Opportunity and Discrimination, A Dream of Gold

The Chinese Exclusion Act—the first race-based immigration restriction—is echoed in today's debates on the topic. Using graphic organizers and structured discussions, historians consider the reasons behind the act and compare the...

Immigration to the US has been a topic of discussion for many years. Inform your class about discrimination against immigrants during the Gold Rush with a short reading passage. After reading, class members answer five questions related...

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...

Group members role play state legislators, supporters of and opponents to the The DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors). After listening to the arguments put forth for and against the immigration...

"Promises Denied," the second instructional activity in a unit that asks learners to consider the responsibilities individuals have to uphold human rights, looks at documents that illustrate the difficulty the US has had trying to live...

Students discover the people who lived in California before and after the gold rush. They use primary source documents to identify how the finding of gold changed the area. They also discover the discrimation that was present during the...

What do hula hoops and the American system of government have in common? Using hands-on station activities, pupils consider the roles of the three branches of government. A script for teachers and writing prompts help round out a...

Fourth graders read about the era in their history books, write in their journals revolving around the Gold Rush, making crafts such as newspapers, and also play the part of the Forty-niners.

What do a photo of Abraham Lincoln, a map for the Battle of Antietam, and the Dred Scott decision all have in common? Learners consider the broader question as they examine documents related to civil rights during the Civil War and...

Primary source images that highlight Chinese immigrants to California, the perceptions held about them and the sentiment leading to the Chinese Exclusion Act.