History sleuths read articles for and against Uncle Tom's Cabin, examine visual images, print responses, and multi-media tomitudes to better understand the impact of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel on American culture prior to the Civil...

New ReviewThe firsthand accounts of what it was like to be an enslaved person in the mid-1800s riveted a nation and the issue ultimately led to civil war. Using excerpts from Frederick Douglass's autobiography, budding historians examine what it...

Learners evaluate primary sources from the antebellum era to determine the accuracy of textbooks. They examine narratives from enslaved people, then compare them to their own text. Extension activities include the opportunity to write a...

Scholars investigate the Antebellum period in the United States in an engaging lesson. Groups analyze technological, religious, economic, and social changes occurring during the time period prior to the Civil War. Using their new...

How the Kansas-Nebraska Act created Bleeding Kansas is complicated—until scholars research and examine documents from the time. After completing activities that include mapping, photo, document analysis, and discussion, learners...

Why didn't the Emancipation Proclamation free all slaves? Young historians study primary source documents including Lincoln's proclamation and the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Groups also investigate the three...

Imagine having no control over your life and then suddenly having to provide for yourself. Such was the challenge faced by many American slaves after emancipation. Class members are asked to consider these challenges are they examine...

From indentured servitude to involuntary race-based servitude, slavery has taken many forms in American history. Class members examine three manumission petitions that reveal how the rights of African Americans and African American...

Dividing the art of the Antebellum period into several different genres, this vibrant presentation is sure to get your students' attention. It takes your students on a walk through an art museum with famous paintings, architecture, and...

Your history students will be on the edges of their seats during this fascinating presentation, which details the abolition movement and slave life during the Antebellum period in the American South. Students will be left agape at the...

Students examine the development of racial stereotyping beginning with the antebellum years. They research how blackface minstrel songs reinforced the antebellum mindset of African-Americans. Secondly, students investigate "Uncle Tom's...

Eleventh graders examine the role African Americans played in the expansion of New York.  In this American History lesson, 11th graders compare and contrast the images of a wealthy, free black against a black who was poor and enslaved. ...

Learners examine the social conflict of the 19th century and the destruction of the American Museum. In pairs, they conduct Internet research and attempt to solve the mystery of who burned down the museum. Clues to the mystery are found...

High schoolers examine political and religious factors that influenced English, Spanish, French, and Dutch colonization of the Americas, how slavery shaped social and economic life in the South after 1800, and elements of slavery during...

A gold mine for American history teachers, this presentation cascades through the middle of the 19th century with the central themes of moral and social reform. Between the blossoming Mormon church, the tightening of the Temperance...

Complete with maps, photographs, and historical documents, this presentation would be a great resource throughout a unit about mid-19th century America. Manifest Destiny, Texas Independence, the Oregon Trail, and the Mexican War are all...

Eighth graders examine pictures & documents relating to the Hayes Plantation (Edenton, NC). They also use various maps of North Carolina to help them analyze how James Cathcart Johnston used, modified and adapted to the physical...

Eighth graders examine the Antebellum period in American History. In this Secession lesson, 8th graders analyze primary source data. Students infer about the secession of the South using this data. 

Fifth graders research topics related to slavery. They visit area museums, and the Arkansas Arts Council presents cultural experiences. They discuss and internalize the plight of people sold into slavery.