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Lesson Plan
Library of Congress

Loc: Teachers: America at the Centennial

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A lesson plan requiring student to analyze primary documents from the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876. Students interpret what these historical artifacts say "about the lives and values of Americans in 1876" among other things.
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Article
Siteseen

Siteseen: American Historama: Mc Cormick Reaper

For Students 9th - 10th
Read interesting facts about Cyrus McCormick, inventor of the mechanical horse-drawn reaper 1n 1831.
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Website
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: The Struggles of Labor

For Students 9th - 10th
Outline of the struggles, conflict and violence experienced by 19th Century industrial workers.
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Website
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Technology and Change

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Oultine of the changes in industry and technology during the 1800s, bringing tremendous growth of big business, urbanization and railroads.
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Website
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: j.p. Morgan and Finance Capitalism

For Students 9th - 10th
Overview on the rise of industry resulting in the need for investment banking, of which J. P. Morgan was a pioneer.
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Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Biographies: John Caldwell Calhoun

For Students 9th - 10th
This biographical resource on John Calhoun points out Calhoun's resignation, the first vice-president to resign from active office. Calhoun opposed Jackson's affirmative stand on the Tariff of 1828 which favored the Industrial North over...
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Website
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Lands of Promise

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Outline about the promising economic times of an expanding America during the 1800s, including changes taking place in New England, the South, the Midwest and West.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Early American Railroads

For Students 5th - 8th
Read about the growth of railroads throughout the eastern part of the United States, which greatly reduced transportation costs. See why there was opposition to railroads from many groups. Be sure to look at the stereograph of the...
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: On Time

For Students 9th - 10th
A multimedia-rich site that examines time and our conception of it: marking time, mechanizing time, synchronizing time, saving time, and expanding time.
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Professional Doc
Annenberg Foundation

Annenberg Learner: Primary Sources: The Lowell System

For Teachers 9th - 10th
An hour-long professional development video on teaching how the Lowell System was a departure from traditional labor practices. Features experienced classroom teachers. Materials and a complete lesson plan are also provided.
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Handout
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mit: Inventor of the Week: Robert Fulton

For Students 3rd - 8th
This website contains biographical information about Robert Fulton, including the events leading up to his design of the first successful steamboat.
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Website
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: The Era of Expansion and Reform

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Information about the period in United States history between the Civil War and World War I. The United States was transformed from a rural republic to an urban state.
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Handout
Library of Congress

Loc: American Treasures: Fulton's Submarine

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from the American Treasures of the Library of Congress provides information on the first submarine built by Robert Fulton. The information that is provided is somewhat brief but factual, and worth checking out on the subject.
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Article
A&E Television

History.com: These Appalling Images Exposed Child Labor in America

For Students 9th - 10th
The Industrial Revolution brought not only new job opportunities but new laborers to the workforce: children. By 1900, 18 percent of all American workers were under the age of 16. 1904, the National Child Labor Committee formed in the...
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Article
Siteseen

Siteseen: American Historama: Bessemer Process

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Provides a summary and detailed facts about Henry Bessemer who invents a process in 1855 to create steel from iron.
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Article
A&E Television

History.com: How Ghost Stories Became a Christmas Tradition in Victorian England

For Students 9th - 10th
Spooky stories featuring the supernatural were all the rage during the darkest time of the year. Towards the end of each year, as fireplaces are lit and hot cocoa is made, Americans have made it a tradition to revisit their favorite...
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Unit Plan
PBS

Pbs: Who Made America? Samuel Slater

For Students 9th - 10th
Slater divided factory work into such simple steps that children aged four to ten could do it -- and did. While such child labor is anathema today, American children were traditionally put to work around the farm as soon as they could...
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Handout
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Harcourt: Biographies: Benjamin Bradley

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about inventor and African-American slave, Benjamin Bradley, developer of a steam engine large enough to run the first steam-powered warship.
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Website
Other

Lecture Notes: Textile Factories Come to the u.s.

For Students 9th - 10th
Clemson University provides a historical overview of the wave of textile factories, including Slater and Lowell, that cropped up in the northeast. Hyperlinks to additional information.
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Handout
Internet History Sourcebooks Project

Fordham University: Modern History Sourcebook

For Students 9th - 10th
A rich Fordham University site of primary source material that include full-text, and multimedia sites. There are additional study and research guides such as Modern History in the Movies.
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Handout
PBS

Pbs: Carnivals of Revenge

For Students 9th - 10th
Site contains information on the frustration of "Gilded Age workers."
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Website
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Carnegie and the Era of Steel

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
A brief explanation of Andrew Carnegie's role in the advancement of steel production.
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Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Cotton Promotes Slavery

For Students 3rd - 8th
A brief history of how the economic growth of the South became dependent on the work of slaves and how this solidified the unity of the southern states. Links throughout the text will take to you sites containing relevant information.
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Website
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: The Booming 1920s

For Students 9th - 10th
Section on the post-war economic boom and social changes that hit in the 1920s after World War I.