City University of New York
Urban Politics: Machines and Reformers
What were political machines and whom did they serve? As part of a study of US immigration patterns and how these patterns influenced politics, groups investigate how Tammany Hall and other political machines gained support from voters.
Curated OER
Activism and Social Reform in America from 1800-1850
Students discuss idea of social status, examine antebellum social reform movements, and compare and contrast experiences of activists who sought to improve workers' lives, end slavery, reform immigration laws, and establish voting rights...
Curated OER
The Progressive Era
Students explore The Progressive Era, and discuss labor unions, coal mining, employee rights, and strikes. Unit of lessons all on one page.
Curated OER
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all About It!
Students are able to synthesize information on increasing regulatory reforms during the Progressive Era through individual research and presentation of material. They are responsible for a list of regulatory reforms with dates and...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
The Progressive Era: Muckrakers
Using Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, guide your class in the process of identifying unknown terms using context clues and formulating text-based answers. The lesson plan includes a useful worksheet incorporating scaffolding questions on an...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Upton Sinclair, Theodore Roosevelt, and Harvey W. Wiley
Though Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle shocked the American public into a thorough examination of the meat-packing industry, the author was disappointed that his book's main argument—the exploitation of American immigrants—was not part...
Curated OER
"Pitchfork" Ben Tillman and Political Reform in South Carolina
Eleventh graders examine the political reform movement in South Carolina spearheaded by "Pitchfork" Ben Tillman. In this South Carolina history lesson, 11th graders examine primary and secondary sources regarding Tillman and his vision....
Simon & Schuster
Classroom Activities for The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
A 15-page packet includes detailed plans for three activities related to Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. To gather background information, class members research topics and create a newspaper page reporting their findings. After finishing...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Eleanor Roosevelt and the Rise of Social Reform in the 1930's
Eleventh graders explore the various roles that Eleanor Roosevelt took on. In this US History lesson, 11th graders analyze the views that Eleanor Roosevelt held as an advocate for social justice. Young scholars evaluate her contributions...
Curated OER
Stand Up and Sing
Students journal and respond to the question," How does society respond to change?" They create original lyrics to their own song that reflects the context of the Progressive Era.
Curated OER
Progressive Movement
Sixth graders define what progressivism is and find events of the Progressive Movement. In this Progressive Movement lesson, 6th graders create their choice of a poster, flyer or brochure to invite others into the progressive movement....
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...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Cells for Sale - Convict Leasing in Alabama
The benefits and drawbacks of convict leasing following the Civil War are the focus of a lesson that asks groups to examine primary source materials to gain an understanding of the program before individuals decide whether they are in...
City University of New York
Woman's Suffrage and World War I
How did women use President Wilson's ideals and rhetoric in their bid for suffrage? To answer this essential question, class groups analyze primary written documents and visual images.
Curated OER
The Muckrakers Interdisciplinary Unit
Eighth graders complete an Interdisciplinary Unit on the Muckrakers and the Progressive Movement. Students describe life in America and how Progressive Reformers changed it. identify specific problems and propose solutions. Students...
Curated OER
Is All Well in Welfare?
Students explore current welfare reform issues and create plans of action to improve welfare reform laws in the United States. They predict what President Bush's "Working Towards Independence" welfare reform program might entail and...
Curated OER
Child Labor in Maryland: An Historical Investigation
Tenth graders, after reading two excerpts about contemporary child labor situations, discuss two broad questions in detail along with the industrial boom following the Civil War conditions in the United States. They investigate how the...
Curated OER
Exposes in Different Eras: The Work of Dorothea Dix and Burton Blatt
Students discover that Dorothea Dix was the first to make the pubic aware of the terrible living conditions of people with mental illness in the 1800's. They evaluate the influence of citizen action on public policy.
Curated OER
John Gary Evans and the Politics of Race
Young scholars read letters written by Evans and Gunton regarding race relations. In this Progressive Movement lesson, students interpret the intentions and tone of the letters to understand contemporary racial beliefs. Young scholars...
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Slave Narratives: Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, and the Columbian Orator
Young historians practice in-depth, quality analysis of primary source texts in this three-lesson unit, which examines excerpts from the slave narratives of Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, and Caleb Bingham.
Syracuse University
American Industrial Revolution
While the Industrial Revolution may have fueled America's rise to the top of world markets, the child laborers often faced dangerous conditions. Using primary source images and other information, scholars consider what these children...
Library of Congress
Child Labor in America
Students investigate child labor during the Great Depression. In this US policy lesson, students evaluate multiple layers of the social, economic, and political affects of policy during the Great Depression. Students will engage in 5...
Curated OER
Neighbors Helping Neighbors
Students examine the philanthropic acts of Jane Addams. They identify a current problem in their community and develop ways to help. They also examine the work done in the Hull House in Chicago.
National Endowment for the Humanities
“Read All About It”: Primary Source Reading in “Chronicling America”
Can investigative journalism become too sensationalistic and accusatory, or is it vital for the survival of a democracy? Middle schoolers analyze primary source documents from early 20th-century newspapers as well as Theodore Roosevelt's...