Center for History Education
Did Southern Free Men of Color Fight for the Ideals of the South?
Much of history is distasteful. Primary sources often reveal attitudes acceptable at the time that no longer are. But to understand controversial historical events, historians must examine primary sources that represent a wide variety of...
Curated OER
Could the Civil War Been Avoided Through Compromise?
Students determine whether the American Civil War could have been avoided. In this Civil War lesson, students examine primary and secondary sources to prepare to participate in a classroom debate that requires them to compromise to avoid...
Curated OER
The Importance of Religion in Political Life in the 19th Century: Abraham Lincoln's Experience
Eleventh graders explore the importance of religion in community building in frontier America. They analyze the importance of religion in political life in the 19th century.
Curated OER
A House Dividing: The Growing Crisis of Sectionalism in Antebellum America
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.
Curated OER
Road to War Assessment
In this American Civil War worksheet, students respond to 20 short answer, multiple choice, and true or false questions about the events that led to the outbreak of war.
Curated OER
618,000: Shall Not Have Died in Vain
Learners explore the American Civil War. In this Civil War lesson, students examine a slave auction advertisement and an Abraham Lincoln quote. Learners also read Pink and Say, create a foldable regarding naval warfare, and design a...
Curated OER
Four Famous Faces
Each one of our quarters is embellished with a famous face or image representing the state it came from. This lesson uses South Dakota's state quarter to get kids thinking about monetary value, what the president of the United States...
PBS
African American History: Climbing the Wall
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...
Curated OER
Free Market Labor vs. Slave Labor Debating the "Mud-Sill" Theory
Students read the speeches of Abraham Lincoln and James Hammond. They discuss the speeches and answer questions about free labor vs. slave labor.
Curated OER
Hoosier Soldiers and the Emancipation Proclamation
Eighth graders examine the impact of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation through the eyes of Indiana soldiers. In this American Civil War lesson, 8th graders read the proclamation and then students write essays that included letters...
Curated OER
Attitudes Toward Emancipation
Students evaluate the provisions of the Emancipation Proclamation. They trace the stages that led to Lincoln's formulation of this policy. Explore the range of contemporary public opinion on the issue of emancipation.
Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program
Civil War on Sunday
Reading Mary Pope Osborne's Civil War on Sunday? Here's a packet crammed with activities, exercises, reading guides, and project suggestions. A must-have for your curriculum library.
Curated OER
Civil War Prison Camps
Fourth graders work with a partner to create a puppet show that demonstrates the condition of the prisoners in Andersonville, Georgia during the Civil War.
West Virginia Department of Education
A State of Convenience: The Creation of West Virginia
Ever wondered why there is a West Virginia but not an East Virginia? The resource answers questions like this one and more as it takes an in-depth and detailed look at the history of West Virginia and how it became a state. Several...
Curated OER
Attitudes Toward Emancipation
Students read the Emancipation Proclamation and investigate steps that led to its signing. They read and discuss period news articles from both sides of the argument and create portfolios of documentation supporting both sides.
Curated OER
Counting On Freedom
Young scholars examine the poem and artistic masterpiece The Quadroon Girl and use this knowledge to practice mathematical concepts such as: more than, less than, counting, and majority.
National Park Service
Freedom at Antietam
Explore how the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation affected everyday individuals in the Civil War era. Learners are given the opportunity to read and evaluate primary and secondary source material, and then to compose a writing...
Curated OER
Civil War Scouting
Students complete a webquest that focuses on the basic causes and major events of the Civil War. They answer a series of questions each having an Internet link to a reading that provides clues for the answer.
Curated OER
A New Birth of Freedom: Black Soldiers in the Union Army
Students use primary documents to analyze the events surrounding black soldiers joining the Union Army. In this content area reading instructional activity, students view multiple primary documents, analyzing and answering questions...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Newscast on the Battles of the Ironclad Ships
Fifth graders create multi-media newscasts based on their knowledge of Civil War battles of the ironclad ships.
Curated OER
The Civil War Era
Fifth graders explore both the causes of and the actual events of the Civil War. They write essays and descriptive paragraphs and explore a variety of websites. They create a series of skits highlighting the key points of the Civil War era.
Curated OER
Civil War and Beyond
Sixth graders play a game. In this Civil War lesson, 6th graders discuss the beginnings of the Civil War and define vocabulary words associated with the war such as abolitionist and Emancipation Proclamation. Students play a game of...
Curated OER
Holidays: Presidents Day
For this ESL/language arts worksheet, students read sentences about Presidents Day and choose the best word to fill in the blank. Students are given 2 choices for each.
Curated OER
Respect
Students brainstorm what they believe having respect for someone else means. Individually, they share their own experiences about a time they felt respected and a time they did not. To end the instructional activity, they participate...