Teaching Resources

Government and Civics

Over the past fifteen years, the Gilder Lehrman Institute has worked closely with master educators across the country. Many of them have developed unique lesson plans and activities related to this historical era. These resources are included here along with pedagogical videos and other general teaching tools that can be adapted for a variety of time periods and themes in American history.

A Founding Father on the Missouri Compromise, 1819

Curriculum Subjects: Grade Levels: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

A History of Portuguese Overseas Expansion, 1400–1668

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A House Divided: America in the Age of Lincoln

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A Look at Slavery through Posters and Broadsides

Curriculum Subjects: Art Grade Levels: 6, 7, 8

A plan for a new government, 1775

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels:

A proclamation on the suspension of habeas corpus, 1862

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A Short History of Reconstruction, 1863–1877

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A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II

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Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution

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Abraham Lincoln on Slavery and Race

Curriculum Subjects: Grade Levels: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President

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Agriculture in America

Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Geography, Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12

Alamo Simulation

Curriculum Subjects: Geography Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12

Alexander Hamilton

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American Colonies: The Settling of North America

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American Culture in the 1950s

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American High: The Years of Confidence, 1945-1960

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American Politics in the Gilded Age, 1868–1900

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America’s Constitution: A Biography

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An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution

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Analyzing the Great Compromise, 1787

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?

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Anti-corporate cartoons, ca. 1900

Curriculum Subjects: Art, Economics, Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Articles of Confederation

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor

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Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address, 2009

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Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era

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Birth of a Nation

Curriculum Subjects: Art, Geography, Government and Civics, Literature Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Birth of a Nation, 1915

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels:

Blacks in Blue

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Breaking from Great Britain, 1776

Curriculum Subjects: World History Grade Levels: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Building Mount Rushmore, 1926

Curriculum Subjects: Art Grade Levels:

Carrie Catt: Feminist Politician

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Causes of the Revolution: Early America

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Celebrating Labor Day

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Charters of Freedom

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Consequences of the Depression

Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12

D is for Drums: A Colonial Williamsburg ABC

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Dealers and Dreamers: A New Look at the New Deal

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Debating the Reagan Presidency

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Declaration of Independence, 1776

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Declarations of Independence

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 6, 7, 8

Declaring Rights: A Brief History with Documents

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Discontented America: the United States in the 1920s

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Divided Hearts: Britain and the American Civil War

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Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Domestic Leadership

Curriculum Subjects: Grade Levels: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Elcano: The First Circumnavigator

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Encyclopedia of Ellis Island

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Examining Antebellum Elections

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12

Expansion and American Indian Policy, 1783-1812

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FDR on racial discrimination, 1942

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9

FDR: The First Hundred Days

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First Federal Congress Project

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First Freed: Washington, DC in the Emancipation Era

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First Generations: Women in Colonial America

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Florida 1513-1821

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For Freedom’s Sake: The Life of Fannie Lou Hamer

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Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule

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Foundations of the Portuguese Empire, 1415–1580

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Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation

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Fourteen Points

Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Geography, Government and Civics, World History Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12

Francis Drake: The Lives of a Hero

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Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, 1932–1940

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George Wallace on segregation, 1964

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels:

George Washington and the Founding of a Nation

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George Washington: A Biography

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Guided Readings: Indian Removal

Curriculum Subjects: Geography, Government and Civics Grade Levels: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Guided Readings: The Changing Status of Women

Curriculum Subjects: Grade Levels: 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Half Slave and Half Free: The Roots of Civil War

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Historic Jamestowne

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Home Front U.S.A.: America during World War II

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Honor’s Voice: The Transformation of Abraham Lincoln

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Huck’s Raft: A History of American Childhood

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Impact of the Revolution: Guided Readings

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

In Our Image: America’s Empire in the Philippines

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Indian Policy

Curriculum Subjects: Geography, Government and Civics, Religion and Philosophy Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12

Jack: The Struggles of John F. Kennedy

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Jacksonian Democracy

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12

James Madison and the Creation of the American Republic

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James Madison’s Montpelier

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Jamestown Settlement & Yorktown Victory Center

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Japanese Internment Camps of WWII

Curriculum Subjects: Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12

Japanese internment, 1942

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

John Marshall and the Heroic Age of the Supreme Court

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John Mosby on the Silver Issue, 1895

Curriculum Subjects: Economics Grade Levels:

John Wesley and Slavery

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John Woolman

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Jonathan Sewall: Odyssey of an American Loyalist

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Keepers of the Gate: A History of Ellis Island

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Kennedy

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Legislation

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12

Lewis and Clark among the Indians

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Liberalism and Its Discontents

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Lincoln and Civil Liberties

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12

Lincoln’s Decision for Emancipation

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Lincoln’s Reconstruction Plan

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Lower East Side Tenement Museum

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Lucy Stone: Speaking Out for Equality

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Madam President: Women Blazing the Leadership Trail

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Manifest Destiny

Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Geography, Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12

Maritcha: A Nineteenth-Century American Girl

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Mary McLeod Bethune: A Biography

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National Constitution Center

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National Expansion

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12

Native American Policy

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

New Amsterdam: The Center of the Dutch Settlement

Curriculum Subjects: Geography Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

New Deal Legislation

Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Government and Civics Grade Levels:

New Deal Network

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New States in the Union

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12

North-South Comparisons

Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Geography, Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12

Nothing But Freedom: Emancipation and Its Legacy

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Origins of the Bill of Rights

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Origins: How the Holiday Was Born

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Our Victorious Fleets in Cuban Waters, 1898

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Over Here: The First World War and American Society

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Peace and the Peacemakers: The Treaty of 1783

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People’s Party campaign poster, 1892

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Plessy v. Ferguson

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12

Political Democratization

Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12

Portugal and the Quest for the Indies

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President Reagan’s First Inaugural Address, 1981

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Presidential Election Results, 1789–2008

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Proclamation of 1763

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory

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Reagan

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Reconstruction

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels:

Reconstruction Amendments

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12

Religion and the Founding of the American Republic

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Richard Nixon and His America

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RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon

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Robert Kennedy on civil rights, 1963

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made

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Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library

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Runaway Slave Ad, 1860

Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Geography, Government and Civics Grade Levels:

Sacco and Vanzetti, 1921

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels:

Sandra Day O’Connor: Justice in the Balance

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Secession and the Civil War

Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12

Sectional Conflict

Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12

Sex and Citizenship in Antebellum America

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Sharecropper contract, 1867

Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Sir Francis Drake

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Slavery

Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Government and Civics, Religion and Philosophy Grade Levels:

Slavery in America: Expanding and Preserving the Union

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Sojourner Truth’s America

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Spain and Portugal in the New World

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Spain in America

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Still the Golden Door: The Third World Comes to America

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Study Aid: Checks and Balances

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Study Aid: Great Society Legislation

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Study Aid: The Bill of Rights

Curriculum Subjects: Grade Levels: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Taking the Constitution Seriously

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Teaching the Revolution

Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Geography, Government and Civics, World History Grade Levels: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

The 1950s

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The American Revolution

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The American Revolution and the French Alliance

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The Articles of Confederation, 1777

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The Blackwell Encyclopedia of the American Revolution

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The Breakdown of the Party System

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

The British evacuation of Boston, 1776

Curriculum Subjects: Art, Government and Civics Grade Levels: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

The Cherokees

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The Cold War: A New History

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The Confederate Republic: A Revolution Against Politics

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The Constitution and Slavery

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

The Constitution and the Bill of Rights

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The Creation of the American Republic, 1776–1787

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The Declaration of Independence: A Common Core Unit

Curriculum Subjects: Grade Levels: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

The Emancipation Proclamation

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The Enlightenment in America

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The Era of Reconstruction, 1865–1877

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The European Discovery of America

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The Farmers' Revolt

Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12

The FDR Years: On Roosevelt and His Legacy

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The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery

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The Fifteenth Amendment, 1870

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels:

The Fifties in America

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The First Emancipation

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels:

The First National Census

Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Geography, Government and Civics Grade Levels: 6, 7, 8

The Folly of Empire (Condensed Version)

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12

The Forging of the Union, 1781–1789

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The Founding Fathers Reconsidered

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The Globe Encircled and the World Revealed

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The Good War: An Oral History of World War II

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The Grange Movement, 1875

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The Great Depression and The New Deal

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

The Great War

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The Helms Attack on King

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The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution

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The Impact of the Depression

Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12

The Louisiana Purchase and Its Aftermath

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The Making of the President: The 1960s

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The Mariners' Museum

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The Market Revolution: Jacksonian America, 1815–1846

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The Marshall Court and Cultural Change, 1815–1835

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The New Americans: Colonial Times: 1620-1689

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The New Deal: The Depression Years, 1933–1940

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The Nullification Crisis

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

The Organization Man

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The Panic of 1857 and the Coming of the Civil War

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The Portuguese Discoverers

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The Postwar Red Scare

Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

The Promise of Democracy

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

The Promise of the New South: Life After Reconstruction

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The Radicalism of the American Revolution

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The Rehnquist Court and the Constitution

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The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt

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The Scottsboro Trial

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 5, 6, 7, 8

The Second World War

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The Spanish Frontier in North America

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The Splendid Little War

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The Stamp Act Crisis

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics, Literature, World History Grade Levels: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

The Stamp Act, 1765

Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Government and Civics Grade Levels:

The Survival of the US Constitution

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

The Trail of Tears

Curriculum Subjects: Grade Levels: 5, 6, 7, 8

The U.S. Constitution

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The War with Spain in 1898

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The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum

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Theodore Roosevelt : A Bully Reformer

Curriculum Subjects: Economics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12

Theodore Roosevelt and the Trusts

Curriculum Subjects: Economics, Government and Civics Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12

This Affair of Louisiana

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This Little Light of Mine: The Life of Fannie Lou Hamer

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Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation

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Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello

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Title IX

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Tom Paine and Revolutionary America

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Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution

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Virginia Minor and Women's Right to Vote

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Waking Giant: America in the Age of Jackson

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War in a Time of Peace: Bush, Clinton, and the Generals

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Washington’s Farewell Address: A Common Core Unit

Curriculum Subjects: Grade Levels: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

What Does Liberty Look Like?

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels:

Who Was John Brown?

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels: 6, 7, 8

William Jennings Bryan: Missionary Isolationist

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Woman Suffrage before 1920

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels:

Women’s suffrage poster, 1915

Curriculum Subjects: Government and Civics Grade Levels:

Women’s Suffrage: 140 Years of Struggle

Curriculum Subjects: Grade Levels: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Woodrow Wilson and the Balance of Power

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You Want Women to Vote, Lizzie Stanton?

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