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Online Course
Cosmo Learning

Cosmo Learning: The Civil War and Reconstruction Era, 1845 1877

For Students 9th - 10th
In this course Professor David Blight explores the causes, course, and consequences of the American Civil War, from the 1840s to 1877 through twenty-seven video lectures. The primary goal of the course is to understand the multiple...
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Unit Plan
C3 Teachers

C3 Teachers: u.s. History Module: Is Freedom Free? [Pdf]

For Teachers 6th - 8th
A comprehensive learning module on the impact of emancipation on ex-slaves that includes three supporting questions accompanied by formative tasks and primary source materials, followed by a summative performance task. Topics covered...
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Primary
US National Archives

Nara: The d.c. Emancipation Act

For Students 9th - 10th
Information about, and a scanned copy of page one and five, of the D.C. Emancipation Act which freed slaves in Washington, D.C. in 1862.
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Handout
Other

Encyclopedia of Arkansas: Ethnic Groups Africian Americans

For Students 9th - 10th
Perhaps one of the largest ethinc/cultural group to inhabit Arkansas are the African Americans. Follow their first arrival as slaves working the plantations through all the years toward emancipation, and into present times. Highly...
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Website
Other

Smithsonian Institution: Remembering Slavery

For Students 9th - 10th
Gain access to radio and TV broadcasts featuring first-person narratives about being a slave. Learning guides are included online for teacher use.
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Website
University of Maryland

Department of History: Freedmen and Southern Society Project

For Students 9th - 10th
Collection of primary documents that depict the social revolution and drama of the Emancipation in the words of the participants. Includes the voices of liberated slaves and defeated slaveholders, soldiers and civilians, common folk and...
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Website
US National Archives

Nara: The Emancipation Proclamation

For Students 9th - 10th
The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) provides an elaborate overview of Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. Content includes detailed background information behind the document, photos of the original...
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Unit Plan
Other

After Slavery Project: Race, Labor and Politics in Post Emancipation Carolinas

For Students 9th - 10th
This site is a collaborative work-in-progress involving a team of four scholars based in the US, Ireland and the UK. It consists of ten learning units on topics revolving around the emancipation of slaves in the American South following...
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eBook
OpenStax

Open Stax: 1863: The Changing Nature of the War

For Students 11th - 12th
Students will learn about the term "total war" and be able to provide examples. They will also be able to describe mobilization efforts in the North and the South and explain why 1863 was a pivotal year in the war.
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Unit Plan
C3 Teachers

C3 Teachers: Inquiries: Emancipation

For Teachers 11th
A learning module on the emancipation of African American slaves after the Civil War. It includes several supporting questions accompanied by formative tasks and source materials, followed by a summative performance task. Students will...
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Website
Other

Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War: Emancipation Proclamation

For Students 9th - 10th
Authors track the sentiments of Lincoln toward slavery from his pre-Civil War years through the Civil War. Site menu bar provides hyperlinks to information on the many facets of the Emancipation Proclamation.
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Primary
Other

Missouri Secretary of State: Conservation of the Dred Scott Papers

For Students 9th - 10th
Offers a description of the conservation of papers from the famous 1846 Supreme Court case in which a slave named Dred Scott asked the court for his freedom and was denied.
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Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Annenberg Learner: America's History in the Making: Reconstruction

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This wonderful unit from Annenberg Media examines Reconstruction through three themes: reintegrating the former Confederate states in to the Union; the freedom of blacks and what that entailed socially and economically; and the economic...
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Website
Virginia Historical Society

Virginia Historical Society: The Home Front: Who Freed the Slaves?

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes how the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 came into existence, the response from the South, and the impact it had. Three works of art from that period are presented, and the imagery and symbolism explained.
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Professional Doc
Annenberg Foundation

Annenberg Learner: Primary Sources: Concerning Emancipation

For Teachers 9th - 10th
An hour-long professional development workshop on teaching of emancipation with primary sources. Features experienced classroom teachers. Materials and a complete lesson plan are also provided
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Website
A&E Television

History.com: Black History Milestones

For Students 9th - 10th
A detailed account of the history of African Americans is presented in this article. Divided by main topics or periods of time, the coming of slavery to America is the first focus. Followed by plantation life and escapes to freedom and...
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Website
PBS

Wnet: Thirteen: Slavery and the Making of America: Freedom & Emancipation

For Students 9th - 10th
Using primary documents, oral histories and other historical resources, learn about the African American reaction to emancipation and to events from the Reconstruction period following the Civil War.
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Lesson Plan
Huntington Library

Huntington Library: A House Divided: Slavery and the Civil War [Pdf]

For Teachers 8th
In this instructional activity, 8th graders look at how slavery contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War, at Abraham Lincoln's efforts to save the Union, and at what impact the Emancipation Proclamation had on the North's view of the...
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Lesson Plan
Huntington Library

Huntington Library: A Nation Conceived in Liberty [Pdf]

For Teachers 11th
In this lesson, 11th graders examine the events and political philosophy that laid the foundations of the American government, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. They also look at what role religion played in shaping American...
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Website
Harp Week

The End of Slavery: The Creation of the 13th Amendment

For Students 9th - 10th
What a wonderful resource for researching the attempts to solve the issue of slavery prior to the Civil War, and the eventual ratification of the 13th Amendment. Find a timeline of legislation limiting the spread of slavery from 1787...
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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: African American Odyssey: Reconstruction and Its Aftermath

For Students 9th - 10th
Part of a virtual exhibit by the Library of Congress, this site details the effects of the Civil War and Reconstruction on the newly freed slaves. It contains photographs of artwork and a map from the period.
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Unit Plan
University of Richmond

Dsl: University of Richmond: Visualizing Emancipation

For Students 9th - 10th
A map of slavery's end during the American Civil War. It finds patterns in the collapse of southern slavery, mapping the interactions between federal policies, armies in the field, and the actions of enslaved men and women on countless...
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Unit Plan
The Newberry Library

Newberry Library: Lincoln, the North, and the Question of Emancipation

For Students 9th - 10th
This learning module explores Lincoln's arguments against slavery as well as public feelings and concerns about emancipation as expressed through art and literature of the day.
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Unit Plan
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Writing in u.s. History: The Emancipation Proclamation

For Students 9th - 10th
Assess how the Emancipation Proclamation expanded ideas of freedom and liberty, looking at the antislavery debate that led to the proclamation, the influences on Lincoln's decision, and the provisions of the document. In this interactive...