US House of Representatives
Keeping the Faith: African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970
The third lesson in a unit that traces the history of African Americans serving in the US Congress examines the period from 1929 through 1970. After reading a contextual essay that details the few African Americans elected to Congress...
US House of Representatives
“The Fifteenth Amendment in Flesh and Blood,” The Symbolic Generation of Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1887
The reading of a contextual essay launches a study of Black Americans who served in Congress from 1870 through 1887. Young historians identify the African Americans who served during this period, investigate the ways they won national...
Carolina K-12
Comparing Slave Trades: A Study of the Transatlantic and Trans-Saharan Slave Trades
While most people are familiar with the transatlantic slave trade, there is less knowledge of another major external African slave trade in world history: the trans-Saharan slave trade. Pupils work in groups to read informational texts...
Center for Literacy and Disability Studies
Slave Resistance
How did colonial enslaved people in America struggle to defend themselves and maintain their African heritage?
Carolina K-12
African Americans and the Vietnam War
No need to look any further. This resource has everything for a solid exploration of the role of African Americans in the Vietnam War. Class members read primary sources, including a Martin Luther King speech, political cartoons of the...
University of North Carolina
Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr.
After reading the article "Kings Dream Everyday," class members conduct a Socratic seminar discussion of Martin Luther King's contributions to the civil rights movement. They then read and respond to a passage from Michael Eric Dyson's...
Anti-Defamation League
Major League Baseball and the Negro Leagues: Correcting an Injustice
It's been a long time coming! In 2020, MLB Commissioner Robert D. Manifred, Jr. stated that "the Negro Leagues would be recognized as official major leagues." Middle schoolers investigate the history of the Negro Leagues and use evidence...
C3 Teachers
African American Voices and Reconstruction: What Does It Take To Secure Equality?
High schoolers research the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, as well as other primary source documents, to determine Reconstruction's impact on the North and South. The 34-page inquiry-based lesson includes a staging question and...
C3 Teachers
Civil Rights: What Made Nonviolent Protest Effective during the Civil Rights Movement?
Sit-ins and boycotts, marches and speeches, songs and demonstrations were hallmarks of nonviolent protest of the civil rights movement. Young scholars research primary and secondary source documents to determine what made nonviolent...
C3 Teachers
African Americans and the Civil War: How Did African Americans Experience the Civil War?
To understand African Americans' involvement in the United States Civil War, high schoolers gather evidence from primary source images, census reports, and documents. As a summative performance task, individuals craft an argument,...
C3 Teachers
Anna - One Woman’s Quest for Freedom: What Did Freedom Mean for Anna?
The 2018 film Anna, One Woman's Quest for Freedom in Early Washington, D.C., offers high schoolers an opportunity to examine the sacrifices one woman endured to gain her freedom from slavery.
Anti-Defamation League
Rosa Parks: Sources of Information
Young scholars show what they know about Rosa Parks and the incident on one of the buses in Montgomery, Alabama. Groups discuss and identify where they receive most of their information. They examine the importance of having a complete...
C3 Teachers
Reparations: Why Are Reparations Controversial?
To understand why the topic of reparations is controversial, young scholars gather background information by reading articles, watching videos, and examining cases where reparations were made. Learners consider the lasting repercussions...
C3 Teachers
Emancipation: Does It Matter Who Freed the Slaves?
Scholars generally agree on the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. This inquiry-based lesson asks high schoolers to consider more than the claims of who freed the enslaved people but the significance of the issues...
C3 Teachers
Black Genius: How Did Black Genius Help Build American Democracy?
"How did the slavery system undermine the United States' democratic principles?" This question launches a study of how the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence, Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, and Article IV,...
DocsTeach
African American Soldiers and Civil Rights During WWI
Young scholars analyze primary source documents and images to determine how African American soldiers were denied their civil rights during World War I.
K20 LEARN
Civil Rights for All: Civil Rights Movement
The Civil Rights Movement was only the beginning. Using images and a series of queries, learners consider current fights for equality. After viewing video clips profiling the women's rights movement, the American Indian Movement, and...
Core Knowledge Foundation
Unit 6: The Genius of the Harlem Renaissance Teacher Guide
Introduce your seventh graders to the Harlem Renaissance with a unit that explores this dynamic period's music, literature, and ideas. The 160-page guide includes a unit calendar, an introduction to the unit, 10 richly detailed lessons...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper’s “Learning to Read”
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper's poem "Learning to Read" is the focus of a lesson that teaches middle schoolers how to do a close reading of a text. The lesson introduces them to a brief biography of the poet, includes a video reading, and...
Carolina K-12
African American Troops in the Civil War
Middle schoolers explore the history of the African-American troops that served during the American Civil War. After reading primary source documents that detail the controversies about permitting freemen and former slaves to serve,...
Albert Shanker Institute
Who Was Bayard Rustin?
Who was Bayard Rustin? Pupils analyze a series of primary source documents to learn about this important figure in the civil rights movement. The lesson contains a short film to watch along with guiding questions and other resources...
Albert Shanker Institute
The March on Washington Logistics Then and Now
I have a dream ... that all pupils will be able to organize a march of their own after learning about how Bayard Rustin organized the 1963 March on Washington for civil rights. Young reformers work collaboratively examining informational...
Albert Shanker Institute
Strategizing for Freedom
Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, Marcus Garvey, and A. Philip Randolph developed different views on how to advance civil rights for African Americans. Class members research these famous figures and their strategies before developing...
Miama-Dade County Public Schools
African Americans and the Civil War
The American Civil War is the theme of this packet of materials prepared for Black History Month. Class members learn about the roles that African Americans played during the Civil War and examine the African-American experience after...