C-SPAN
Women's Suffrage and the 19th Amendment
The right to vote was hard-won after decades of organizing by women and their allies. Using a series of video clips featuring women's historians, class members consider the efforts behind the Nineteenth Amendment. Possible extension...
Digital Public Library of America
Fannie Lou Hamer and the Civil Rights Movement in Rural Mississippi
Good primary resources, offering different perspectives on important issues and events, are hard to find. A packet of 12 primary source images, videos, audio recordings, records, and newspaper articles related to the 1960s civil rights...
C-SPAN
Wonder Girls - Advocating for Global Issues
Move over Wonder Woman ... here come the Wonder Girls! Using video clips of photographer Paola Gianturco talking about her work, pupils consider the life experiences of girls around the world, including places such as Tonga and...
C-SPAN
Title IX
There's more to Title IX than equality in sports. The federal statute—aimed at preventing gender discrimination—guides how schools handle everything from sports to sexual assault. A series of clips from athletes and schools delves into...
Digital Public Library of America
The Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
A primary source set of photographs, videos, newspaper articles, and FBI reports provides insight into race relations during the 1960s, the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing, and the murder of Emmitt Till. Designed to be used to...
Digital Public Library of America
African American Soldiers in World War I
Finding good primary source materials to support any study of history can be a challenge and time-consuming. A set of 11 primary source letters, images, and text excerpts provide young historians with an opportunity to sharpen their...
Digital Public Library of America
Women and the Blues
A 12-piece primary source packet sets the tone for a study of the role women played in the origins, development, and impact of blues music. Legends like Bessie Smith, Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Mamie Smith, and Ida Cox are featured, as are...
National Park Service
The Battle of Stones River: A Contrast in Leadership Styles
US Commanding General William S. Rosecrans led the Union soldiers and Confederate Commanding General Braxton Bragg led the rebel army at the Battle of Stones River. Young historians compare how the leadership styles of these two...
National Park Service
Lesson 2: Hope
There's hope in music. Pupils discover what gave enslaved people hope by examining lyrics and music during their time of bondage. A series of prompts helps individuals investigate songs of enslaved people. The cumulative assignment...
DocsTeach
The Impact of Westward Expansion on Native American Communities
Although Westward Expansion is often romanticized, its impact was devastating on Native American communities. Primary source documents, including pictures of United States troops invading indigenous lands and Native American tribes, tell...
National Park Service
Discover the Mary Ann Shadd Cary House
Mary Ann Shadd Cary was an extraordinary woman, no matter the time period. Academics research the life and achievements of Mrs. Cary, who was born a free African American in 1823. The lesson plan uses primary sources, worksheets, written...
National Park Service
Lesson 6: Researching Contemporary Slavery
While many believe slavery ended after the American Civil War, it continues today in various forms. Using a WebQuest research project, class members investigate how the institution of slavery lives on in the modern world. Activities also...
National Park Service
Lesson 5: Coded Spirituals, Metaphor in African Spirituals
If a picture is worth a thousand words, song lyrics also can communicate many meanings. Using the lyrics of spirituals, young historians analyze them for coded messages about freedom. Resources include a chart to help individuals track...
National Park Service
Lesson 4: Escape
Some enslaved people decided to run for their liberation. Using lyrics of songs they sang, young historians look at these anthems of freedom. An assessment asks them to write the story of escape from the perspective of an enslaved...
National Park Service
Lesson 3: Resistance
During the time of slavery, resistance was a way of life for the men and women held in bondage. Using music as evidence of their fight against oppression, learners explore how enslaved people fought back. Writing prompts round out the...
National Park Service
Lesson 1: Journaling with Songs of Freedom
There's more to music than a memorable tune. The songs of those who were enslaved reveal the harsh realities of their lives. Using both songs and slave narratives, historians uncover this hidden history. The lesson incorporates a variety...
DocsTeach
Why Did Women Want the Right to Vote?
No taxation without representation may have been the battle cry of the American Revolution, but women used the same argument when demanding their right to vote in the late 1800 and early 1900s. Young historians examine petitions from...
DocsTeach
Reasons for Westward Expansion
"Go West, young man!" is a familiar refrain in American history. But why did people leave their homes in the East to travel westward and what impact did that movement have on people already living in the American West? By examining...
DocsTeach
Evaluating Perspectives on Westward Expansion
Although popular culture tells the story of the American West simplistically, its reality is far more complex. Native American tribes—while already on the land—didn't have the same interests, and conflicts between white settlers and...
DocsTeach
To What Extent was Reconstruction a Revolution? (Part 2)
While Reconstruction laid the groundwork, many believe its revolutionary ideals weren't realized until the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. Using the 1965 Voting Rights Act, budding historians consider why it took more than 100 years to...
DocsTeach
To What Extent was Reconstruction a Revolution? (Part 1)
Some scholars consider the Civil War and Reconstruction a second American Revolution. Class members weigh in after examining primary sources, including a Congressional resolution calling for the Fifteenth Amendment and the credentials of...
DocsTeach
Lincoln's Suspension of Habeas Corpus During the Civil War
What is the balance between constitutional rights and security during a war? Young historians debate the question while looking at Lincoln's decision to suspect habeas corpus during the Civil War. After reviewing his order, discussion...
DocsTeach
Oh Freedom! Sought Under the Fugitive Slave Act
Using the harrowing story of the Crafts, a couple enslaved in the South who escaped to freedom, young historians trace the story of the Fugitive Slave Act. After examining documents, including affidavits and arrest warrants for the...
DocsTeach
Juneteenth General Order
While Juneteenth was more than 150 years ago, today Americans debate whether it should be a national holiday. Using a military declaration proclaiming the last of the enslaved people in Texas free, individuals look at the significance of...