the game!) In this simularion, the year is 1866. You are Little Fox, a Northern Cheyenne boy. Can you help your tribe survive life on the Plains? Note: This game requires creating a free account login.

Mission US is a role-playing game (RPG). In each mission you’ll step into the shoes of a young person during an important time period in US history. While your character and many of the characters in the game are fictional, they are based on the experiences of real people. (You will also encounter some actual historical figures and witness historical events in the game!) In this simularion, it’s 1907. You are Lena Brodsky, a 14-year-old Jewish immigrant from Russia. How will you start a new life in America?

In this lesson students analyze a single photograph from the Library of Congress collection Civil War Glass Negatives and Related Prints. Using the skills developed, students then find and analyze other images. Conclusions reached will allow students develop links between the Civil War and American industrialization.

Students compare military recruitment posters for African Americans used for both the Union and Confederate armies. They analyze how the language reflects differences is attitude and perspective.

In small groups, students analyze the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th amendment, and General Order #3 in terms of tone, audience, and message, focusing on similarities and differences.

In this activity (which is appropriate for introducing the Constitution) students match primary source documents to clauses from Article 1 of the Constitution. Students find six pairs, which reveal the powers of Congress. Online resource.