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Digital Public Library of America

Dpla: Activism in the Us

For Students 9th - 10th
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...
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Sack of Lawrence

For Students 5th - 8th
Read about how the destruction of Lawrence, Kansas, seat of the Free-Soiler government by border ruffians inflamed attitudes in the North toward the actions of the slave-holders.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Border Ruffians

For Students 5th - 8th
Because of the terms of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, a election would be held to determine whether Kansas would be a slave or free state. Read about the fraudulent votes cast by the so-called border ruffians from Missouri, and see how Kansas...
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Kansas Nebraska Act

For Students 5th - 8th
Read about the essential repeal of the Missouri Compromise, which had established which states could be slave and which would be free for thirty years, with the rancorous passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. See who supported it and why,...
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Dred Scott Decision

For Students 5th - 7th
Read the terms of the Dred Scott decision which determined that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. See why this decision was so controversial and completely unacceptable to the northerners, thus driving an additional wedge...
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Primary
Yale University

Avalon Project: Declaration of the Secession of South Carolina

For Students 9th - 10th
Full text of the declaration adopted by South Carolina as justification for its secession from the Union.
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Primary
US National Archives

Our Documents: The Kansas Nebraska Act

For Students 9th - 10th
An outstanding, interactive copy of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the legislation that repealed the Missouri Compromise. Historical context included, as well as links to larger images, a typed transcript, and a downloadable PDF file.
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Unit Plan
PBS

Pbs: Cet: Africans in America: The Raid on Harper's Ferry

For Students 9th - 10th
PBS' four-part series, "Africans in America," highlights the antislavery movement, including a focus on John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry. Content includes a description of the event, as well as the after-effects including the news of...
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Article
A&E Television

History.com: How the South Helped Win the American Revolution

For Students 9th - 10th
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...
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Article
Other

Binghamton University: Lincoln, Labor and Liberation

For Students 9th - 10th
The free labor ideology of the nineteenth century was grounded in the beliefs that Northern free labor was superior to Southern slave labor. It was this free labor ideology and not the republicanism of the Revolutionary War era that...
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Article
A&E Television

History.com: How Ancient Rome Thrived During Pax Romana

For Students 9th - 10th
After decades of political dysfunction, civil wars and assassinations that caused the Roman Republic's downfall, Ancient Rome flourished during two centuries of relative tranquility and prosperity known as the Pax Romana (Latin for...
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Website
PBS

Pbs: American Roots Music

For Students 9th - 10th
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.
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Primary
University of Groningen

American History: Documents: Excerpts From "The Fugitive Slave Act"

For Students 9th - 10th
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.
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Article
University of Groningen

American History: Essays: Impact of Dred Scott: Beginning Scott v Sandford

For Students 9th - 10th
Explains the background for the Dred Scott case and its journey through the court system, finally reaching the US Supreme Court.
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Article
PBS

Africans in America: John Brown's Black Raiders

For Students 9th - 10th
This page provides information on the black men who took part in John Brown's Raid. Includes quotes of associates referring to the men.
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Website
Digital History

Digital History: The Gathering Storm

For Students 9th - 10th
A look at how the Northerners perceived the conflict between North and South, a conflict between people who were for freedom and and those who were for slavery.
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Handout
Other

Minnesota Territory: The Treaty Story

For Students 9th - 10th
Offers a brief explanation of the causes and results of the Sioux Uprising in 1862.
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Whiteboard
ClassFlow

Class Flow: Colonialism

For Teachers 6th - 8th
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students identify the Impacts of Colonialism - to include social, economic and political legacies and how these led to civil wars, dictators, and corrupt governments. Students grasp the complexity of...
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Handout
Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica: Harriet Beecher Stowe

For Students 9th - 10th
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...
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Handout
Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica: Wendell Phillips

For Students 9th - 10th
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.
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Curated OER

Educational Technology Clearinghouse: Clip Art Etc: General Robert Patterson

For Students 9th - 10th
General Patterson, born in Cappagh, County Tyrone, Ireland, January 12th, 1792, died in Philadelphia, Pa., August 7th, 1881. He was commissioned first lieutenant of infantry in the War of 1812, and afterward served on General Joseph...
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Curated OER

Educational Technology Clearinghouse: Clip Art Etc: General Thomas L. Crittenden

For Students 9th - 10th
General Crittenden, born in Russellville, Ky., May 15th, 1815, studied law under his father, was admitted to the bar, and became Commonwealth's Attorney in Kentucky in 1842. He served in the Mexican War as lieutenant colonel of Kentucky...
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Curated OER

Etc: Clip Art Etc: General Ormsby Mac Knight Mitchel

For Students 9th - 10th
General Mitchel, born at Morganfield, Union County, Ky., August 28th, 1809, died at Hilton Head, S. C., October 30th, 1862, was graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1829. Immediately after his graduation he was made...

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