CommonLit
Common Lit: Assassination of the President:attempted Murder of Secretary Seward
This excerpt from an 1865 newspaper, Evening Star, contains multiple accounts of the night President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of State William Seward were attacked. The attack came only five days after Confederate General Robert E....
PBS
Pbs: American Experience: Earth Days: Timeline:the Modern Environmental Movement
Trace the advance of the environmental movement from 1948 through the 1980s. Read about the legislation promoting a healthy environment passed under both Democratic and Republican presidents.
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: A New Day [Pdf]
"A New Day" is a one-page, fictional reading passage about children who learned about civil rights marches while visiting their grandfather in Mississippi. They helped people register to vote before President Obama was elected for the...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "Day of Infamy" Speech
A learning module that begins with "'Day of Infamy' Speech" by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online...
Harp Week
Cartoon of the Day: On This Day: May 13, 1882
Flooding along the Mississippi River system has been a problem for many states and presidents. Look over this political cartoon drawn by Thomas Nast and read a little history behind the problem and see why President Arthur vetoed the...
Digital History
Digital History: The First Hundred Days
It is truly amazing to see how much legislation President Franklin Roosevelt was able to get through Congress in the first one hundred days of his administration. Read about the many programs that were implemented in an attempt to stem...
New York Times
New York Times: On This Day: Harry S. Truman: Decisive President
A New York Times obituary of Harry S. Truman, which outlines his life as a Senator, Vice-President, and President. Read about his domestic and foreign policy decisions.
BBC
Bbc News: On This Day: 7 February 1945: Black Sea Talks Plan Defeat of Germany
Read about the meeting in Yalta in February, 1945, between President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Marshal Joseph Stalin. Find the statement released on February 7 that discusses the purpose of the meeting, and read a...
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Abraham Lincoln's Inauguration
Review the events of the day when Abraham Lincoln was sworn into the office as President and read portions of his first inaugural address.
Other
Mr. Lincoln's Whitehouse: Andrew Johnson
A look at Andrew Johnson, Lincoln's vice-president in his second term. Descriptions of him on Inauguration Day are interesting to read. The surprise selection, of course, became president upon Lincoln's death.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Environmental Reform
Environmental awareness in the United States became more focused upon the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. Read about student protests, presidential legislation, and a new desire to protect the environment.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Presidential Inaugurations
This resource provides step-by-step lesson plans that detail the Presidential Inauguration. It offers links to superb primary sources (photos, poems, audio, etc.) that catalog past inaugurations. This resource will certainly help...
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Freedom: A History of the u.s: New Deal
Read about Franklin Roosevelt's background, his political experience before he was elected president in 1932, and his actions to help the people of the United States in the grips of the Great Depression.
Harp Week
Harp Week: Presidential Elections: 1908 Taft v. Bryan Overview
What a great resource this is. The four-page oveview of the campaign of 1908 begins with a review of the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. Read about the nomination of William Howard Taft, Roosevelt's acolyte, sure to carry on the...
Other
U.s. Securities and Exchange Commission: Securities Act of 1933 [Pdf]
President Roosevelt and his administration accomplished a lot during his first one hundred days in office. One piece of legislation was the Securities Act of 1933. Read the text of the entire act on this site. [pdf]
Digital History
Digital History: Franklin Roosevelt and the Depression [Pdf]
After reading brief biographical information about Franklin Roosevelt, find out what he did immediately upon being sworn in as president in 1933. Find out about the legislation that aimed to encourage trust in banks, and the legislation...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: A Bank Holiday
Actions taken by Franklin D. Roosevelt upon becoming president in 1933. Read about how he took immediate steps to restore confidence in the banking segment of the American economy.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom
Read about the domestic legislation of Woodrow Wilson, a progressive president who won the election of 1912. See how the policies he proposed won him the support of those who believed in the platform of the Bull Moose Party.
Digital History
Digital History: The War Is Finished [Pdf]
Read about the end of the Vietnam War after the peace agreement in January, 1973. Find out about the violations of the agreement by both the North and South Vietnamese and the eventual fall of the South Vietnamese government.
Digital History
Digital History: Politics During the 1920s
Read about the presidents who held office during most of the 1920s. Both were essentially unremarkable, but Warren Harding, whose administration was beset by scandal, did have some accomplishments. See why Calvin Coolidge was such a...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: "Massive Resistance" and the Little Rock Nine
Read about the famous civil rights protest in Little Rock, Kansas in 1957 when nine African American students attempted to enter Central High School on the first day of school. Despite the presence of federal troops at the school for the...
Digital History
Digital History: The Farmer and the Depression [Pdf]
One of the first laws passed in Franklin Roosevelt's first hundred days was the Agricultural Adjustment Act. Read about how it helped farmers in crisis. and how it was the forerunner of the federal farm program in existence today. [pdf]
Digital History
Digital History: The Farmers' Plight
Read about the plight of American farmers in the Great Depression. Franklin Roosevelt instituted several programs to help the rural population, the most important of which was the Agricultural Adjustment Act. Find out whom this act...
PBS
Pbs Kids: Painting Presidential Portraits
Want to be president for a day? This online lesson plan will have students exploring the role of our presidents past and present. Through art connections the learners will be led through a series of fun activities on their way to...