National Endowment for the Humanities
Lesson 1: The United States Confronts Great Britain, 1793–1796
After the Revolutionary War, the success of the United States was far from guaranteed. Foreign powers coveted the new land, and Great Britain challenged American sovereignty. Learners consider the challenges facing the new nation using...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Women in the Military
Scholars analyze the role of women in the military in United States history. Using group research, debate, and diary entries, they explore various military activity in America. To complete the lesson, young historians write an essay...
School Improvement in Maryland
United States Foreign Policy
Policies of United States government which promote or fail to promote relationships with other countries—national defense, arms control, security of other nations, trade, human rights, economic sanctions, foreign aid, etc.—come under...
Curated OER
The Great Military: Map of Texas
The battle at the Alamo may be one of the most famous military campaigns in Texas history, but it is by no means the only one. As part of their study of the military history of Texas, class members research less-well-known sites, locate...
Stanford University
Iraq Resolution
The 9/11 attacks propelled the United States into a period of low-grade war that has existed from that day all the way to current times. By looking at documents from the decision to send troops to Iraq in 2006, scholars connect the...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Military Conscription in World War I: Alabamians Express Their Opinions
If called, would you go? Should the US government have the power to impose a draft during any war? The Selective Service Act of 1917 (aka the Conscription Act of 1917) authorized the drafting of men into the military for only the second...
Annenberg Foundation
A Growing Global Power
How does a nation turn into a global superpower? The 16th installment of the 22-part series on American history investigates the rise of the United States to global importance in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Groups...
DocsTeach
Analyzing Evidence of the Pearl Harbor Attack
Don some detective caps and delve into the past to explore the evidence left behind after the attack on Pearl Harbor. An interesting activity uses primary sources to explore how the United States Navy was caught off guard and how the...
DocsTeach
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War, but it did not end tensions between the two nations. The activity provides learners with an opportunity to practical historical analysis with text experts from the Treaty of...
University of California
Containing Communism Abroad
Learn more about the policy of the United States to contain communism during the Cold War. The fifth installment of an eight-part series looks at primary and secondary materials about a challenging time in history. After analyzing the...
American Battlefield Trust
Life at War
It looks like a cracker, but hardtack was anything but. The staple of the Civil War soldier's diet is one of many aspects of military life that scholars consider using letters from soldiers back home and images from slavery. A PowerPoint...
American Battlefield Trust
Joshua Chamberlain Lesson Plan
While Joshua Chamberlain's name is not as iconic as Abraham Lincoln or Robert E. Lee, he still played a pivotal role in the military engagements of the Civil War. Using two secondary sources—including one that draws heavily from his...
Library of Congress
George Washington: First in War, First in Peace, and First in the Hearts of His Countrymen
Does the lens of history portray George Washington as a good leader? A three-lesson unit looks at Washington's early military career as the commander of the Virginia Regiment, his role in the fight for independence from England, and his...
DocsTeach
Black Soldiers in the Civil War
Get hands on virtually with recruitment posters for African American soldiers during the Civil War with an interactive online resource. By highlighting key phrases in the posters using an Internet tool, learners discover how African...
New York Historical Society
The Vietnam War: 1945-1975
Do pupils know that the Vietnam War spanned a period of 30 years? A war that long is bound to leave devastating effects. Help young historians develop a comprehensive understanding of the war through multiple units on the subject that...
The Formation of the Western Alliance, 1948–1949
Silence is golden—even when debating post World War II foreign policy. Using a silent debate format, young historians deliberate whether the United States should have kept a foothold in West Germany after World War II. A series of videos...
Humanities Texas
A President's Vision: Abraham Lincoln
Invite your learners to take a close look at Abraham Lincoln's presidency through analysis worksheets of several images and primary documents, presented on an educational poster entirely dedicated to this great United States president.
Reading Through History
The Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation: one of the most important primary sources for studying American history! An interdisciplinary resource includes a reading of Abraham Lincoln's seminal speech quoted directly. Following the reading, pupils...
DocsTeach
Pearl Harbor Dispatch Analysis
Scholars play a historical version of the telephone game when they analyze the dispatch from the Pearl Harbor attack. The quick activity uses primary sources to help academics analyze an historical event. Young historians also complete a...
DocsTeach
The Civil War as Photographed by Mathew Brady
While there are no photographs of actual battles during the Civil War, the pictures of Matthew Brady still paint a vivid image of what life was like as a solider. Using a series of photographs, including those of camp life and the...
ProCon
Drinking Age
Eighteen is the age of adulthood in the United States, but 21 is the legal drinking age. Pupils use the provided website to determine whether the age to legally purchase and consume alcohol should be lowered. They weigh the pros and...
ProCon
Drone Strikes Overseas
Should the United States continue the practice of using drone strikes abroad? Readers explore the top pro and con arguments in preparation for a debate or discussion about the topic. They read about the history of drone strikes, view a...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
From Alabama Farmer to Civil War Soldier
As part of a study of the Civil War, class members conduct a WebQuest to create a timeline of battles fought by the 10th Alabama Infantry Regimen. They then use Google Earth to pinpoint these battles of the Civil War on a map of Alabama.
National Gallery of Art
The First African American Regiment
Young historians examine a memorial sculpture of the first African American regiment in the Civil War, and then compare how the experiences of the regiment are portrayed in letters and poetry, as well as in the motion picture, Glory.