American Evolution
Virginia Runaway Slave Ads
What does an ad reveal about a culture, or about the values of its intended audience? Class members examine a series of runaway slave ads—one of which was written by Thomas Jefferson—and consider what these primary source documents...
Curated OER
Utilizing American Landscape Art to Create Creative Writing
Students visit the National Gallery of Art and form creative writing pieces based on what they have learned about American landscapes of the nineteenth century.
Curated OER
Germans and Irish in Augusta and Franklin Counties
Students examine 19th century newspapers, a last and testament, and census manuscripts to analyze the Irish and German immigrant communities in the 1850s and 1860s. They write a letter from the perspective of an Irish or German immigrant.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Understanding the Context of Modernist Poetry
Students examine the historical, social, and cultural context of modernist poetry. They explore websites, complete a chart, compare/contrast rural and urban life, watch a video of early New York, and complete a writing assessment...
Curated OER
Causes of Death in the 19th Century
Students analyze historical data. They explore the context in which it was created. They develop skills in historical analysis.
Library of Virginia
Antebellum Freedom
From indentured servitude to involuntary race-based servitude, slavery has taken many forms in American history. Class members examine three manumission petitions that reveal how the rights of African Americans and African American...
Library of Virginia
Life as an Enslaved People
As part of a study of slavery in the United States, class members analyze documents related to the sale of slaves. They consider not only the text of the bills of sale but also what the appearance of the broadsides suggest.
Curated OER
Evaluating the "Save the Indian" Reforms
Students explore the policies of the "Save the Indian" reforms. Working in groups, they review the motives, methods, and effects of the "Save the Indian" campaign of the late 19th century. Through discussion and writing, they form an...
Curated OER
Stowe's Reviewers
Young scholars read, evaluate and respond to both positive and negative reviews of Harriet Beecher Stow's, Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Curated OER
Women Characters and Readers
Students participate in a guided reading of Chapter IX in Harriet Beecher Stow's, Uncle Tom's Cabin. They research the topic of gender and present it to the class.
Curated OER
Uncle Tom's Cabin as Anti-Slavery Argument
Pupils read and discuss how African- Americans are depicted in slave auction announcements. They research how Harriet Beecher Stow responds to the sale of slaves.
Middle Tennessee State University
John Brown: Hero or Villain?
"Love it or leave it." "You're either for us or against us." Rhetoric and it's polarizing effects are the focus of a lesson that uses John Brown's attack on Harper's Ferry as an exemplar. Groups examine primary source documents,...
Curated OER
Native American
Students investigate how early European exploration and colonization resulted in cultural and ecological interactions among previously unconnected peoples. They comprehend that Europeans had misconceptions about Native American literacy...
Curated OER
James Monroe
In this online interactive history worksheet, students respond to 10 short answer and essay questions about the achievements of James Madison. Students may check some of their answers on the interactive worksheet.
Curated OER
To War Or Not To War?
Seventh graders research the political, societal, and economic factors of World War I, World War II, and the 2001 war against terrorism. They participate in class discussions, write journal entries, and conduct Internet research. ...
Curated OER
Mathematics Word Problems About the 1800s
In this history and math worksheet, students solve 20 problems pertaining to life in America in the 1800s. Students read four paragraphs and solve the five problems using that information. Basic math operations are used.
Curated OER
Winslow Homer and Water Colors
Students investigate water color paintings. In this art history lesson, students discover Winslow Homer and his art work by reading an article. Students solve a word search based on the article.
Curated OER
Personal Power Figures
Learners create African Personal Power Figure boxes describing how they view themselves and discuss what personal traits are important to the preservation and improvement of a civilization.
Curated OER
Slave Narratives
Students use a database to find and read examples of slave narratives. In groups, they read the various narratives and discuss their feelings about them. They also research the time period in which the narratives were written to end...
Curated OER
Yellow Journalism and the Spanish American War
Seventh graders investigate the meaning and impact of "yellow journalism." They determine how it affects people and how it played out in the USS Maine incident during the Spanish American War by reading articles and watching a PowerPoint...
Curated OER
Jefferson vs. Franklin: Renaissance Men
Students list a variety of interests and achievements of Franklin and Jefferson. They take a position that one or the other's interests and achievements were more wide-ranging or that they were equivalent. They write out their findings.
Curated OER
Earth and Beyond!
Learners investigate one or more of the following topics and develop a plan for the future regarding it: global warming, lunar exploration, space travel, Mars exploration, or terraforming. They disucss the audio files and the video that...
Library of Virginia
Virginia Memory: Edith Turner: Nottoway Cheroenhaka Chief
How did Edith Turner, Chief of the Nottoway, navigate nineteenth-century Nottoway and Anglo-American societies while keeping the tribe's children on the reservation? This lesson looks at her life and her strong stance to maintain the...
University of Virginia
Univ. Of Virginia: Leo Tolstoy: Childhood and Early Manhood
The Electronic Text Center at the University of Virginia has provided the full text of Paul (Pavel) Birukoff's book entitled "Leo Tolstoy: Childhood and Early Manhood."