When Rice Was King

Eleventh graders investigate slave life on the Mount Vernon Plantation. In this slavery instructional activity, 11th graders examine photographs of and documents about George Washington's home as they participate in classroom station...

Imagine having no control over your life and then suddenly having to provide for yourself. Such was the challenge faced by many American slaves after emancipation. Class members are asked to consider these challenges are they examine...

Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were contemporaries. Both were gifted orators, both were preachers, both were leaders during the Civil Rights era, both were assassinated. But the two had very different views on violence and...

Bring the sounds of the deep South vocal blues to the classroom with a Smithsonian Folkways lesson. In preparation, scholars listen to and count the 12 bar blues patterns in several works and identify the I, II, IV, and V chords as well...

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...

North is to factory as South is to plantation—the perfect analogy for the economy that set up the Civil War! The first lesson in a series of five helps teach beginners why the economy creates a driving force for conflict. Analysis of...

Eleventh graders investigate the significance of the Kensington Mansion. In this South Carolina history lesson plan, 11th graders take field trips to the mansion and research primary and secondary sources about plantations,...

The second in a three-part look at the Revolutionary War focuses the years from 1778 through 1781 and zooms in on military operations in the southern colonies, the French alliance, and the role African-Americans played in events. Class...

Young history sleuths examine an inventory of the belongings of a Virginia colonist and use deductive reasoning to determine what the document reveals about colonial life. They then use a Venn diagram to compare the inventory with a...

Students examine life in Babylonia during the time of King Hammurabi. They read and discuss excerpts of the Code of Hammurabi, participate in a simulation of advisors to the king, complete an online interactive activity, answer...