In today's political rhetoric, many forget the pivotal role the Republican Party played in the causes of the Civil War. The party's formation was the final straw for Southerners who saw the enslavement of people of African descent a...

How did the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act contribute to the growing tensions that led to the Civil war? To better understand the events that led to the Civil War, young historians engage in a...

Students use a map of the Missouri Compromise to explain the geographical changes it brought to the U.S. and why the changes provoked a debate over the expansion of slavery in the U.S.

A unit covers many aspects of the Civil War. Over six weeks, fifth graders delve deep into the history of slavery, the Civil War—before, during, and after—Abraham Lincoln, women's contributions, the Emancipation Proclamation, and...

In this online interactive history worksheet, students respond to 8 multiple choice questions about the Compromise of 1850. Students may check some of their answers on the interactive worksheet.

Slavery not only involved the forced migration of African people from their homes, it also meant the forced removal of people within the United States. Using data and interactive graphics, scholars see how the tragedy of human slavery...

Why was the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 so important? The reading in the resource discusses how the act affected Southerners, Northerners, and the slaves themselves. Scholars complete the reading as a form of direct instruction while...

Students examine the controversies over slavery's expansion and how the federal tariffs further entrenched the dividing line between northern and southern interests.

Use this series of bright, informative maps to illustrate important events of America's infancy. Detailing the Missouri Compromise, the Battle of New Orleans, and the Presidential Election of 1812, this presentation would be a good...

Your history students will be on the edges of their seats during this fascinating presentation, which details the abolition movement and slave life during the Antebellum period in the American South. Students will be left agape at the...

From the time of its publication, Uncle Tom's Cabin has been controversial. To better understand the debate, class members first examine a broadside decrying the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and then two newspaper reviews of the...

A student reader shares information about the history of slavery, the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, women's contributions to the war, the Emancipation Proclamation, and reconstruction.

A panorama of the mid-19th century in America, this series of images present several issues that were prevalent before the Civil War. Territorial and social conflicts were heated during this time, and one map in particular shows a...

The American Civil War was a complex test of a relatively young democracy in the mid-nineteenth century. Discuss the events and factors that led to the Civil War with a thorough slideshow presentation.

How did we grow into such a large nation? Follow the events, wars, and treaties that led to the acquisition of major states as we expanded into the West. The slides provide maps, dates, and simplistic information to help learners...

Why did Stephen Douglas support the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854? Why did Abraham Lincoln oppose it? Young historians examine how the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 affected the political balance between free and slave states and explore how...

Nat Turner, John Brown, and Abraham Lincoln all played a key role in the run-up to the bloody American Civil War. Using a PowerPoint, timeline activity, and essay prompt, young historians consider the roles of these men and more to...

Being able to recognize patterns, craft generalizations, and draw conclusions based on information in a text passage are essential critical thinking skills. Encourage learners to hone these skills with a worksheet that asks them to read...

Here is a traditional multiple-choice, true/false, and fill-in-the-blank assessment on the presidency of James Monroe in the United States. It was designed to supplement a particular textbook chapter, but could be used to assess learning...

Students create cartograms of populations during 1790.

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...

Discuss the differences between the North and the South and how those differences led to the Civil War. Middle schoolers examine and analyze a famous speech or writing by President Lincoln in order to better understand the speaker's...

Class pairs examine eight runaway slave advertisements from the mid-1800s to develop an understanding of the conditions slaves faced and of race relations.

Students analyze an interactive map of the Missouri Compromise to identify the regions and their relation to slavery. In this pre-civil war era instructional activity, students read primary source documents and research online to answer...