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Website
Digital History

Digital History: Civil War in Kansas [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
The Compromise of 1850 did not solve all the slavery issues in the territories, which was not surprising. Read about the Kansas-Nebraska Act, put forth by Sen. Stephan Douglas, who proposed that the issue be decided by popular...
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Article
University of Groningen

American History: Essays: Anglo Amer. Colonization in Texas: Texas 1836 1848

For Students 9th - 10th
A brief look at the declaration of independence from Mexico by Texas in 1836, the removal of restrictions on slavery, and how this dramatically increased the population and led to a much greater reliance on the cotton industry in the...
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Harriet Beecher Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin

For Students 5th - 8th
Harriet Beecher Stowe threw gas on the fire of the slavery issue with the publication of her novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin. Read about her background as an abolitionist, and find out the influence her book had in the North and even in Great...
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Handout
History of American Wars

History of American Wars: What Caused the Civil War?

For Students 9th - 10th
A timeline from the 17th to the 19th century showing the evolution of the slavery issue in the United States, leading eventually to the Civil War.
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Wnet: Thirteen: Freedom: History of Us: Fatal Contradiction: Missouri Compromise [Pdf]

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A lesson plan from the producers of the 16-episode PBS series "Freedom: A History of US" that examines the goal of the Missouri Compromise. A good lesson plan for comparing and contrasting life in the North and South in the run-up to the...
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Article
Siteseen

Siteseen: American Historama: Popular Sovereignty and Slavery

For Students 9th - 10th
Comprehensive resource explores the use of Popular Sovereignty in debates about the slavery extension issue in new territories.
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Primary
American Presidency Project

American Presidency Project: Democratic Party Platform of 1856

For Students 9th - 10th
Read a copy of the Democratic Party Platform in the election of 1856. Of note is its equivocation on the issue of slavery.
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PPT
Tom Richey

Tom richey.net: The Crisis of the Union (1850 1860) [Ppt]

For Students 9th - 10th
Presents key ideas for examining the events and issues that led to the American Civil War.
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Article
Texas Public Broadcasting

Texas Pbs: Texas Our Texas: Early Statehood 1845 1861

For Students 9th - 10th
Examines the circumstances surrounding Texas's entry into the Union in 1845 as a slave state. It was an uneasy union, with ongoing controversy around the issue of slavery. This lasted through the Mexican-American War and helped to...
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Missouri Compromise

For Students 5th - 8th
A good look at the issues debated about the admission of new states, particularly those that would be made from the Louisiana Purchase. Read about why the issue of allowing slavery in the new states was such a hard decision for Congress....
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Handout
Other

Fca Homeschool: History 806

For Students 9th - 10th
A sample lesson plan covering the sectionalism and problems facing the nation in its debate on slavery in the 1850s.
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Website
Digital History

Digital History: Writing a Constitution [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
This site is from a unit called 'Writing the US Constitution.' It looks at the documents that preceded the Constitution, and the major issues that were debated while the Constitution was being created.
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Article
Other

Binghamton University: Lincoln, Labor and Liberation

For Students 9th - 10th
The free labor ideology of the nineteenth century was grounded in the beliefs that Northern free labor was superior to Southern slave labor. It was this free labor ideology and not the republicanism of the Revolutionary War era that...
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Article
University of Missouri

Famous Trials: Celia, a Slave Trial (1855)

For Students 9th - 10th
For nineteen-year-old Celia, a slave on a Missouri farm, five years of being repeatedly raped by her middle-aged owner was enough. On the night of June 23, 1855, she would later tell a reporter, "the Devil got into me" and Celia fatally...
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Unit Plan
Curated OER

National Park Service: The Significance of the Dred Scott Trial

For Students 9th - 10th
In this article from "The Old Courthouse" by Donald Dosch the facts of the Dred Scott decision are laid out. Read why the outcome of the case fanned the embers of the coming Civil War.
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Website
Other

Accord Freedom Trail: Freedom Trail St. Augustine Civil Rights Movement

For Students 9th - 10th
The city of St. Augustine, Florida played a part in The Civil Rights Movement. The early background of African Americans and slavery issues is documented, followed by noted people, events, and battles in the St. Augustine area during the...
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Unit Plan
Harp Week

Education at Harp week.com: The Reconstruction Convention Simulation

For Students 9th - 10th
A simulation activity where students participate in a convention at the end of the American Civil War that never actually took place. Together they grapple with the issues that faced America in 1865 in dealing with the demise of slavery...
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Unit Plan
Department of Defense

Do Dea: Ap Us History: Unit 4: A House Divided

For Students 9th - 10th
This extensive learning module examines how the United States became more connected with the world as it pursued an expansionist foreign policy, became the destination for many new immigrants, and encouraged migration to the Pacific...
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Website
Northern Illinois University

Northern Illinois University: Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project

For Students 9th - 10th
Northern Illinois University provides audio, visual, and text documents about Abraham Lincoln's Illinois years. You can search historical themes that relate to Lincoln and a biography of Lincoln. The site offers both primary and...
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Primary
University of Oklahoma

Chronology of u.s. Historical Documents: The Emancipation Proclamation 1864

For Students 9th - 10th
Here you can find the full text of the Emancipation Proclamation, issued by Abraham Lincoln in September 1862, and passed into law on January 1, 1863.
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Website
Digital History

Digital History: The War's Significance

For Students 9th - 10th
Did the Southern slaveholders rush headlong into a war with Mexicoin an attempt to spread slavery in new territories? Read about those who felt this was the reason for the war.
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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: National Expansion and Reform 1815 1880

For Students 9th - 10th
Follow the territorial and westward expansion of the newly formed United States. Learn about the thriving slave trade of that era and the spread of reform efforts across the country.
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Primary
Other

Project p.a.t.c.h.: Dred Scott v. Sandford

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource presents the text of the case, Dred Scott, Plaintiff v. John F. Sandford, which was presented to the Supreme Court in December, 1856.
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Website
University of Virginia

Miller Center at Uva: u.s. Presidents: James Buchanan

For Students 9th - 10th
The initial source for links to all aspects of the Buchanan presidency, including information on his cabinet, domestic policy and foreign policy. From the Miller Center.

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