Historical Thinking Matters
Spanish-American War: 5 Day Lesson
Nine historical documents, an interactive online notebook, and a fantastic opportunity for historical inquiry await your pupils in this 5-day lesson plan. Class members identify and discuss various causes for the Spanish-American War...
Student Handouts
Working with Primary Sources: The Spanish-American War
Examine the introduction to Our Islands in Their People, written by Major-General Joseph Wheeler. The excerpt, which is about two-and-a-half pages long, is included here along with six questions about the text. Pupils can learn about the...
Historical Thinking Matters
Spanish-American War: 3 Day Lesson
Why did the United States choose to invade Cuba in 1898? As part of a 3-day lesson, your young historians will first develop working hypotheses to answer this question, then work with a variety of historical primary source documents that...
Historical Thinking Matters
Spanish-American War: 1 Day Lesson
After analyzing newspaper articles portraying different perspectives of the explosion of the Battleship USS Maine, your young historians will take a stand on which position is the most believable in both discussion and writing.
Student Handouts
Examining Primary Sources: Rudyard Kipling, “The White Man’s Burden” (1899)
Combine literature and history with the poem "The White Man's Burden" by Rudyard Kipling. Pupils read the poem and answer four questions about the text.
Smithsonian Institution
Art to Zoo: Life in the Promised Land: African-American Migrants in Northern Cities, 1916-1940
This is a fantastic resource designed for learners to envision what it was like for the three million African-Americans who migrated to urban industrial centers of the northern United States between 1910 and 1940. After reading a...
Core Knowledge Foundation
Volume 2 - A History of the United States: Modern Times—Late 1800s to the 2000s
The second volume of the Core Knowledge History of the United States ebook begins by asking young scholars to consider the impact immigration, industrialization, and urbanization had on the United States in the late 1800s. The text ends...
College Board
2016 AP® United States History Free-Response Questions
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...
Historical Thinking Matters
Scopes Trial: 5 Day Lesson
Did Scopes violate the Butler Act? Why did so many Americans follow the Scopes trial? See analytical reading in action with a fantastic five-day lesson plan in which class members consider the historical context that provoked public...
College Board
2017 AP® United States History Free-Response Questions
Were unfair taxes really the cause of the American Revolution? Learners explore the complicated historiography behind the revolutionary period using authentic College Board prompts. The free-response questions from the exam feature...
College Board
2018 AP® United States History Free-Response Questions
Learners explore the the Age of Imperialism using primary sources and an authentic College Board documents-based question. Other prompts explore the economic changes brought about by the American Civil War, technology, mercantilism, and...
Wordly Wise 3000 Online
Viva Cinco de Mayo
Many people think Cinco de Mayo is the celebration Mexican independence, but they're incorrect. Learn about the battle of Puebla and the victory of General Zaragoza with a short reading passage that includes comprehension and vocabulary...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
European Explorers
To compare how the Spanish, French, and English approached the exploration of North America, class groups examine primary source documents and become experts on one of four explorers: Francisco Coronado, Robert LaSalle, Samuel de...
Historical Thinking Matters
Rosa Parks: 5 Day Lesson
What led to the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and how might historians approach this question differently? This rich series of lessons includes a short introductory video clip, analysis of six primary source documents, and...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Ap Us History Unit: Period 7: 1890 1945: Spanish American War
This practice exercise from Khan Academy covers Period 7: 1890-1945 in American History. The Spanish-American War is reviewed in this resource. This resource is designed as a review for the AP US History Test.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Writing in u.s. History: Imperialism and Spanish American War
Trace the causes and debates that led to the Spanish-American War, including "yellow journalism" press coverage, President McKinley's declaration of war, and sentiments about imperialism. In this interactive lesson from WGBH, students...
CPALMS
Florida State University Cpalms: Florida Students: Imperialism and the Spanish American War
This tutorial discusses American imperialism and what drove it. The Spanish-American War is examined and the acquisition of new territories by the United States. A PDF file of the tutorial is available.
C3 Teachers
C3 Teachers: Inquiries: American Expansion
A learning module on American imperialism that includes three supporting questions accompanied by formative tasks and source materials, followed by a summative performance task. Topics covered include the conditions in the late 19th...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Ap Us History Unit: Unit: Period 7: 1890 1945: Quiz
The study resource from Khan Academy provides a video lesson over Period 7: 1890-1945 in American History. This self-assessment covers context for The Spanish-American War and the debate about imperialism. This resource is designed as a...
Department of Defense
Do Dea: Ap Us History: Unit 6: Becoming a Modern Nation
This extensive learning module examines the role of large-scale industrialization, urbanization, and mass migrations in creating new demands on government and social organizations to design reforms, and looks at the global and domestic...
PBS
Pbs: Yellow Journalism and Fake News: Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People
Learn about the rise of yellow journalism and the fine if occasionally wavering line between sensationalism and fake news in this series of videos from the American Masters film Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People. Learn about the...