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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: "The Life of a u.s. Industrial Worker" by Bird Brain History

For Students 5th - 6th Standards
A learning module that begins with "The Life of a U.S. Industrial Worker" accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through free teacher...
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eBook
OpenStax

Open Stax: On the Move: The Transportation Revolution

For Students 11th - 12th
By reading this section of a chapter on "Industrial Transformation in the North", students will learn about the development of improved methods of nineteenth-century domestic transportation and identify the ways in which roads, canals,...
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Handout
Other

Samuel Slater: Father of the American Industrial Revolution: Child Labor

For Students 9th - 10th
Facts about the percentage of children in the mills and their pay. Discussion of why child labor was accepted. Links to other sites and to information on Samuel Slater.
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Lesson Plan
Yale University

Yale New Haven Teachers Institute: West River 1776 1896: Study of Early Industry

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Presents detailed information on the development of industry in Westville, Connecticut 1776-1896. Discusses where and why development happened. Includes lesson plans, but slides referred to are not provided.
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Website
Open Door Team

Open Door Web Site: The Agricultural Revolution

For Students 9th - 10th
Teacher-contributed content on topics related to the agricultural revolution, such as four-field crop rotation, the seed drill, selective breeding of livestock, and the impact on the Industrial Revolution.
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Unit Plan
Tom Richey

Tom Richey: The Gilded Age (1877 1900)

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
As Reconstruction came to an end in the United States the country began to evolve into an industrial nation through the perseverance and ingenuity of masterminds like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller. Through a collection of...
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Unit Plan
Other

Big History Project: Chapter 5: The Modern Revolution and the Future

For Students 9th - 10th
Big History Project, Chapter 5, picks up after the development of agriculture and the rise of cities and powerful civilizations and looks at industrialization, transportation and modern global interactions of today and asks, "what next?".
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Graphic
Curated OER

Women in World History: Lesson Industrial Revolution

For Students 9th - 10th
This site provides lesson plans on working women during the Industrial Revolution in England in the 1840s. Includes information and testimonies of women textile workers, miners, and seamstresses.
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Unknown Type
History Teacher

Historyteacher.net: Early Industrialization & Economic Growth: Quiz (2)

For Students 9th - 10th
Ten multiple choice question quiz is immediately scored and covers industrialization and economic growth in the early 19th century.
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Primary
Internet History Sourcebooks Project

Fordham University: Modern History Sourcebook: Industrial Manchester 1844

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from the Modern History Sourcebook of Fordham University provides an exerpt from "The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844". Personal account of what life was like for textile mill workers in Manchester.
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Primary
Victorian Web

Brown University: Victorian Web: Life of the Industrial Worker in 19th Century

For Students 9th - 10th
The Victorian Web provides a report to British Parliament submitted in 1833 by a medical observer on how work in textile factories affected the physical health of the laborers. Also includes essays from a factory owner's point of view...
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eBook
Open Door Team

Open Door Web Site: Urban Conditions

For Students 9th - 10th
A section of a textbook on European history. It examines what it was like to live in urban settings during the Second Industrial Revolution.
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PPT
Other

Red Mountain High School: The Growing u.s. In the Late 1800's/early 1900's [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
A PowerPoint presentation covering American history during the second Industrial Revolution. Learn the forces behind monopolies, the growth of cities, and the development of labor unions among other aspects of progression at this time in...
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Website
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Inventions and Resource Development

For Students 9th - 10th
Outline of the burgeoning inventions and discoveries that characterized a second industrial revolution in the U.S. during the later half of the 19th Century.
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Website
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Lehigh Valley Tempo: Canal History

For Students 9th - 10th
The Lehigh Valley became a major part of the Industrial Revolution after coal was discovered in the area. In this short video, learn about the canal system that was built as a way to transport the coal from the local mines to New York...
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Handout
PBS

Who Made America?: Francis Cabot Lowell:consolidated Manufacturing

For Students 9th - 10th
A brief biography of Francis Cabot Lowell which describes his role in the industrial revolution in the United States. Read about the factory system, the so-called Lowell girls, and mechanization of cloth manufacture.
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Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Economic Expansion, Enlarged Markets

For Students 9th - 10th
The United States was greatly affected by the Industrial Revolution taking place in Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries. New inventions and capital investment led to the creation of new industries and the spread of economic growth....
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Primary
Digital Public Library of America

Dpla: Full Steam Ahead: The Steam Engine and Transportation in the Nineteenth Century

For Students 9th - 10th
This primary source set uses illustrations, documents, and photographs to tell the story of how the steam engine transformed the railroad industry and played crucial roles in the Industrial Revolution and westward expansion.
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Handout
Other

Lincoln Bicentennial Teacher Network: Northern Factory Workers [Pdf]

For Students 6th - 9th
An information page on the rise of factory labor as the Industrial Revolution took hold in the North.
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PPT
Tom Richey

Tom Richey: Agrarian Movements and Populism

For Students 9th - 10th
While the explosion of industry had its positive marks on the economy, it also took its toll on some aspects of the nation. This slideshow will illustrate the problems and societal changes many farmers, immigrants, labor unions, and the...
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Primary
US National Archives

Our Documents: Patent for Cotton Gin (1794)

For Students 9th - 10th
Interactive image of Eli Whitney's plans for the cotton gin, accompanied by an explanation of the cotton gin's purpose and significance in relation to the Industrial Revolution.
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Handout
Other

Understanding Race: The Famine and the Irish Race: 1840s 1890s

For Students 9th - 10th
Article discusses how the Industrial Revolution in Europe and the potato famine in Ireland brought millions of people to the U.S. and highlights some of the impacts of immigration during this time.
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Handout
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory

Magnet Academy: Steam Condensing Engine 1769

For Students 9th - 10th
Few inventions have affected human history as much as the steam engine. Without it, there would have been no locomotives, no steamers and no Industrial Revolution.
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Website
Other

Spartacus Educational: British History: Richard Arkwright

For Students 9th - 10th
Often referred to as the "Father of the Industrial Revolution," this biography features Richard Arkwright, entrepreneur and business leader, of the late 1700's in Britain.