Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Mining Boom

For Students 5th - 8th
The allure of getting rich quick by finding gold or silver was just a dream for most prospectors. Read about the gold and silver rushes that usually ended up enriching the mining industry, not the miner. Find out about the make-up of the...
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Underside of Urban Life

For Students 5th - 8th
Read about the plight of the urban poor in the rapidly growing cities. In addition to the modern skyscrapers, the cities also had tenement housing where the poor lived. Find a description of that housing and the problems this housing bred.
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Gold in California

For Students 5th - 8th
The gold rush in California accelerated the western migration of thousands of young American men, who streamed into California to find riches. See who else arrived in California and find out what they did. In addition, there is a map...
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Rise of American Industry

For Students 5th - 8th Standards
The Industrial Revolution came to America, smuggled in by Samuel Slater, who brought plans for a cotton-spinning mill. See how the growth of industry led to the growth of corporations, the growth of the nation geographically, and the...
Article
Immigration and Ethnic History Society

Iehs: Lucy Salyer Uncovers the History of Expatriation & the Fenian Brotherhood

For Students 9th - 10th
Scholar Lucy Salyer writes about Irish Americans who joined the Fenian Brotherhood around the time of the U.S. Civil War and the shifting ideas of allegiance, citizenship, and expatriation implicated in their story. Read the following...
Handout
Digital History

Digital History: Italian Immigration

For Students 9th - 10th
This Digital History article provides a complete picture of Italian immigration, looking at reasons for immigration and the areas Italians were likely to live and work.
Online Course
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mit: Open Course Ware: The Places of Migration in United States History

For Teachers 9th - 10th
MIT provides and extensive list of reading and viewing materials in regard to the migration within the United States. Lecture notes and possible assignments included.
Website
New York Public Library

Haitian Immigration

For Students 9th - 10th
An outstanding site for anyone who wants to know about Haitian immigrant issues.
Handout
Other

Understanding Race: The Famine and the Irish Race: 1840s 1890s

For Students 9th - 10th
Article discusses how the Industrial Revolution in Europe and the potato famine in Ireland brought millions of people to the U.S. and highlights some of the impacts of immigration during this time.
Handout
Other

Brown Quarterly: The History of Japanese Immigration in the u.s.

For Students 9th - 10th
The Brown Quarterly article provides photos and a history of Japanese immigration in the United States. It also offers information about religion, discrimination, and work.
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Teachers: The New Americans (Lessons on the Immigrant Experience)

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Find eleven lesson plans developed in conjunction with the PBS documentary "The New Americans," which explores what it means to be a new Americans in the twenty-first century. Lessons touch on topics associated with recently arrived...
Website
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Tensions Over Immigration

For Students 9th - 10th
Section addresses U.S. tensions over immigration and government policies affecting the number of immigrants allowed to enter the U.S. after World War I.
Article
A&E Television

History.com: History Shorts: When an Undocumented Immigrant Became a War Hero

For Students 9th - 10th
Marcelino Serna came to the U.S. as a undocumented immigrant from Mexico, and within just a few years, became one of the country's bravest heroes. (Video 1:03) He joined the army at the beginning of WWI where he captured 24 German...
Article
A&E Television

History.com: Hispanic History Milestones: Timeline

For Students 9th - 10th
The American Hispanic/Latinx history is a rich, diverse and long one, with immigrants, refugees and Spanish-speaking or Indigenous people living in the United States since long before the nation was established. America's Hispanic...
Article
PBS

Kqed: Immigration From China

For Students 9th - 10th
A concise overview of the history of Chinese immigration to the U.S. including reference to important social and legal issues.
Website
PBS

Kqed: Russian American Immigration

For Students 9th - 10th
A historic look at the earliest wave of Russian immigration to the United States, which began in the late nineteenth century and continued up to the passage of restrictive immigration laws in the 1920s. With details about how World War I...
Handout
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

Gilder Lehrman Institute: History Now: Historian's Perspective: Winning the Vote: History of Voting Rights

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login Required] Historian-authored three-part overview looks at the history of voting rights in America, touching on all the critical moments in American history when voting rights were first denied then granted to...
Primary
Michigan State University

Michigan State University: Msu Libraries: Digital Collections: Asian America

For Students 9th - 10th
A collection of primary source documents and books that detail the racial discrimination Chinese and Japanese immigrants faced in the U.S. during America's involvement in the Second World War. One report from 1877 looks at Chinese...
Website
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: The Journey of the Jewish Americans

For Students 9th - 10th
This video segment from The Jewish Americans shows how in the 19th century Jews and other groups were sometimes not welcomed when they immigrated to the United States. In addidtion to the video are teaching tips and follow-up questions,...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Blogging, Civic Engagement and the Dream Act

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This multi-task lesson asks students to look at the DREAM Act in the context of immigration reform and also to reflect on blogging as civic engagement.
Handout
Other

Maryland Historical Society: Collections Online

For Students 9th - 10th
An online database full of paintings, photographs, manuscripts, decorative arts pieces, and lithographs pertaining to history topics. Topics include American Civil War, African American History, Women's History, and immigration and...
Primary
Curated OER

History Matters: Camella Teoli Testifies About the 1912 Lawrence Textile Strike

For Students 9th - 10th
Read the gripping testimony of an immigrant girl who testified before a U.S. Congressional committee detailing the conditons in the textile mill in which she worked. Because of these unsafe working conditions, the textile workers...
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: From the Countryside to the City

For Students 5th - 8th
The growth of cities was rapid in the last half of the 19th century. Read about the good things and bad things that were a result of this urbanization.
Whiteboard
ClassFlow

Class Flow: Cause and Effect With Us History

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] What is cause and effect? This flipchart explains cause and effect with simple examples leading to more in-depth examples in US history from the Industrial Revolution, immigration, and Westward expansion.