This lesson helps students study life in the United States in the years before the Civil War. Students will gain a better understanding of why people grew willing to fight to defend their way of life. Many of the documents students will...

A lesson plan that addresses the "complex series of events" leading to the Civil War. Through this lesson, students will "gain an appreciation of everyday life in the North and South, changes occurring, and some of the major social and...

Traces the life of the richest black man in New Orleans before the Civil War and after.

A very brief look at the "Peculiar Institution" of slavery in the South before the Civil War. Read about how slavery became so entrenced and why it drove a wedge between the North and South.

This biography of Robert E. Lee is part of a larger site about the Lee family plantation, Stratford Hall. Read about his personal life before and after the war. Included are links to his farewell address and information about the horses...

People enslaved Africans for their enforced labor from before America's founding until the end of the Civil War. Learn about the history of slavery, its effects on a budding nation, and the fight to abolish it. This collection includes...

A comprehensive biography of Ulysses S. Grant including information about his life before his presidency, detailed essays on various aspects of presidency, brief biographies of members of his cabinet, and copies of his presidential papers.

Selected (11) reading passages (grades 7-11) to pair with the autobiography "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" by Fredrick Douglass. Frederick Douglass recounts his experiences as a slave in Maryland, and his treatment at the...

From this captioned portrait published by the National Portrait Gallery, learn about the life of Octavius Catto, who was part of the free community of African Americans living in Philadelphia before, during, and after the Civil War era.