Curated OER
Exploring Racism in America
Students compare racism today to racism that existed during the nineteenth century. As a field research project, students individually keep track of examples of racism, biases, and stereotypes illustrated throughout the US media over a...
Curated OER
People power
High schoolers explore about the British ban on slave trading and compare it to high profile campaigns today. They discuss what motivates people to behave in this way? What do students want to change, and how would they go about doing...
Curated OER
Causes and Effects of the Civil War
Fifth graders identify the causes and effects of the Civil War. They use Inspiration Software.
Curated OER
Aiken-Rhett House
Third graders visit the Rhett-Aiken House and discuss the people who lived there. They compare and contrast the lives of slaves who lived there. They practice using new vocabulary and examine the Gullah language and culture.
Curated OER
The Market for Moving People to America, 1610-1775
Students examine the markets that brought people to America. They identify the role of the immigrants in creating this country. They also analyze data to gather information about the time period.
Curated OER
American Migrations Timeline
In order to answer the question of whether the United States is a country of migrants or immigrants, high schoolers compile a list of migrations in America. From this list they conduct individual research for a particular episode of...
Curated OER
The Countries of Slave Trade
Students create graphs, routes, and write an essay based on their research of the slave trade. For this slave trade lesson plan, students research the Middle Passage and how slave trade happened in the United States.
Curated OER
Slavery, Manumission, and Freedom: Free Blacks in Charleston before the Civil War
Students explore the concept of slavery and manumission through a variety of activities. In this civil rights lesson, students gather information from primary sources, then analyze the politics and historical context of the time....
Curated OER
Robert Smalls: Warrior and Peacemaker
Students research the events that led to the Civil War and the Reconstruction. In this Civil War history instructional activity, students study images of Robert Smalls and research his role in the Civil War. Students review the South...
Curated OER
RELIGION AND THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE
Students examine the political and religious factors that influenced English, Spanish, French, and Dutch colonization of the Americas, and the economic characteristics of the early Spanish and Portuguese empires in the Americas.
Curated OER
Through Their Eyes: Perspectives on Slavery
Young scholars examine different perspectives of slavery. They write a personal account of slavery as a slave trader, a plantation owner, and fugitives and working slaves. They role-play these roles for the class.
Curated OER
Slavery in the Antebellum South
Students discuss Stephen Foster's depiction of slavery. Using the internet, they discover what the life of a slave was really like in the antebellum South. As a class, they discuss contemporary arguments for and against slavery.
Curated OER
Criminal or Hero
Fifth graders explore the origins of slavery. For this US History lesson, 5th graders create a map of the United States that shows where slavery existed. Students examine the life of a Northern slave through the use of a video.
Curated OER
618,000: Shall Not Have Died in Vain
Students explore the American Civil War. In this Civil War instructional activity, students examine a slave auction advertisement and an Abraham Lincoln quote. Students also read Pink and Say, create a foldable regarding naval warfare,...
Small Planet Communications
Civil War
Learners discuss political, social, and personal issues relating to the Civil War from various perspectives using internet sources. Students write various selections from Civil War characters' point of view.
Curated OER
Torn From Each Other's Arms
Students explore the transformations that the institution of slavery underwent in the English Colonies. They study the impact of slavery on black families.
Curated OER
A Guide Through the Culture of the Blues
Students examine the history of blues music and discover how it relates to the music of today. As a class, they listen to the drum songs of Africa and compare it to the use of drums in pop music today. Using the internet, they research...
Curated OER
Trusting Statistics Lesson Plan
Students read a section of the Runaway Journey narrative and conduct a survey. They use survey statistics to question their validity and decide why a respondent might not answer truthfully.
Curated OER
Underground Railroad
Students research and discuss the use of the Underground Railroad by fugitive slaves. They debate the actions of abolitionists and slave owners according to the laws of the time, create drawings and write narratives.
Curated OER
The Fugitive Slave Law and Migration
Students examine the Fugitive Slave Law as a motivating factor for slaves to emigrate outside the United States. After discussing the relationships between fugitive slaves and North American and Caribbean countries, they write essays...
Curated OER
Southern Agriculture and the Slave Trade
Students examine the relationship between agriculture and the slave trade during the 1860s. In groups, they research how two factors led to the explosion of slavery in the Southern United States. Using maps, they answer comprehension...
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Gilder Lehrman Institute: History Now: Enslaved African Americans and Expressions of Freedom
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students will examine African American slave spirituals, a painting, and a personal narrative to analyze the underlying messages of these materials.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: The Making of African American Identity: Vol I: 1500 1865: Emancipation
Primary source material on the how enslaved Africans envisioned and pursued freedom and how these ideas affected them after the Civil War.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: America in Class: The Enslaved and the Civil War
National Humanities Center activity on how enslaved African Americans in the South undermined the Southern cause during the Civil War. Lesson contents includes primary sources material, strategies for text analysis, vocabulary, and...