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...

The words of Henry David Thoreau on Civil Disobedience seem particularly relevant today, as are his writings and those of other transcendental thinkers who ask what it mean to live deliberately and what are the responsibilities of...

Students are introduced to the romantic cultural movement in America. Reading examples of pictures of Washington Irving's home, they identify the characteristics of the movement. They view other paintings of artists from the same time...

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...

Learners analyze slavery and its effects on humanity using Frederick Douglass' autobiography. For this slavery instructional activity, students analyze instances of reality and romanticized myth using a slave narrative. Learners explore...

Students study slavery from the perspctive of an American slave. In this Frederick Douglass lesson, students complete the suggested pre-reading and post-reading activities included for Douglass's autobiography, Narrative of the Life of...

Students in a French class examine the life of the Acadians. In groups, they research the experiences of the Acadians coming to Louisiana and identifying the characteristics of the Cajuns. They compare and contrast the Acadians culture...

This lesson is an introduction to a unit on American Romanticism, from about 1800 to 1850. It defines the types of writing of the period and the power of poetry including the Fireside Poets: Longfellow, Bryant, Whittier, Lowell, and...

This is an introduction to a unit on American Literary Time Periods and the MLA Format. It features an interactive that provides definitions of the nine literary time periods and links to American Literature background information and...

Discusses the intellectual atmosphere in the 1800s as America struggled to find its identity. The influences of the Enlightenment and Romanticism are described, and the ideas of various writers and philosophers.

In this 3-lesson unit, students will read Douglass's narrative. They will analyze Douglass's vivid first-hand accounts of the lives of slaves and the behavior of slave owners to see how he successfully contrasts reality with romanticism...