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Activity
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: 20th Century: Religion in American History: The Scopes Trial

For Students 9th - 10th
The National Humanities Center offers an overview of the events surrounding the Scopes trial. The authors encourage an understanding of the sources of the conflict and its long-range effects.
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Website
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: Three Worlds, Three Views

For Students 9th - 10th
Essay examining the cultural and environmental changes spanning 300 years in the pre-Revolutionary South as three worlds, Native American, European, and African collide. Site includes guiding questions for student discussion and scholars...
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Primary
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: u.s. Supreme Court Plessy v. Ferguson [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
Read this concise discussion of the landmark Supreme Court decision, Plessy v Ferguson. Find a synopsis of the case, the majority opinion of the court, and the dissenting opinion by Justice Harlan.
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Primary
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: The European Presence in North America 1492 1690

For Students 9th - 10th
Primary source material on European presence in North America between 1492 and 1690 covers the topics of contact, exploration, settlement, permanence, and power. Includes notes and discussion questions.
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Unit Plan
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: 19th Century: African American Christianity, Pt. I: To the Civil War

For Students 9th - 10th
Essay tracks the various religions associated with the African-Americans since their introduction to the New World. Different interpretations from historians are offered for discussion of whether Christianity was helpful to the slaves.
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Article
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: 19th Century: Roman Catholics & Immigration in 19th Century America

For Students 9th - 10th
Essay answers the question, "Why did so many Catholics come to the United States at this time?" The potato famine, urban industrialization, chance for a new life, are among some of the answers.
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Article
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: 2oth Century: Religion in Post World War Ii America

For Students 9th - 10th
Despite the dire predictions in the 60s about the future of religion in America, the role of religion in American life has remained strong. Essay describes the 60s and 70s generation as "Spiritual seekers," and "New Age seekers." Site...
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Article
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: Foreign Missionary Movement in the 19th and Early 20th Centuries

For Students 9th - 10th
Article detailing the movement aimed at converting non-European populations to Christianity during an age of Imperialsim and Western Dominance. Discussion on who the missionaries were and how they went about their missions. Includes...
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Article
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: African American Christianity Pt Ii: From Civil War to the Great Migration

For Students 9th - 10th
Essay focussing on African American Christianity from emancipation to the great migration. Site offers photos, student discussion guidelines, historian debate and links to related material.
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Article
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: Evangelicalism as a Social Movement

For Students 9th - 10th
Resource in which the author helps us understand Evangelicalism as a religious movement as well as a social movement that ultimately helped transfom American society. Links to online resources.
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Article
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: American Abolitionism and Religion

For Students 9th - 10th
Essay explores the relationship between Abolitionism and religion. Questions for writing and discussion.
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Article
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: Religion in the Civil War: The Southern Perspective

For Students 9th - 10th
Essay presents an in-depth account of the white Southern perspective of the Civil War and the role religion played for slaves and non-slaves alike. Questions for guiding student discussion.
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Article
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: The Religious Origins of Manifest Destiny

For Students 9th - 10th
Essay discussing Manifest Destiny and divine providence in westward expansion. Questions for student writing and discussion, scholars debate and links to related resources.
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Article
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: Mormonism and the American Mainstream

For Students 9th - 10th
Essay on the origins of Mormonism and the challenges associated with its eventual establishment into the American mainstream.
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Article
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: The American Jewish Experience Through the Nineteenth Century

For Students 9th - 10th
Essay discussing immigration and acculturation of American Jews through the Nineteenth Century. Includes questions for guiding student discussion, historian debate and links to online resources.
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Article
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: Apocalypticism in American Culture

For Students 9th - 10th
Article on religion in America features an essay by historian, Randall Balmer with an overview of apocalyptic notions and beliefs held throughout U.S. History. Includes guidelines for student discussion and scholarly historian debate.
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Article
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: The Social Gospel and the Progressive Era

For Students 9th - 10th
Essay on the shifting tide and changing attitudes brought about by social science during the Progressive Era with an increased emphasis on social welfare, race relations, and fair labor practices in an industrial age.
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Article
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: Religious Diversity in America

For Students 9th - 10th
Article provides an overview discussion of an ethnic and religious pluralistic society explaining distinguishing factors of religious life in North America. Includes guideance for student discussion, scholar debate and links to related...
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Article
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: The Christian Right

For Students 9th - 10th
Essay defines the Christian Right and explores its cultural significance in American society, including why and how it emerged, religious and political goals, and who is included. Section for guiding students in discussion, scholar...
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Article
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: Indian Country Today

For Students 9th - 10th
Essay on contemporary Native American lands and the environmental impact they have suffered, policy regarding them and public perception of how land and resources should be used.
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Article
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: American Indians: The Image of the Indian

For Students 9th - 10th
Essay tracing the stereotypes and commonly held beliefs about Indians and how they have been written about and portrayed in film and literature. Section for guiding student discussion and scholarly debate.
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Article
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: Paleoindians and the Great Pleistocene Die Off

For Students 9th - 10th
Article discusses Paleoindian migration and animal extinction at the end of the Pleistocene era and explores what we can learn about conservation given what we know about Pleistocene climate and extinction.
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Article
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: The Effects of Removal on American Indian Tribes

For Students 9th - 10th
Article discusses the removal of the American Indians from their native lands and examines the resulting effects and consequences of U.S. Government policy.
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Website
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: The Roots of Preservation: Emerson, Thoreau, and the Hudson River School

For Students 9th - 10th
Essay on Emerson, Thoreau and the Hudson River School and the legacy it left. Section for guiding student discussion and scholar's debate.