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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Buffalo Soldiers

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students investigate the role of the buffalo soldiers. In this African American history instructional activity, students research the African American soldiers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Students discuss their findings and compose...
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Lesson Plan
US National Archives

Docsteach: Integration of the u.s. Armed Forces

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students will draw upon the visual and textual data presented in photographs and documents to gain an understanding of the participation of African Americans in the U.S. Armed Forces and of changes in American military policy regarding...
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Primary
US National Archives

Nara: American Originals: 54th Regiment Casualty List

For Students 9th - 10th
An interesting webpage in that it contains a brief summary of the history of the Regiment as well as the Casualty List from the assault on Fort Wagner and two historic photos.
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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: Learning Page: African American Soldiers During the Civil War

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource provides an overview of the African American soldiers who fought during the Civil War.
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Lesson Plan
US National Archives

Nara: Teaching With Documents: Black Soldiers in the Civil War

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This comprehensive site from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) describes the history of the participation of colored troops in the Civil War and government efforts to research and compile records about them....
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Primary
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Soldiers: Making of African American Identity: 1500 1865

For Students 9th - 10th
Photographs of and letters from black soldiers-both enslaved and free-from the late-eighteenth to mid-nineteenth centuries that examine military experience for African Americans.
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Handout
Library of Congress

Loc: African American Odyssey: The Booker T. Washington Era

For Students 9th - 10th
One section of this "Booker T. Washington Era" page of the LOC's African American Odyssey site is devoted to a very brief biography of Booker T. Washington. Other sections of the page summarize the history of African Americans between...
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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: Prints & Photograph: Photographs of African Americans During the Civil War

For Students 9th - 10th
A Library of Congress collection of digitized photos of African Americans during the Civil War, including photos of soldiers and freedmen. From the Library of Congress.
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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: African American Odyssey: The Civil War

For Students 9th - 10th
Prints, photographs and documents form the Library of Congress collections tell a story of African Americans and the Civil War including contrabands of war, emancipation, soldiers and missionaries, and fighting for freedom.
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Handout
Georgia Humanities Council and the University of Georgia Press.

New Georgia Encyclopedia: History and Archaeology: Black Troops in Civil War Georgia

For Students 9th - 10th
The New Georgia Encyclopedia provides an article describing the role, recruitment, and enlistment of black troops in Georgia during the Civil War.
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Handout
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Comission

Explore Pa History: Wartime Mobilization

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the short-term problems and long-term successes in mobilizing troops from Pennsylvania to fight in the Civil War. Included is information about the discussion of allowing blacks to serve in the war.
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Website
Other

Camp Nelson: United States Colored Troops at Camp Nelson

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from Camp Nelson provides text, photos, and original documents of Camp Nelson, a refugee and training camp for African-Americans during the Civil War.
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Lesson Plan
US National Archives

Docsteach: Black Soldiers in the Civil War

For Teachers 9th - 10th
In this activity students will analyze a two-page poster that the Government used to recruit recently freed slaves to fight for the Union Army during the Civil War. The poster refers to the Emancipation Proclamation and to President...
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Lesson Plan
US National Archives

Docsteach: Comparing Civil War Recruitment Posters

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students will compare and contrast military recruitment posters to analyze various perspectives regarding the role of African Americans during the Civil War. They will determine the purpose of each poster - one recruiting black men for...
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Website
Massachusetts Historical Society

Masshist: Massachusetts Historical Society

For Students 9th - 10th
Site devoted to teaching the history of the state of Masssachusetts.
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Handout
Library of Congress

Loc: America's Story: Frederick Douglass' Role in the Civil War

For Students 3rd - 8th
Frederick Douglass had the ear of Abraham Lincoln. Read about how he used his influence to allow African Americans to join the Union Army,
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Handout
Black Past

Black Past: Whipple, Prince

For Students 9th - 10th
This encyclopedia article, although brief, gives good information about Prince Whipple, a slave who fought in the Revolutionary War.
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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: African American Odyssey: Reconstruction and Its Aftermath

For Students 9th - 10th
From the Library of Congress, this resource documents the course of post-Civil War, post-slavery life for black Americans. Topics include education, constitutional amendments, voting rights and the many challenges African Americans faced...
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Article
Curated OER

History Matters: A Perfect Hailstorm of Bullets

For Students 9th - 10th
Check out this account of the Battle of San Juan Hill from the perspective of a black sergeant who fought there.
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Unit Plan
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Harcourt: School Publishers: Black Civil War Soldiers Honored

For Students 3rd - 8th
Article describing the ceremony in Boston in 1997 in which Colin Powell honored the black soldiers who fought in the Civil War.
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Graphic
Smithsonian Institution

National Postal Museum: Art of the Stamp: Buffalo Soldiers

For Students 9th - 10th
View the artwork for a U.S. postage stamp issued in 1994 to commemorate the buffalo soldiers. Includes a short passage about the soldiers' military service record.
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Handout
Black Past

Black Past: 369th Infantry Regiment

For Students 9th - 10th
This encyclopedia entry tells the exciting story of the 369th Regiment, the Harlem Hellfighters, and their exploits in World War I.