Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Opb American History Interactive: Evaluating Evidence
Use this interactive lesson to practice evaluating evidence from primary sources in order to draw conclusions about a historical event. In this particular case, the event is the Civil War. The challenge is to decide for yourself which of...
University of Virginia
University of Virginia Library: The Valley of the Shadow
Analyze the Civil War through a multitude of primary source documents. This comprehensive site chronicles the Civil War in Virginia from its roots to the battles, and finally the consequences of this divisive war. Read letters and...
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: The Black Lost Cause: Examples of Colored Service
African American slaves are known to have fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War, which many people may not realize. Why they would fight on the side of slavery, and the evidence that they did, are discussed in this section of...
Lumen Learning
Lumen: American Literature: Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
This is the text and audio of the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, an anti-slavery novel published in 1852, that was said to "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War." It was the best-selling novel of the 19th...
![Tom richey.net: The Crisis of the Union (1850 1860) [Ppt] PPT](https://d15y2dacu3jp90.cloudfront.net/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/FPO-knovation.png "Tom richey.net: The Crisis of the Union (1850 1860) [Ppt] PPT")
Tom Richey
Tom richey.net: The Crisis of the Union (1850 1860) [Ppt]
Presents key ideas for examining the events and issues that led to the American Civil War.
A&E Television
History.com: How the South Helped Win the American Revolution
British commanders attempted to reverse their floundering fortunes by launching a campaign in the South. There the British would find not just crops such as tobacco, rice and indigo that were vital to their economy, but stronger Loyalist...
PBS
Pbs: Africans in America: Slavery and the Origins of the Civil War
An article by Columbia University historian Eric Foner that discusses how long-standing views of the role of slavery in America began to be challenged during the civil rights era of the 1960s by a new generation of historians, whose work...
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: The Black Lost Cause:critical Analysis of Examples
Discusses the research by historians to try to determine the extent to which African Americans fought for the Confederate cause. They examined letters, service records, anecdotes, photographs, pension records, etc. but were unable to say...
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: The Black Lost Cause: Elaboration
Explains how the idea of African Americans fighting in large numbers for the Confederate cause is a wrong one that has been propagated by untrained historians who used unreliable sources.
Oklahoma State University
Oklahoma Historical Society: General Douglas H. Cooper, c.s.a. [Pdf]
A scholarly biography of a Confederate General who fought against the Union in the area of Texas and utilized the various Indian nations to help in his cause.
University of Virginia
Miller Center at Uva: u.s. Presidents: Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Foreign Affairs
Scroll through this discussion of Franklin Roosevelt's attention to foreign policy during his several terms in office to "Confronting Germany and Japan" and "Descent into War." Here you will find out about the United States' position of...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Primary Source Set: The Transatlantic Slave Trade
A collection uses primary sources to explore the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The Northern Homefront
The military-industrial complex thrived in the North during the Civil War, but read about how inflation affected the ordinary worker. See how the role of women expanded to fill in for men who were away fighting. Women also had an impact...
PBS
Pbs: American Roots Music
If teaching a unit about the history of popular music in America, this PBS web site supporting their four-part TV broadcast of a few years ago would make a great resource. Includes lesson plans and oral histories too.
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: Black Lost Cause: Implications of Colored Service
Discusses the difficulties involved in developing a true picture of how many African Americans actively supported the Confederate cause.
Digital Public Library of America
Dpla: Activism in the Us
American sociopolitical activism became especially prominent during the period of societal upheaval which began during the 1950s. The African American civil rights movement led the way, soon followed by a substantial anti-war movement...
University of Groningen
American History: Documents: Excerpts From "The Fugitive Slave Act"
This site titled, "From Revolution to Reconstruction," provides excerpts from the text of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, part of the Compromise of 1850.
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: Impact of Dred Scott: Beginning Scott v Sandford
Explains the background for the Dred Scott case and its journey through the court system, finally reaching the US Supreme Court.
US Department of State
U.s. Department of State: Decades of Change: 1960 1980
Summary of the rise of cultural and ethnic pluralism that took place in America between 1960 -1980 causing major social change. Included were such movements as civil rights, women, Latino, Native-American, counterculture,...
US National Archives
Docsteach: Reasons for Westward Expansion
Learners will examine a variety of documents that reference reasons why Americans living in the East migrated west of the Mississippi immediately before, during, and right after the Civil War. Documents cover the mining industry, new...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" by Fredrick Douglass
Selected (11) reading passages (grades 7-11) to pair with the autobiography "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" by Fredrick Douglass. Frederick Douglass recounts his experiences as a slave in Maryland, and his treatment at the...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Harriet Beecher Stowe
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Harriet Beecher Stowe, an American writer and philanthropist, the author of the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, which contributed so much to popular feeling against slavery that it is cited among...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Wendell Phillips
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Wendell Phillips, an abolitionist crusader whose oratorical eloquence helped fire the antislavery cause during the period leading up to the American Civil War.
Digital History
Digital History: September 11, 2001
This site has a comprehensive overview of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S., including information on Osama bin Laden's background, the formation of Al Qaeda, the attacks themselves, the US response, civil liberties and national...