Library of Virginia
You are Clever Enough to Examine a Historical Source!
Your students are obviously clever, but now they can be C-L-E-V-E-R! Enhance a research project with an exercise that prompts learners to identify the creator, location, era, and value of the information source, as well as provide an...
Library of Virginia
An Overview of American Slavery
The final lesson in a unit study of American slavery asks young historians to synthesize what they have learned about how slavery in America changed over time. Revisiting the many documents they have examined, they consider the economic,...
Library of Virginia
Emancipation and the Thirteenth Amendment
Why didn't the Emancipation Proclamation free all slaves? Young historians study primary source documents including Lincoln's proclamation and the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Groups also investigate the three...
Library of Virginia
Life as a Liberated People
Imagine having no control over your life and then suddenly having to provide for yourself. Such was the challenge faced by many American slaves after emancipation. Class members are asked to consider these challenges are they examine...
Library of Virginia
Life as an Enslaved People
As part of a study of slavery in the United States, class members analyze documents related to the sale of slaves. They consider not only the text of the bills of sale but also what the appearance of the broadsides suggest.
Library of Virginia
Death or Liberty
What would you do to protect your own freedom? How far would you go to protest injustice? Class members are asked to consider these questions as they read primary source documents that detail events in the lives of Gabriel, Nat Turner,...
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...
Library of Virginia
Library of Virginia: Taxes in Colonial Virginia
Explanation of the various taxes paid by Virginia colonists, something that historians and researchers need to understand.
Library of Virginia
Virginia Memory: My County Tis of Thee: Counties of Virginia
A lesson plan in how to use historical maps to identify Virginia's counties and learn the political geography of Virginia.
Library of Virginia
Virginia Memory: Freedom Is Worth Fighting For: Billy and James
This lesson looks at the choices created during the Revolutionary War for enslaved African Americans in Virginia.
Library of Virginia
Virginia Memory: Edith Turner: Nottoway Cheroenhaka Chief
How did Edith Turner, Chief of the Nottoway, navigate nineteenth-century Nottoway and Anglo-American societies while keeping the tribe's children on the reservation? This lesson looks at her life and her strong stance to maintain the...
Library of Virginia
Virginia Memory: Death or Liberty: Gabriel's Rebellion
This lesson explores the Gabriel Rebellion of 1800 where an intended slave rebellion led by a slave never got off the ground due to the extreme weather that disrupted plans. Gabriel, the slave, was literate and was influenced by...
Library of Virginia
Virginia Memory: Identifying Three Major Turning Points in Virginia
In this lesson, students examine how the Battle of Great Bridge, Jack Jouett's ride, and the Battle of Yorktown aided in turning the tables on the British during the War for Independence.
Library of Virginia
Virginia Memory: Virginians Respond
In this activity, learners use primary sources to explore how Virginians responded to the Brown v. Board of Education decision by the Supreme Court in 1954 that called for an end to school segregation. They look in particular at...
Library of Virginia
Virginia Memory: Blank Space: Mapping the Unknown
How did early maps show the mapmakers' perception of the known world? Early mapmakers used maps drawn from coastal explorations, land travels, and even information heard word of mouth from American Indians or from colonists or traders....
Library of Virginia
Death or Liberty: Gabriel, Nat Turner and John Brown
Online exhibit with primary documents about slavery revolts in Virginia.
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia: John Marshall
Presenting different aspects of Marshall's life, this online exhibit includes a look at his education, personality, and his political career.
Library of Virginia
Death or Liberty: John Brown's Raid
The Library of Virginia details John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry as a prelude to the U.S. Civil War. Content also lists various records and resources regarding John Brown's Raid held in the library.
Library of Virginia
Death or Liberty: Nat Turner's Rebellion: To Rebel and Make Insurrection
A library resource providing details on this famous insurrection of slaves in 1831.
Library of Virginia
Virginia Memory: Tobacco Counterblast
In this lesson, students look at why King James I thought that smoking tobacco was a dangerous habit.
Library of Virginia
Virginia Memory: The Women's Land Army and World War Ii Posters
In this lesson, students look at some ways that women contributed to the war effort during WWII.
Library of Virginia
Virginia Memory: The Battle of Yorktown Sort It Sets
In this lesson, students examine why the Battle of Yorktown was a turning point in the Revolutionary War using primary sources.
Library of Virginia
Virginia Memory: Petition of the Meherrin Indians
A instructional activity exploring the steps taken by the Meherrin Indians in Virginia to try to protect their lands from encroaching colonists
Library of Virginia
Virginia Memory: Petition of Phillip Gowen
This lesson explores the practice of indentured servitude in colonial Virginia. Learners examine a petition by Phillip Gowen, an African American indentured servant, who asked the governor of Virginia to release him from servitude in 1675.