Center for History Education
Slavery and Civil Disobedience: Christiana Riot of 1851
When is it a moral obligation to disobey the law or to fight back? Using primary sources that document the "Christiana Riot" of 1851, learners consider these questions. The firsthand accounts tell the story of the riot, which happened...
Novelinks
Nightjohn: List-Group-Label Strategy
Encourage readers of Nightjohn, Gary Paulsen's young adult novel about slavery set shortly before the Civil War, to develop their categorization and organizational skills with a strategy that asks them to list all the words they can...
Curated OER
Abraham Lincoln's Position on the Question of Slavery and Its Extension
Students read excerpts from Abraham Lincoln's speeches and letters between 1854 and 1861 and look for information relative to Lincoln's thoughts on the legal and Constitutional aspects of slavery.
Curated OER
Reconstruction
Students explain how the Civil War and Reconstruction both solved and created problems for our nation. They study how Reconstruction caused a further decline in relations between the North & South and how racism has been and is...
Curated OER
Underground Railroad and Slaver
Students review the topic of slavery in the 1860's and how it was a key issue during the Civil War. They discuss significant people involved with slavery including Harriet Tubman and the challenges they faced. They read various texts...
Novelinks
Nightjohn: Bloom's Taxonomy Questions
After completing Nightjohn, Gary Paulsen's young adult novel about slavery set shortly before the Civil War, readers respond to a series of questions crafted to reflect Bloom's taxonomy.
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Women Abolitionists
High schoolers examine the role of women abolitionists during the Civil War. Using essays and biographies, they try to identify the race and class of the different women activists and determine the expectations of the genders during this...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Frederick Douglass’s Narrative: Myth of the Happy Slave
The firsthand accounts of what it was like to be an enslaved person in the mid-1800s riveted a nation and the issue ultimately led to civil war. Using excerpts from Frederick Douglass's autobiography, budding historians examine what it...
Curated OER
The Abolitionist Movement: A Fight for Freedom
Sixth graders investigate the Civil War by identifying famous figures of the era. In this slavery abolitionist activity, 6th graders read a text on the history of the Civil War and discuss heroes of the era such as Harriet Tubman and...
Curated OER
Henry's Freedom Box
Young scholars explore the Civil War by reading a children's book in class. In this underground railroad lesson, students read the story Henry's Freedom Box and discuss the plot, settings and characters. Young scholars create their own...
Curated OER
Role of Slavery in Early Arkansas Settlements
Young scholars investigate slavery in the development of pre-Civil War Arkansas. They study the influence of the French, Spanish, and American settlers on the establishment of slavery and create a timeline of events associated with events.
Curated OER
The Underground Railroad
Students examine slavery and the civil war by creating a research project. In this underground railroad lesson, students create a KWL chart and decide on one of several creative projects they will complete about slavery. Students...
Curated OER
Slavery in the United States: Primary Sources and the Historical Record Lesson
Students analyze primary source documents to determine how life was for slaves. In this slavery lesson, students view online resources from the Library of Congress to analyze and discuss. Students select a final object to analyze and...
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...
Civil War Trust
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Through a careful reading and examination of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, scholars take part in grand conversations about the novel's contents, slavery, and the impact the book had on it. Furthermore, learners analyze an...
Carolina K-12
African Americans in the United States Congress During Reconstruction
The Civil Rights Act of 1866, which granted citizenship to all males in the U.S., resulted in the first African Americans to be elected to Congress. Class members research 11 of these men, the challenges they faced, and craft...
Curated OER
A Slave No More
Students discover what it was like to cross into freedom. In this slavery lesson, students read the "Emancipation Proclamation," and letters written by Abraham Lincoln and John Washington (a former slave). Students identify the key ideas...
Curated OER
The Dred Scott Case (1857)
Students read and discuss Dred Scott v. Sandford Supreme Court case, describe in writing Constitutional principles and results of case, explain how Supreme Court decision may have helped further tensions between states, and answer...
Curated OER
The Emancipation Proclamation
Students explore the historical importance of the Emancipation Proclamation. In this United States History instructional activity, students use the internet to research the specific events that were centered around the Emancipation...
Curated OER
I Heard It Through the Grapevine
Students write a first-person narrative from the perspective of a runaway slave, or a historical character of the period, and present their story orally.
Curated OER
Powerful Memories, Powerful Words
Students identify and describe the influence slavery had on Mark Twains writing, and then determine the status of race relations and ethnic differences in contemporary life.
Curated OER
They're Only Children
Third graders compare how the lives of African American slave children differed from children's lives today. For this analysis of slavery lesson, 3rd graders evaluate and discuss the conditions of slavery in collaborative groups. Using...
Curated OER
The Civil Rights Movement
High schoolers examine the Jim Crow Laws and goals of the Civil Rights movement. They read and discuss handouts, answer questions, conduct research, and write an essay about the effects of the Civil Rights movement.
Curated OER
The Slave Market: Slavery, Not Just a Southern Institution
Eleventh graders examine how slavery was related to the economic development of New York. In this American History lesson, 11th graders analyze the primary and secondary sources on the New York Slave Market. Students create a revised...
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