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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Speaking Up and Speaking Out: Exploring the Lives of Black Women During the 19th Century

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students learn how to read and interpret various primary and secondary sources and how to use them to draw conclusions about the issues that the authors faced during the nineteenth century. They read historical narratives imaginatively...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper: 19th Century African-American Writer and Reformer

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Young scholars investigate African-American author Frances Ellen Watkins Harper by analyzing her life and poetry. They explore the reformist messages communicated in her writings and evaluate the potential impact of her work.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Boston Abolitionists Warn of Slave Catchers

For Students 8th - 12th
In this primary source analysis worksheet, learners analyze the advertisement that features a call for African-Americans to beware of slave catchers. Students respond to 6 short answer questions about the advertisement.
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Lesson Plan
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Middle Tennessee State University

John Brown: Hero or Villain?

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
"Love it or leave it." "You're either for us or against us." Rhetoric and it's polarizing effects are the focus of a lesson that uses John Brown's attack on Harper's Ferry as an exemplar. Groups examine primary source documents,...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

African American History: Climbing the Wall

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Imagine the challenge of trying to trace your family genealogy if no records were kept of births and deaths. Where would you look for information? What types of documents could provide you with the information you seek? History...
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Activity
Library of Congress

Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the Fugitive Slave Act

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
From the time of its publication, Uncle Tom's Cabin has been controversial. To better understand the debate, class members first examine a broadside decrying the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and then two newspaper reviews of the novel...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A House Dividing: The Growing Crisis of Sectionalism in Antebellum America

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore the debates over American slavery and the power of the American federal government for the first half of the 19th century and how the regional economies and political events produced a widening split between the states.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Harriet Tubman Warns "Kill the Snake Before It Kills You"

For Students 8th - 12th
Harriet Tubman developed a rich extended metaphor for slavery and the imperative for Lincoln to abolish it in this dictated letter from 1862. Young historians read the original document and interpret Tubman's allegory with a pair of...
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Lesson Plan
Civil War Trust

Uncle Tom's Cabin

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Through a careful reading and examination of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, scholars take part in grand conversations about the novel's contents, slavery, and the impact the book had on it. Furthermore, learners analyze an...
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Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

Harriet Tubman on the $20 Bill: The Power of Symbols

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
How important are symbols and symbolic gestures in society? Middle schoolers have an opportunity to analyze the importance of symbols on American currency with a lesson plan that investigates the controversies surrounding redesigning the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Visit to Frederick Douglass Home

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders visit the home of Frederick Douglas to explore his escape from slavery and work as an abolitionist. After the visit, 5th graders complete a biographic essay of Douglas based on information gathered during the tour.
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Lesson Plan
Heritage Foundation

Slavery and the Constitution

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
It's hard to believe the abolition movement was once seen as scandalous. Help learners understand how the US Constitution changed everything. A variety of activities such as corresponding reading activities, group work ideas, and...
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Lesson Plan
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West Virginia Department of Education

Intelligence of Authentic Character - News Coverage and John Brown's Raid

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
The resource, a standalone, shows how news coverage of John Brown's Raid began when the event happened and how that reporting shaped perception in West Virginia history. The resource includes interesting anticipatory discussion...
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Activity
Constitutional Rights Foundation

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates — Springboard to the White House

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates saw two primary political candidates debating seven different times about one of the most important social movements in United States history. Middle and high schoolers read an article that describes the...
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Activity
Constitutional Rights Foundation

Harriet Tubman and the End of Slavery

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Harriet Tubman saved hundreds from slavery through what was called the Underground Railroad. Teach learners about her amazing accomplishments through the article that uses effective direct instruction. After reading, scholars break into...
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Unit Plan
C3 Teachers

Uncle Tom’s Cabin: Can Words Lead to War?

For Teachers 7th Standards
"Words, words, words." Despite Hamlet's opinion, words can be significant. In this inquiry lesson, middle schoolers learn how the words in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, in the view of many, lead to the American Civil War. To...
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Early Presidents and Social Reformers

For Teachers 4th Standards
A unit by Core Knowledge begins with information about early United States presidents. Pupils then explore social reformers such as Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglas, abolitionism, women's rights, and more. Participants listen and...
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

The Civil War

For Teachers 5th Standards
A unit covers many aspects of the Civil War. Over six weeks, fifth graders delve deep into the history of slavery, the Civil War—before, during, and after—Abraham Lincoln, women's contributions, the Emancipation Proclamation, and...
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Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

David Walker vs. John Day: Two Nineteenth-Century Free Black Men

For Teachers 6th - 11th Standards
What was the most beneficial policy for nineteenth-century African Americans: to stay in the United States and work for freedom, or to immigrate to a new place and build a society elsewhere? Your young historians will construct an...
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Activity
University of Virginia

Student Page: Uncle Tom's Cabin and American Culture

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
History sleuths read articles for and against Uncle Tom's Cabin, examine visual images, print responses, and multi-media tomitudes to better understand the impact of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel on American culture prior to the Civil...
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Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Slavery and Freedom

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
How do nineteenth-century texts by African American and Native American writers contribute to the country's ideals of freedom and individuality? Learners explore the topic by watching and discussing a video, reading biographies, writing...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Abolishing Slavery

For Teachers 4th - 11th
Students explain the goals and methods of the abolitionist movement. They identify key leaders in the movement. This lesson has adaptations for elementary through high school. Links are provided for resource readings.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Colonization of Liberia

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students analyze how slavery shaped social and economic life in the South. They study methods of passive and active resistance to slavery, and the similarities and differences between African-American and white abolitionists.
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Lesson Plan
National First Ladies' Library

The Debate on Slavery

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Young historians research the debate over slavery; some students take the pro-slavery side and others the anti-slavery side. They take the role of a character such as a plantation owner, a legislator, a free Black, a slave, or a northern...

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