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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Persuasion in Historical Context: The Gettysburg Address

For Teachers 7th - 8th Standards
The Gettysburg Address is a powerful text. Use it to teach persuasion and the importance of word choice. The activity detailed here includes a scaffolded background knowledge activity that includes image analysis of photos from the Civil...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Harriet Tubman Warns "Kill the Snake Before It Kills You"

For Students 8th - 12th
Harriet Tubman developed a rich extended metaphor for slavery and the imperative for Lincoln to abolish it in this dictated letter from 1862. Young historians read the original document and interpret Tubman's allegory with a pair of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Gender, Sex, and Slavery

For Teachers 8th - 12th
While examining slavery's impact on women, historians compare and contrast the perspectives of a plantation mistress and an enslaved woman, both reflecting on the system of forced prostitution. Text analysis and written responses create...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A House Dividing: The Growing Crisis of Sectionalism in Antebellum America

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore the debates over American slavery and the power of the American federal government for the first half of the 19th century and how the regional economies and political events produced a widening split between the states.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rights and Responsibilities, Is It Breaking the Law?

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students investigate the life and trial of Rev. John Mahan who was involved with the illegal Underground Railroad. The issue of breaking the law to help slaves escape is examined in this lesson.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Freedom Timeline

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students explore the issue of the morality of slavery in the 18th and 19th centuries in the United States and construct a timeline containing freedom facts. Freedon issues and the rights and responsibilities of the time are examined.
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PPT
Curated OER

The American Civil War: A Nation Divided (1861-1865)

For Teachers 8th - 11th
Intended for use with atlases, this presentation details the causes and effects of the Civil War. It includes historical pictures of battles and discussion points about the technology which emerged during (and for) the war. The final...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Landmarks of the Underground Railroad

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders explore the impact of the Underground Railroad. In this slavery lesson, 9th graders read about the Shadrach Minkins case and discuss the details of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Students consider how the Underground...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Landmarks of the Underground Railroad

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students explore the impact of the Underground Railroad. In this slavery lesson, students read slave accounts and discuss the details of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. Students consider the impact of anti-slavery efforts in Boston and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Abolition of Slavery

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students examine the Triangle Trade Route. In this slave trade lesson, students investigate the profits brought by the goods and people traded. Students also participate in a classroom activity that requires them to replicate how slaves...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Abolishing Slavery In America

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students discover details about abolition. In this slavery lesson plan, students watch Abolishing Slavery in America and then conduct further research about the events that took place on the Zong and Amistad. Students write essays that...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

This Guilty Land

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students investigate the actions and motives of John Brown. In this abolition lesson, students discover details about Brown's background as a free-state and abolition supporter. Students discuss his role as that of a martyr or terrorist....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Underground Railroad

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students explore the Underground Railroad.  In this U.S. history and technology instructional activity, students research an assigned topic related to the Underground Railroad, such as "abolitionist," "conductor," or "station houses." ...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fredrick Douglass...A Digital History

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders research the life of Fredrick Douglass. In this Fredrick Douglass lesson, 7th graders read about his life and discuss it. They write poetry describing his experience as a slave and create their own monument for Fredrick...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Examining Slave Auction Documents

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Young scholars compare the social and cultural characteristics of the North, the South, and the West during the antebellum period, including the lives of African Americans and social reform movements such as abolition and women’s rights.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Building a Memorial to the Underground Railroad

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this Underground Railroad lesson, students examine the attributes and function of the Underground Railroad in order to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The 1808 Slave Trade Abolition Deadline

For Teachers 11th - Higher Ed
Students study the trans-Atlantic Slave trade. In this slave trade lesson, students study the Constitutional Convention Notes and the impact on United States slavery. Students research the slave trade database and other primary sources...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Slavery and Abolition: Three Unforgettable Names

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students research the people and events involved in the abolitionist movement prior to the U.S. Civil War. They read about and discuss the roles of Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman, and John Brown. Students complete a word splash, Venn...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Expansion and Reform: Applying the Declaration of Independence

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students conduct inquiries and research-acquiring, organizing, analyzing, interpreting, evaluating, and communicating facts, themes, and general principles operating in American history. They use the Declaration of Independence to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Reforms of the Mid-1800's

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders complete a unit of lessons on the reform movements of the mid-1800's in the U.S. They participate in an Internet scavenger hunt, analyze primary source documents, and develop and perform a simulation of a mid-19th century...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Underground Railroad Before and After the Fugitive Slave Law

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Young scholars consider the impact of the Fugitive Slave Law on the activity of the Underground Railroad. In this slavery lesson, students examine primary documents that describe the role of the Underground Railroad during the fight for...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Underground Railroad Activity

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders practice their interviewing skills as they learn about the Underground Railroad. For this slavery lesson, 8th graders discuss the existence and operation of the railroad. Students then interview one another in the personas...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Slavery: Matching

For Students 5th - 8th
In this slavery identification activity, students match the 11 terms and names associated with slavery in the United States to the appropriate descriptions. 
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Interactive
Curated OER

Abolitionists

For Students 8th - 12th
In this online interactive history worksheet, students respond to 14 multiple choice, matching, and true/false questions about American abolitionists. Students may check some of their answers on the interactive worksheet.