Lesson Plan
iCivics

I Civics: Major Clash? Compromise!

For Teachers 9th - 10th
In this lesson, students explore the reasons for and outcomes of some of the most impactful resolutions made to form the U.S. Constitution.
Primary
Other

Wake Forest University: History of Compromise Legislation

For Students 9th - 10th
Annotated chronology of various compromise legislation, including the Northwest Ordinance, the Constitution, the Missouri Compromise, 1850 Compromise, and Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Article
Siteseen

Siteseen: Government and Constitution: The Three Fifths Compromise

For Students 9th - 10th
The Three-Fifths Compromise that was presented at the Constitutional Convention resolved the issue of counting slaves towards the population in regards to representation in the House of Representatives.
Article
Siteseen

Siteseen: Government and Constitution: The Great Compromise

For Students 9th - 10th
Covers details of the Great Compromise which was presented at the Constitutional Convention. It consisted of the idea of proportional representation in the lower house (House of Representatives) and equal representation of the states in...
Article
Siteseen

Siteseen: Government and Constitution: Slave Trade Compromise

For Students 9th - 10th
The Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise was reached at the Constitutional Convention by stating that Congress could not prohibit the slave trade until 1808, but that any imported slaves could be taxed.
Article
Siteseen

Siteseen: American Historama: The Atlanta Compromise

For Students 9th - 10th
A comprehensive overview with detailed facts about Booker T. Washington and the 1895 Atlanta Compromise speech.
Article
Siteseen

Siteseen: American Historama: The Compromise of 1850

For Students 9th - 10th
Comprehensive summary features detailed facts and information on The Compromise of 1850 that was trying to smooth out differences between the slave states and the free states.
Article
Siteseen

Siteseen: American Historama: Missouri Compromise

For Students 9th - 10th
Provides interesting facts and important information about the 1820 Missouri Compromise, a settlement reached between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions on the extension of slavery into new territories.
Website
PBS

Wnet: Thirteen: The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow: The Atlanta Compromise Speech (1895)

For Students 9th - 10th
Find out how Booker T. Washington tried to allay the fears of white Southerners in his speech in Atlanta in September, 1895. Although hailed as a new era in which blacks would give up their civil and political rights and in return get...
Article
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Constitutional Compromises: The Electoral College

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource from Khan Academy provides a lesson about the Electoral College. This lesson is intended for students taking high school or college level American Government and Civics courses, including the AP Government course.
Primary
History Tools

Historical Sources Online: Booker T. Washington's "Atlanta Compromise" [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
Read the text of the speech delivered in Atlanta by Booker T. Washington on September 18, 1895, in which he attempted to reassure the mostly white audience that African Americans were looking for economic opportunities, not civil rights....
Lesson Plan
Other

Urbana School District: Was the Three Fifths Compromise Fair?

For Teachers 9th - 10th
How do political leaders solve political problems? This lesson is an example of how compromise is a vital part of our democracy. Students will be able to visually see the effects of the Three-Fifths Compromise on the United States House...
Handout
Then Again

Then Again: Web Chron: The Compromise of 1877

For Students 9th - 10th
Discusses the Compromise of 1877 between the Republicans and Democrats, which was the solution to the contested Presidential election of 1876. It also brought an end to the period of Reconstruction following the Civil War.
Primary
Library of Congress

Loc: American Treasures: Compromise of 1850

For Students 9th - 10th
Contains pictures of the actual pages of the speech written by John C. Calhoun containing his views opposing the Compromise of 1850. Links to Daniel Webster's introductory remarks in favor of the compromise.
Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Debate and Compromise

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
The 18th-century statesmen who met in Philadelphia were adherents of Montesquieu's concept of the balance of power in politics. This principle was supported by colonial experience and strengthened by the writings of John Locke, with...
Primary
American Public Media

Say It Plain: Speech to Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition

For Students 9th - 10th
Booker T. Washington made a consequential speech in Atlanta in 1895, known now as the Atlanta Compromise. Read about the speech, the consessions Washington felt African-Americans needed to make, and the context in which the speech was...
Handout
University of Missouri

Exploring Constitutional Conflicts: Delegates to the Constitutional Convention: Connecticut

For Students 9th - 10th
Information about Connecticut's delegates to the Constitutional Convention. Includes information on Oliver Ellsworth, a key supporter of the Great Compromise, as well as William Samuel Johnson and Roger Sherman.
Handout
Library of Congress

Loc: Missouri Became the 24th State

For Students 3rd - 8th
As Missouri became a state, America was divided by slavery. This site from the Library of Congress offers a description of the events, as well as a railroad map, a painting of the Missouri Squadron, and a bust of Henry Clay, designer of...
Handout
Library of Congress

Loc: Missouri Became the 24th State

For Students 3rd - 8th
As Missouri became a state, America was divided by slavery. This site from the Library of Congress offers a description of the events, as well as a railroad map, a painting of the Missouri Squadron, and a bust of Henry Clay, designer of...
Article
Curated OER

History Matters: w.e.b. Du Bois Critiques Booker T. Washington

For Students 9th - 10th
W.E.B.DuBois, famous African American activist, wrote an essay disputing the path Booker T. Washington advocated in his Atlanta Compromise speech, and, instead, proposed a call for greater political power, civil rights, and higher...
Lesson Plan
US National Archives

National Archives: Congress Debates the Fate of the Nation

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students will use a copy of the Wilmot Proviso and a map used by President Polk in an address to Congress to debate whether territory acquired through the Mexican War should be free or slave states. This debate in Congress served as a...
Handout
Other

Nhi: Unrestraint Begets Calamity: "The American Whig Review," 1845 1852

For Students 9th - 10th
Scroll through this scholarly site from the National Humanities Institute to find information about the Whigs' role in the Compromise of 1850 and the end of its political clout by the election of 1852.
Primary
Texas State Library and Archives Commission

Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Texas Treasures: Thomas Rusk

For Students 9th - 10th
Thomas Rusk's Oath of Citizenship, Report from San Jacinto, and Letter on the 1850 Boundary Compromise are found here. You will see a picture of the original document, and a typed translation.
eBook
OpenStax

Open Stax: Free Soil or Slave? The Dilemma of the West

For Students 11th - 12th
By reading this section of a chapter on "Westward Expansion," students will be able to describe the terms of the Wilmot Proviso and the Compromise of 1850, discuss why the Free-Soil Party objected to the westward expansion of slavery and...

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