Curated OER
Literature for Lesson 4 - Abolitionists
Learners examine the definition of abolition and abolitionists. For this abolition lesson, students complete vocabulary work before reading about Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and Frederick Douglass. They watch a video about Harriet...
Curated OER
Slave Resistance
Students examine slavery and slave resistance. In this history instructional activity, students read several excerpts on slavery then work in small groups to reflect and answer questions on the readings.
Curated OER
Criminal or Hero
Fifth graders explore the origins of slavery. In this US History lesson, 5th graders create a map of the United States that shows where slavery existed. Students examine the life of a Northern slave through the use of a video.
Curated OER
John Brown Lesson Plan
Students investigate John Brown. In this U.S. history slavery lesson, students view a PowerPoint presentation about John Brown. Students discuss the North's and South's reaction to John Brown's raid, and determine whether they think...
Curated OER
Examining the Ties Between Abolitionism and the Women's Rights Movement
Students examine the historical link between the abolition and women's movements. After a brief introduction and mini-lecture, students work in pairs or small groups to complete a web quest to answer instructor provided questions...
Curated OER
Abolitionists in U.S. History
Young scholars read and discuss excerpts from the writings of Henry David Thoreau, Frederick Douglass and Sarah Parker Redmond. They compare and contrast the views of the three abolitionists concentrating on the experiences and reasons...
Curated OER
Knowledge is Power
Students explore the distinct forms of knowledge that enslaved Africans brought with them to America or developed while enslaved. They study how political movements of the 18th century helped develop abolitionist thinking.
Curated OER
Freedom Voices: Abolition and Suffrage in the United States
Learners explore abolition and suffrage in the United States.
Curated OER
150 Years of Abolition in Pennsylvania
High schoolers study the struggle for abolition in Pennsylvania starting with the Quakers first protest through the burning of Pennsylvania Hall. They conduct research using primary source documents.
Curated OER
James McCune Smith: A Model of Resistance
Students discuss examples of resistance. In this anti-slavery lesson, students analyze a portrait of James McCune Smith and listen to a lecture about his life and involvement in abolition. Students analyze his actions and write a letter...
Curated OER
Diverse Voices - African American Ventures
Students research African American history and the Underground Railroad. In this African American history lesson, students discuss the Drinking Gourd. Students read 'If You Traveled the Underground Railroad' and discuss. Students work in...
Curated OER
Lyddie
Seventh graders read the novel, Lyddie, while studying the reform movement. They complete assignments for each chapter and write essays about Lyddie's development through the novel.
Curated OER
Abolition/Social Reform PowerPoint Presentations Lesson
Students, in groups, is choose a research topic from a list imbedded in this plan. They are given two class periods to collect and organize information on their topic and create a PowerPoint presentation to give to the class.
Cornell University
Cornell University: Library: Abolitionism in America: Introduction
The introduction of an extensive website from the Cornell University Library, which includes text, documents, and other primary sources in an examination of the anti-slavery movement known as abolitionism.
Digital History
Digital History: Pre Civil War South
A comprehensive look at the economy of the South and the changes brought by the cotton gin. Read through five pages that discuss the economy, the tradition of the plantation, and the sectionalism that arises in this time period.
Library of Congress
Loc: American Memory: African American Odyssey
This site explores Black America's quest for equality from the early national period through the twentieth century. Content includes the work of abolitionists in the first half of the nineteenth century, depictions of the long journey...
Library of Congress
Loc: African American Mosaic: Conflict of Abolition and Slavery
Historical documents trace how the abolitionists virulently decried slavery and denounced those who supported it.
Cornell University
Cornell University: Library: Samuel May Anti Slavery Collection
An extensive online digital collection of the pamphlets and leaflets that document the anti-slavery struggle at the local, regional, and national levels.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Perspective on the Slave Narrative
A lesson plan focusing on the the historical context of slave narratives, "Perspective on the Slave Narrative" introduces students to the abolitionist movement and the slave experience.
![C3 Teachers: u.s. History Module: Did Lincoln Really Want to Free Slaves? [Pdf] Unit Plan](https://d15y2dacu3jp90.cloudfront.net/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/FPO-knovation.png "C3 Teachers: u.s. History Module: Did Lincoln Really Want to Free Slaves? [Pdf] Unit Plan")
C3 Teachers
C3 Teachers: u.s. History Module: Did Lincoln Really Want to Free Slaves? [Pdf]
A comprehensive learning module on Abraham Lincoln that includes three supporting questions accompanied by formative tasks and primary source materials, followed by a summative performance task. Students examine the evolution of...
C3 Teachers
C3 Teachers: u.s. History Module: Did Charles Sumner Deserve It? [Pdf]
A comprehensive learning module on the abolitionist Charles Sumner that includes three supporting questions accompanied by formative tasks and primary source materials, followed by a summative performance task. Topics addressed include...
United Nations
Unesco: The Slave Route
An excellent set of resources on slavery and the slave trade. Looks at artists' perceptions, interviews with historians and others, the Transatlantic Slave Trade, trade in the Indian Ocean, resistance and abolition, trade in the...
University of Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin: Carl Schurz
A selection of German-American statesman and military leader Carl Schurz' writings on his life and "True Americanism".
Yale University
Yale New Haven Teachers Institute: Connecticut Blacks in 18th and 19th Centuries
A curriculum unit that examines the history of slavery in Connecticut, the laws permitting it, segregation, and the struggles faced by freed blacks to achieve equality.