Curated OER
The Election of 1844
Briefly detailing the goals and issues within the Polk election and presidency, this presentation can help your students to bridge their knowledge of American politics and issues prior to the Civil War. It includes photographs of Polk,...
Curated OER
Progressive Movement in Nebraska and the United States
Students interact with the whole progressive movement and its impact on the U.S. They list the goals of the movement. In addition, they organize primary resources and interpret political cartoons. Each student shares one of their...
Curated OER
Major Events Leading to the American Revolution
Students explore the causes of the American Revolution. In this taxation without representation lesson plan, students analyze political cartoons in order to gain an understanding of the efforts of the colonists to resolve conflict with...
Curated OER
On the Other Side of the Color Barrier: Segregation and the Negro Leagues
Young scholars study segregation that occurred in the past and that is currently occurring. In this equal rights lesson plan, students use primary source documents to student segregation of the past. In a culminating activity, young...
Digital Public Library of America
The Underground Railroad and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
Escaping Enslaved people attempting to escape didn't need a ticket to ride on the Underground Railroad. Here is a packet of primary sources that reveal the kind of courage and determination they did need to face the challenges to gain...
Curated OER
The Sanitary Commission
Students study women's fund raising efforts during the Civil War era.
They participate in a shared reading about the Sanitary Commission and
analyze a political cartoon about women's contributions to the Sanitary Fair.
They write...
Curated OER
The 1860 Election in Pennsylvania
Young scholars examine the political parties of the 1860 election and compare their platforms. In this election lesson young scholars determine the meaning of a political cartoon and predict the outcome of the 1860 election.
Curated OER
Investigating Past and Present: A Look at The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Students compare the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the war crimes of WWII. In this lesson on Human Rights, students evaluate the causes of WWII, war crimes, and determine whether the outcome might have been different otherwise.
Curated OER
How Can Business Profit from Tariffs? p1
Young scholars investigate the impact of tariffs on businesses and consumers during the 1880s by looking at a political cartoon, solving a short math problem and comparing protectionism in the 1980's to protectionism in the 1880's.
Curated OER
American Revolution Simulation: Colonial History, Drama
Learners explain why the American colonies declared the independence, students should relate to that which is held most dearly i.e. life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They participate in a drama that illustrates this.
Curated OER
Household Names
Students explore the accomplishments of famous New Yorkers in the 19th century. In small groups, students read biographies and match them with a corresponding primary source document. The group that is most accurate in matching the...
Indiana University
Lilly Library: Civil War
This site from the Indiana University offers an illustrated history of political cartoons before and during the Civil War including pictures of Abraham Lincoln and the elections of 1860 and 1864.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: America's History in the Making: Civil War, a Nation Divided
A wonderful resource using primary and secondary source materials to explore many facets of the Civil War from the war itself to its impact on the home front. Includes video and text downloads.
Other
Gettysburg College: Civil War Era Collection
A special collection of political cartoons, maps, letters, photographs, artifacts, etc. all relating to the Civil War Era.
Stanford University
Sheg: Document Based History: Read Like a Historian: Civil War Reconstruction
[Free Registration/Login Required] In the Civil War and Reconstruction unit, learners engage in contentious historiographic debates about the period: Was Lincoln a racist? Was Reconstruction a success or failure? Was John Brown a...
Syracuse University
Draw Your Own Conclusions: Political Cartooning Then & ?
Take a look at how wars and politics from the 1860s through the 1960s were drawn by some of the nation's most influential humorists and cartoonists.
Ohio State University
Opper Project: Using Editorial Cartoons to Teach History (Lesson Plans)
Two dozen lessons that focus on using political cartoons as primary source resources for teaching American history. Lessons cover a range of topics in U.S. history from the Civil War era forward and are linked to Ohio content standards.
Ohio State University
Opper Project: Using Editorial Cartoons to Teach History (Lesson Plans)
Two dozen lessons that focus on using political cartoons as primary source resources for teaching American history. Lessons cover a range of topics in U.S. history from the Civil War era forward and are linked to Ohio content standards.
Other
The University of Southern Mississippi: Aaec Editorial Cartoons Digital Collect
The Editorial Cartoon Digital Collection contains examples of the work of member artists of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC). Created primarily in the 1960s and 1970s, the cartoons reflect changes in American...
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Slavery & Making of America: Imagining Freedom During/after Civil War
In this interactive game, students are presented with a political drawings and cartoons from the period 1860-1877, and they must choose which historical event related to the end of slavery best matches each image.
Indiana University
America in Caricature: 1765 1865
A collection of political cartoons from 1765-1875 arranged by time period.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Two Wars, the Gilded and the Gritty: America, 1870 1912
A political cartoon depicting a Union and a Confederate veteran united in support for the Spanish-American War. A painting entitled Twelve-Inch Gun depicting elegant officers and ladies aboard a battle ship, civilizing gentility and the...
University of Houston
University of Houston: Engines of Our Ingenuity: Thomas Nast
Thomas Nast was the first influential American political cartoonist. Read about his transformation from an illustrator of the Civil War to one who took on Boss Tweed and the corruption of Tammany Hall.
Son of the South
Son of the South: Christmas Dinner
Using a Thomas Nast political cartoon from 1864, the author explains Lincoln's plan for Reconstruction, a plan that was never to be carried out.