It's hard to believe the abolition movement was once seen as scandalous. Help learners understand how the US Constitution changed everything. A variety of activities such as corresponding reading activities, group work ideas, and...

Everyone living in the United States today is a descendant from an immigrant—even Native Americans. Learn about the tumultuous history of American immigration with a reading passage that discusses the ancient migration over the Bering...

High schoolers examine slavery in the revolutionary and colonial eras of the United States. In this slavery lesson, students investigate the presence of slavery in early America, the language of the Constitution, and the intent of the...

Slavery is a serious topic that can be challenging for middle schoolers to study. Young scholars can see firsthand through primary sources what occurred during that time period in the United States. The third of five lessons provides...

If you've never heard of the Equal Rights Amendment, it's probably because there isn't one in the United States Constitution. Delve into the contentious history behind the ERA, its founders and supporters, and reasons for its political...

Much of Latin American music owes its origins to the slave trade. Peoples from the Yoruban and Dahomean cultures brought with them the distinctive rhythms, time signatures, and eighth note patterns that now characterize Caribbean music....

Get your historians to hop into someone else's 18th century shoes with a simulation on rights in early America. Each individual gets an identity card, indicating their race, gender, and status (slave or free). Areas around the room are...

Fight for freedom! The instructional activity delves into the world of African American soldiers during the American Revolution. Scholars read documents, such as the Dunmore Proclamation, to understand how the British government treated...

Students examine a series of documents which discuss the contradiction in the Americans' rhetoric about slavery. They act as members of designated Committees of Correspondence in the five different colonies, communicating their...

Young scholars 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...

How did free and enslaved blacks work to craft freedom for themselves and their families before the Civil War? Young historians read about the life of Thomas Day, a free black man who also owned slaves and had abolitionist ties in...

Young historians examine a memorial sculpture of the first African American regiment in the Civil War, and then compare how the experiences of the regiment are portrayed in letters and poetry, as well as in the motion...

Freedom for the few! An interesting lesson focuses on the Maryland Constitution and its lack of freedom for African Americans. Scholars examine the premise of freedom for all—which only extended to a limited few.  Academics complete...

Women's lifestyles before the Civil War made a huge impact as a point of causation. Give middle schoolers the opportunity to view firsthand the lives of women before the Civil War. They analyze primary source documents, view photographs,...

In theory, at least, indentured servitude and slavery were two different practices in the American colonies. Class groups conduct a close reading of two primary source documents, one written by a slave and one by an indentured servant,...

Scholars use an Analyzing Images: Slavery in America handout to make predictions from pictures featuring slavery. They then discuss the pictures with partners. Learners further their thinking by close reading The Slave Trade and...

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...

Social studies learners explore slavery in the American colonies from 1607 to the Revolutionary War. In groups, they explore a PBS website and a virtual museum. Using these websites and other online resources, students create their own...

Students investigate the personal accounts of slaves in the United States. They participate in various activities according to grade level to examine the role of slavery in the South.

In order to understand the complicated nature of slave laws during the Civil War, learners compare and contrast an abolitionist poster and a runaway slave ad. They use an attached worksheet to consider each primary source document, then...

Who were the enslaved people in colonial America? Using ads from enslavers looking to recapture escaped people, young historians put faces and identities to them. Primary sources, such as wanted ads, help scholars reconstruct who these...

After reflecting on jobs people perform in the present day, scholars discuss what they believe jobs would have been like in Colonial Virginia during the American Revolution. Small groups then perform a jigsaw using informational packets....

Did the Emancipation Proclamation free all slaves during the Civil War? Why was it written, and what were its immediate and long-term effects? After reading primary source materials, constructing political maps representing information...

Did you know that prior to the American Revolution, Alabama was a part of the British empire and called New West Florida? Class members research the economic, political, and social realities of this territory and compare...