This collection contains highly recommended U.S. History II lessons, activities, and other resources from the eMedia library.
An overview of the prosperity of the 1950s and the growing civil rights movements during this decade for desegregation and equal treatment.
Thomas Paine published Common Sense in January 1776 support of the Patriot cause. Using clear, plain language, Paine rallied the colonists to support the break from Britain. He explained, "I am not induced by motives of pride, party, or resentment to espouse the doctrine of separation and independence; I am clearly, positively, and conscientiously persuaded that it is the true interest of this continent to be so."
A lesson giving context about the tense 1962 standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union that nearly resulted in nuclear war.
On October 15, 1962, the Soviet Union was discovered attempting to install nuclear missiles in Cuba. These missiles would have been capable of quickly reaching the United States. President Kennedy responded with a naval blockade. After several days of increasing tensions, the Soviet Union finally agreed to remove the missiles.
A testimonial by a women regarding her work in a sweatshop at the turn of the 20th century.
Primary Source Analysis of the Proclamation of the Delano Grape Workers for International Boycott Day
This inquiry leads students through an investigation of The Dust Bowl. By investigating the compelling question “Was the Dust Bowl a Perfect Storm?” students gain understanding through reading a variety of texts and analyzing photographs to determine the major causes of the Dust Bowl. By examining the dust bowl through multiple social studies lenses, students realize how each of the social studies lenses has an impact on the others. They analyze the history and personal stories of the Dust Bowl to determine who or what was responsible for this historic event. The formative performance tasks build on knowledge and skills through the course of the inquiry and help students determine who or what was responsible for this historic event. Students create an evidence-based argument about contributing factors and whether or not the Dust Bowl was a perfect storm.
A newspaper article from the San Franciso Chronicle summarizing the results of the Delano Grape Strike in 1970.
Many factors converged to accelerate environmental activism and increase ecological consciousness during the 1950s and 1960s.
Muckraking (investigative) journalists and novelists were the shock troops of progressive regulation of corporate America. One of the most powerful of these reform-minded writers was Upton Sinclair. In 1906 he published The Jungle, a novel situated in Chicago's horrific meat-packing district. With graphic detail, it tells the story of Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian .immigrant, and his travails in Dunham's, a fictional meat-packing plant. Soon after the book appeared Congress passed the Meat Inspection Act in an effort to address the abuses cited by Sinclair and others.
This reading provides information regarding women in the history of labor. Women were among the first workers to bear the hardships of the industrial revolution, and among the first to unionize.
This video provides an overview of the Gilded Age and the individuals involved in this era of history.
By examining primary sources, including songs, newspapers, interviews, and photographs of migrant farm workers in California during the Great Depression, students create a scrapbook from the point of view of a migrant worker, providing evidence of the colloquial speech used by the migrants and the issues affecting their lives. Using Voices from the Dust Bowl, 1940-1941 and Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives, students select photographs and use the sound recordings of voices of the migrant workers to create captions, letters, and/or songs based on these primary sources. This lesson can be used in connection with a unit on the Great Depression, and specifically on The Grapes of Wrath.
An overview of the origins of, effects of, and attempted solutions to the Great Depression.
Primary Source documents commenting on progressive reform and trusts.
Primary Source documents commenting on the plight of women, children, and the working class in the late 19th century.
In this economics lesson, students will create an assembly line to learn how specialization increases productivity.
In this economics lesson, students analyze shifts in supply and demand in the auto market and related markets.
In economics lesson, students will research Henry Ford’s innovations to find strategies that improve productivity., includes slides, reading, and activity.