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AP Test Prep
College Board

2016 AP® United States History Free-Response Questions

For Students 10th - 12th Standards
The British and Spanish both had footholds in the New World, yet they had different approaches. Scholars explore the dynamics, along with the reasons behind immigration to the United States and business practices of the Gilded Age in a...
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Lesson Plan
Carolina K-12

Group Project: Freedom Parade

For Students 5th Standards
Parades are a great way to celebrate. Get young historians into the festivities by asking them to create an informational float for a Freedom Parade. Picking a topic from the provided list or suggesting one of their own, class members...
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Lesson Plan
Carolina K-12

African Americans in the United States Congress During Reconstruction

For Students 5th
The Civil Rights Act of 1866, which granted citizenship to all males in the U.S., resulted in the first African Americans to be elected to Congress. Class members research 11 of these men, the challenges they faced, and craft...
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Lesson Plan
National Constitution Center

Voting Rights since the Fifteenth Amendment

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
What does it mean to have the right to vote? To what extent have interpretations of the Fifteenth Amendment changed over time? Young historians examine and analyze primary source documents, an interactive website, and historical analysis...
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Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Reconstructing a Nation

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Think back to the aftermath of an family dispute. The awkwardness of having to make up, get along, and move forward can be very difficult. The tenth lesson of a 22-part series on American history examines the Reconstruction Era following...
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Lesson Plan
Center for Instruction, Technology, & Innovation

Did African American Lives Improve After Slavery?

For Teachers 7th - 8th Standards
The Civil War made slavery illegal, but all ex-slaves were not totally free. Scholars visit eight different classroom stations to uncover life during the Reconstruction Era in America. Groups discover items such as Black Codes, 13th,...
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Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Taming the American West

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Have you ever seen a movie about the romance of the American West with its buffalo, horses, cowboys, and endless frontier? The 13th installment of a 22-part series on American history presents the myths associated with the American West....
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Lesson Plan
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University of California

The Civil War: Final Assessment

For Students 7th Standards
Pupils discover the true nature and purpose of the Civil War in the eighth and final installment of an informative series. Using primary and secondary documents, history buffs merge social study knowledge with English skills to create a...
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Lesson Plan
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University of California

The Civil War: Effects of the Civil War

For Students 7th Standards
Imagine being on the front line of the Civil War —from the front porch of your own house. Scholars use visual evidence from primary and secondary sources to analyze the impact of the Civil War on all Americans. They examine the research...
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AP Test Prep5:14
Bill of Rights Institute

Economics of the North and South Before the Civil War

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
How did economic issues lead to war? Viewers watch an AP review video to examine one of the main causes of the American Civil War, the Tariff of Abominations. They examine the issues concerning the economies of the North and South prior...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

African American History: Climbing the Wall

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Imagine the challenge of trying to trace your family genealogy if no records were kept of births and deaths. Where would you look for information? What types of documents could provide you with the information you seek? History...
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Lesson Plan
Library of Virginia

Life as a Liberated People

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
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...
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Unit Plan
Pacific University Oregon

Civil Rights: US History

For Teachers 10th Standards
To gain an understanding of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, class members investigate the Jim Crow Laws, the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments of the US Constitution, and the 1898 Supreme Court case,...
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Lesson Plan
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Center for History and New Media

Founding of the Laurel Grove School and Other "Colored" Schools in Fairfax County, 1860–1890

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The right to public education was not always so clear in American history. Readers study several primary and secondary source documents, including property deeds, maps, and photographs, about the founding of local schools during the...
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Lesson Plan
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Center for History and New Media

The Impact of the Jim Crow Era on Education, 1877–1930s

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Even though American slaves were officially emancipated in 1865, the effects of slavery perpetuated throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Middle and high schoolers learn about the ways that discrimination and the Jim Crow laws...
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Lesson Plan
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Center for History and New Media

A Look at Virginians During Reconstruction, 1865-1877

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
The transition between rebellion to reunification was not smooth after the Civil War. Young historians compare primary and secondary source documents in a study of the Reconstruction era in Virginia, noting the rights that were not...
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Unit Plan
Library of Congress

After Reconstruction: Problems of African Americans in the South

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Lynchings, race riots, and Jim Crow laws were just a few examples of antagonism that African Americans faced after Emancipation. Class groups investigate these and other events, and prepare a presentation to inform the class about the...
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Lesson Plan
Alabama Department of Archives and History

Alabama Tenant Farmers and Sharecroppers, 1865 to Present

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
The tenant farming and sharecropping systems that developed in the South after the Civil War, the reasons for their development, and the eventual decline of these systems are the focus of this two-day plan.
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Lesson Plan
City University of New York

Jim Crow and Voting Rights

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
Class groups examine primary source documents to determine how the voting rights of African Americans were restricted after the failure of Reconstruction, and how African American participation in World War II lead to change.
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Lesson Plan
Middle Tennessee State University

Fights, Freedom, and Fraud: Voting Rights in the Reconstruction Era

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
As part of a study of post Civil War era, young historians investigate the changes in voting rights during the Reconstruction Era (1863-1876), the fraud involved in the Hayes-Tilden presidential election of 1876, and efforts by Pap...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Called Themselves the K.K.K.; The Birth of an American Terrorist Group

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
How did Ku Klux Klan develop and flourish in the US? How did the government respond to acts of terrorism conducted by the KKK following the Civil War? How does the government respond to acts of terrorism today? This resource launches a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

After Reconstruction: Problems of African Americans

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students describe issues or problems facing African Americans following Reconstruction. They explain possible solutions to these problems suggested in the sources you find, and cite arguments for and against these solutions.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Slave Narratives: Constructing U.S. History Through Analyzing Primary Sources

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners access oral histories that contain slave narratives from the Library of Congress. They describe the lives of former slaves, sample varied individual experiences and make generalizations about their research in journal entries.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Forty Acres? The Question of Land at the War's End

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Should land be redistributed to former slaves after the Civil War? This essential question guides a lesson on the Reconstruction Era, as learners analyze primary sources (linked), recording responses on a worksheet (linked). To model the...