DocsTeach
Confronting Work Place Discrimination on the World War II Home Front
Before the Civil Rights Movement was in full swing, FDR's executive order helped promote fair employment. The activity uses primary documents to explore FDR's executive order to help minorities gain equal employment and pay during the...
Curated OER
Civil War Letters
Students put themselves in the shoes of American Civil War soldiers. In this Civil War lesson, students examine letters from the time period written by soldiers, edit the letters for grammatical errors, and then present the letters to...
Curated OER
Civil War
In this Civil War worksheet, students listen to the song "Civil War" and complete 11 sentence completions based upon the information from the lyrics.
Curated OER
Not Just A Man's War
Students write 2 letters from a woman who may have lived during the Civil War and 2 letters from her relative which include factual information that they have research using the Internet and other resources, along with other activities.
Curated OER
Care of Prisoners During the Civil War
Students identify the needs of prisoners through the study of the Civil War. For this Civil War lesson, students are divided into two groups to represent the two armies. Students simulate a situation where students are captured prisoners...
Curated OER
Abraham Lincoln: The Face of War
Students compare life masks and photos of Abraham Lincoln that were made before and at the end of the Civil War. In this "Faces of War" lesson, students analyze images of Lincoln in a historical context and create a timeline of event.
Annenberg Foundation
A Nation Divided
Can a presidential election cause a civil war? Learners research the events surrounding the presidential election of 1860 in a lesson that explores America's history. Using maps, videos, and primary sources, they uncover, brainstorm, and...
American Battlefield Trust
Gettysburg Virtual Tour
Step into one of the most iconic battlefields of the American Civil War with an educational interactive resource. Young historians learn about key moments, locations, soldiers, and turning points in the battle with a clickable map and...
Annenberg Foundation
Reconstructing a Nation
Think back to the aftermath of an family dispute. The awkwardness of having to make up, get along, and move forward can be very difficult. The tenth lesson of a 22-part series on American history examines the Reconstruction Era following...
National Gallery of Art
The First African American Regiment
Young historians examine a memorial sculpture of the first African American regiment in the Civil War, and then compare how the experiences of the regiment are portrayed in letters and poetry, as well as in the motion picture, Glory.
Curated OER
Harriet Tubman Warns "Kill the Snake Before It Kills You"
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...
Curated OER
The Pre-Civil War Era (1815–1850)
For this online interactive U.S. history worksheet, students respond to 9 short answer and essay questions about 19th century America. Students may check some of their answers on the interactive worksheet.
Curated OER
The Brief American Pageant: Girding for War
Though too short to be an adequate presentation, the solitary map in these slides would be a good visual aid to a lecture about Southern secession before and during the Civil War. The color coded states on the map make a good timeline...
Curated OER
Civil War Newspaper
Students investigate the concept of the Civil War while conducting research using a variety of resources. The information is used to create a source for a class project. They create a class newspaper that becomes a summary of some...
Curated OER
Civil War Music - Irish Folk Songs
Students determine what it was like to serve as an Irish-American in the American Civil War. In this Irish folk song lesson, students use the provided worksheets to analyze selected Irish folk songs and make inferences about war...
Curated OER
Civil War Photos Tell a Story
Students explore the work of a Civil War photographer. For this Civil War lesson, students access the photographs by Matthew Brady through the web link and examine the photographs he took in order to better understand the Civil War.
Curated OER
Cotton Pickin' Before and After the Civil War
Young scholars explore the impact of cotton. In this economics lesson, students listen to a lecture presented by their instructor on the Southern crop of cotton and its impact on the South prior to and following the Civil War. Young...
Curated OER
Slavery in America at the Time of the Civil War: Navigating a Website
Pupils discover how to navigate websites. For this Civil War lesson, students conduct research on slavery as they visit a website to experience oral, written, and digital texts and performances by slaves from the Civil War era.
Curated OER
Was There an Industrial Revolution? Americans at Work Before the Civil War
Students investigate the First U.S. Industrial Revolution. They identify positive and negative effects of early industrialization, read first-hand accounts, role-play and interview individuals, and participate in a debate.
Curated OER
Underground Railroad
Learners navigate the Scholastic Underground Railroad site and listen to journey of the Underground railroad. In this Underground Railroad lesson plan, students use maps and compare and contrast the differences between the North and...
Curated OER
Service Learning Project-American Civil War
Tenth graders study the American Civil War. As part of a service learning project, they volunteer to help preserve or promote a local Civil War site. They conduct research and write letters or lobby legislatures on behalf of historic...
Curated OER
Who Led the South?
Eighth graders explore the role of Jefferson Davis and his leadership of the Confederacy during the Civil War. They examine the command system used in the Confederacy and analyze the effectiveness of the command system.
Curated OER
The Brief American Pageant: Twenty-Three Political Paralysis in the Gilded Age
Detailing the Presidential elections of 1876, 1884, and 1892, this slideshow focuses on the final years of the 19th century in the United States. Additionally, slides include information on the changes in Southern plantations and growth...
American Battlefield Trust
Contrasting the North and South Before the War
Fundamental differences between the North and South led to the South adopting a system of enslaved labor. These abstract ideas become concrete when class members create a standing cube using information provided in the resource. Young...