Heritage Foundation
Congress's Territorial Powers, Implied Powers, Citizenship, and the Bureaucracy
An informative resource gives scholars a look into why the US Constitution placed certain federal powers over that of the state. A variety of activities about constitutional clauses helps to create meaningful learning.
Curated OER
A New Federation
Students describe the relationships between state and federal parliaments in Australia. They identify responsibilities shared between federal and state and territory governments. Students explore an alternative federal structure by...
Curated OER
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854: Popular Sovereignty and the Political Polarization over Slavery
Why did Stephen Douglas support the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854? Why did Abraham Lincoln oppose it? Young historians examine how the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 affected the political balance between free and slave states and explore how...
Curated OER
Life in the Arkansas Territory
Students compare the living conditions in Arkansas when it was a territory with contemporary times. They participate in a role play activities of the territorial times.
Curated OER
You Gotta Know the Territory
Students examine the relationship between Native Americans and those who settled the Iowa territory. In this Iowa history instructional activity, students investigate the process for settling the territory and how intercultural...
Curated OER
A House Dividing: The Growing Crisis of Sectionalism in Antebellum America
Young scholars explore the debates over American slavery and the power of the American federal government for the first half of the 19th century and how the regional economies and political events produced a widening split between the...
Curated OER
New Nations, New Problems: 1914-1922
Take a moment between your World War I and World War II units for this presentation, which focuses on the territorial implications and changes after the end of World War I. Your class will appreciate the radical loss of land and power of...
Curated OER
Court System Scavenger Hunt
Students are assign a particular Federal or State Court. They are asked to make a poster of the court they have been assigned. Students are told that the poster should include a list of the types of cases that particular court hears. ...
Curated OER
Abraham Lincoln, the 1860 Election, and the Future of the American Union and Slavery
Young scholars examine the political alternatives regarding the spread of slavery and the preservation of the American union facing the American people in the decade leading up to the 1860 presidential election.
Curated OER
Social Studies: Manifest Destiny or Bust
Fifth graders explore the westward movement between 1800 and 1861 in the United States. They write narratives from the standpoint of those cultures that were repressed during this period, such as Native Americans, slaves, or Mexicans. ...
Curated OER
Abraham Lincoln, the 1860 Election, and the Future of the American Union and Slavery
Students examine Abraham Lincoln's political views about slavery. In this American Civil War lesson, students determine how Lincoln's beliefs led to the restriction of slavery in American territories. Student also analyze the party...
Curated OER
Maps of Indian Territory, the Dawes Act, and Will Rogers' Enrollment Case File
Students, in groups, analyze one map at a time, first the 1885 map, then the 1891 map. After they have completed the analysis sheets, they compare the two maps and answer questions imbedded in the plan.
Curated OER
Constitution Repatriation Simulation
Young scholars work cooperatively in groups to present the specific needs of an assigned territory to a mock meeting of government officials in an attempt to amend an existing law.
Curated OER
This Land is my Land-Westward Expansion During Reconstruction
Young scholars analyze policies regarding Native American territories during Westward Expansion. In this Reconstruction lesson plan, students research primary and secondary sources pertaining to the transfer of Native American land....
Central Bucks School District
Making Generalizations
Being able to recognize patterns, craft generalizations, and draw conclusions based on information in a text passage are essential critical thinking skills. Encourage learners to hone these skills with a worksheet that asks them to read...
Curated OER
Reporting on WWII in Alaska
Students explain the people and the political, geographic, economic, cultural, social, and environmental events that have shaped the history of the state, the United States, and the world.
Curated OER
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854: Popular Sovereignty and the Political Polarization over Slavery
Students read selections from the Declaration of Independence, Northwest Ordinance of 1787, and the Wilmot Proviso of 1846. They contrast the maps of 1820 and 1854 to analyze developments in the national debate over slavery. They...
Curated OER
Why the Common Core?
The Common Core: filling in the gaps and preparing for life beyond college
Bismarck Public Schools
History & Math of the 1830s
Using this interdisciplinary learning exercise, your young historians will have the opportunity to practice their math skills while learning about the drastic population increase in the United States during the presidency of Andrew...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Life Before the Civil War
American life before the Civil War was very different from American life today. To show this difference in a full spectrum, learners compare two communities that illustrate the differences between Northern and Southern life. Throughout...
Curated OER
The Era of Good Feelings
Setting the context for the first part of the 19th century, the slides presented here display the "Era of Good Feelings," including the presidencies of Monroe and Adams. Maps and photographs help students to contextualize the concepts of...
Gymnázium Karviná
Australia and New Zealand
Send your learners off on a research adventure with a activity on essential facts about Australia and New Zealand. It includes 18 short-answer response questions, as well as a map activity where pupils locate a variety of geographic...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Women's Lives Before the Civil War
Women's lifestyles before the Civil War made a huge impact as a point of causation. Give middle schoolers the opportunity to view firsthand the lives of women before the Civil War. They analyze primary source documents, view photographs,...
Curated OER
Rights and the Wyandotte Constitution
Every state uses a set of rights to establish laws and regulations. Explore the Wyandotte Constitution as it was written in 1859 and compare it with how rights in Kansas have changed, especially those that pertain to gender and race. A...