National Endowment for the Humanities
Factory vs. Plantation in the North and South
North is to factory as South is to plantation—the perfect analogy for the economy that set up the Civil War! The first lesson in a series of five helps teach beginners why the economy creates a driving force for conflict. Analysis of...
Curated OER
Gullah Contributions to South Carolina History
Students research the Gullah people and their impact on South Carolina. In this South Carolina history lesson, students study, locate, and color the region of Africa the Gullah people came from. Students listen to Gullah music and watch...
Curated OER
The Role of African Slaves on South Carolina Rice Plantations
Fourth graders investigate the role of African American slaves in rice plantations. In this slave life lesson, 4th graders discuss the products produced in the 13 colonies. Students discuss the importance of rice to South Carolina's...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
African American Life After the Civil War - Sharecropping
What is the sharecropping system? What role did it play in the post-Civil War economy of the South? Who were the sharecroppers? Who employed them? How were they paid? To answer these questions, kids examine a series of sharecropper...
Curated OER
Where Life Is Too Short
Pupils predict how a pandemic would affect aspects of South Africa's society. In this world issues and geography lesson, students read a letter outlining the problems affecting South Africa. Pupils discuss and analyze how resource...
Curated OER
Returning to the South
Pupils reinforce their knowledge of the Great Migration by reading a narrative to investigate reasons why African-Americans chose to migrate from the South. Students then write editorials for a local newspaper that outlines the reasons...
Curated OER
African American Life in the Pee Dee Before the Civil War
Third graders examine the life of the African American in the Pee Dee region during slavery. In this slavery lesson, 3rd graders explore primary and secondary documents related to the topic and create a timeline of when slavery first...
Curated OER
Entrepreneurs and the African-American Dream
Students make a simple graph of labor supply and labor demand in the North and South in the early twentieth century. They conduct research to identify top contemporary African-American entrepreneurs.
Curated OER
Into the Wild: Settling the South Carolina Backcountry
Eighth graders select their own plot of land in the Backcountry to settle in the 1700s in SC. Students first find a point for settlement and sketch out the best route from the Lowcountry to arrive at the point. They then draw out a...
Curated OER
Kensington Mansion: Plantation, Sharecroppers, Tenants
Eleventh graders investigate the significance of the Kensington Mansion. For this South Carolina history lesson, 11th graders take field trips to the mansion and research primary and secondary sources about plantations, sharecropping,...
Curated OER
Harlem Renaissance
Young scholars investigate the African American culture in the 1920's and the Harlem Renaissance. They read and analyze poems written by poets of the Harlem Renaissance, listen to jazz music and identify the characteristics of the...
Curated OER
Brochure of African Countries
Learners research a country in Africa and present the information they found and the brochure they designed to the class while their peers take notes to use as a study guide for the exam.
Curated OER
Background to the Conflict: Pre-Civil War Days
The American Civil War was a complex test of a relatively young democracy in the mid-nineteenth century. Discuss the events and factors that led to the Civil War with a thorough slideshow presentation.
New York State Education Department
Global History and Geography Examination: January 2016
What do the Inca Civilization, Wittenburg Church, and India's economy in the Mughal Period have in common? The well-rounded standardized test challenges scholars to remember all of them. They use different graphics and maps to answer...
Curated OER
"A Costly Prosperity", South Carolina during World War II
Eleventh graders study the history of South Carolina during World War II. For this American History lesson, 11th graders analyze the economic growth of this state through primary sources. Students interpret many different types of...
Curated OER
Chapter 10: "Currents of Change in the Northeast and the Old Northwest" Chapter 11: "Slavery and the Old South"
Pupils use the indicated text and the internet to compare and contrast the North and South. They discuss the social and political implications of the two predominant economic systems (slavery and factory). They are introduced to the...
Curated OER
The Achievements and Challenges of Zimbabwe
Here is an excellent set of five short lessons and activities intended to help learners not only gain an understand of current issues in Africa, but build critical thinking, synthesis, analysis, expository writing, research, and...
Council for Economic Education
The Columbian Exchange
What did you have for dinner last night? Many scholars ask that question without considering the history behind the foods they eat. Using a simulation, scholars investigate how the foods they eat are the product of the Columbian...
Curated OER
From Riches to Rice
Tenth graders identify and locate Africa, the United States, the Original 13 colonies, and the region of West Africa on a map. They list examples of culture and African American culture. Students link the culture of West Africa with the...
Curated OER
Cotton Pickin' Before and After the Civil War
Pupils explore the impact of cotton. In this economics lesson, students listen to a lecture presented by their instructor on the Southern crop of cotton and its impact on the South prior to and following the Civil War. Pupils conduct...
Curated OER
Afro-Caribbean Americans and the Sugar Economy
Students read the narrative, Caribbean Immigration and examine how sugar production and migration of people of African origin have been intertwined for centuries. Working in three groups, they present oral reports on the three eras of...
Curated OER
The Trading Post with the Most: Colonial Dorchester's Settlement and Economy
Eighth graders explore the Dorchester settlement, In this American colonial history lesson, 8th graders examine primary resources and maps from the Dorchester trading post in order to learn about its contributions to the Revolutionary War.
Digital Public Library of America
The American Whaling Industry
When thinking about the American whaling industry most imagine Moby Dick and Nantucket sleigh rides, harpoons and scrimshaw, whale-oil lamps and baleen in women's corsets. But it may come as a surprise that the industry was also...
Curated OER
The Civil War: A Nation Divided
Students examine the clash between the North and the South. In this Civil War lesson plan, students watch segments of the Discovery video "The Civil War: A Nation Divided". Students conduct further research pertaining to the economies...