Search | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

90,976 items

Lesson Plan

First Day of Integration at Central High School, Little Rock, Arkansas

Government and Civics

8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Sources Students Entering School Building , National Park Service Book: Daisy Bates, The Long Shadow of Little Rock (1962), or online at Civil Rights Teaching Background Information On the first day of integration at Central High...

Lesson Plan

Evaluating Lyndon B. Johnson’s Character and Efforts during the Civil Rights Era

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Background Information In 1969 Thomas Baker conducted an interview with Roy Wilkins, executive directory of the NAACP, based on Wilkins’s experiences with Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. This abridged version of the...

Lesson Plan

Comparison of Ideas: Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois

Economics

6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Essential Question Which of the two views presented below, W.E.B. Du Bois’ or Booker T. Washington’s, offered a better strategy to put our nation on a quicker path to equality for African Americans at the turn of the twentieth century...

Lesson Plan

Articles of Confederation

Government and Civics

5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Essential Question How could our Founding Fathers best meet the governing needs of the various factions after the Revolutionary War? Materials Articles of Confederation (PDF). Source: Transcript of the Articles of Confederation , 100...

Guided Readings

Guided Readings: Using Primary and Secondary Sources: Slavery in the Founding Era

3, 4, 5

Primary and secondary sources can provide different kinds of information about the past. In the context of slavery, Phillis Wheatley is considered the most important figure of the eighteenth century. Two accounts of her experience...

Lesson Plan

The Cold War Across Time (1945–1990): A Jigsaw with Expert Groups

Economics

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Objective To discover the impact the Cold War had on multiple aspects of life, both in the United States and around the world, by exploring changes over time. Overview of Jigsaw Process Expert Groups will create four timelines...

Lesson Plan

Analyzing the Great Compromise, 1787

Government and Civics

5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Essential Question How could our Founding Fathers balance the needs of the states as we created a national government? Materials The Virginia Plan, 1787 (PDF). Source: Virginia (Randolph) Plan as Amended (National Archives Microfilm...

Lesson Plan

A Lesson on Détente

World History

5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Materials "Memorandums of Conversation," National Security Archive, George Washington University Notes and Excerpts from Nixon’s Meeting with Mao, February 1972 , National Security Archive, George Washington University "Nixon and...

Lesson Plan

How to Analyze Primary Source Documents / F.D.R. & The Great Depression

Government and Civics

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Essential Question How effective was President Franklin Roosevelt in communicating with the American public during this time of crisis? Objectives Understand the importance of thinking critically about historical events. Be able to...

Lesson Plan

Making a Covenant with Death: Slavery in the Constitutional Structure

Government and Civics, Religion and Philosophy

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Materials US Constitution , Our Documents Finkelman, Paul. Slavery and the Founders: Race and Liberty in the Age of Jefferson . New York: M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 2001. Essential Question Why did the Founders find it necessary to provide...

Site Search

90,976 items

First Day of Integration at Central High School, Little Rock, Arkansas

Evaluating Lyndon B. Johnson’s Character and Efforts during the Civil Rights Era

Comparison of Ideas: Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois

Articles of Confederation

Guided Readings: Using Primary and Secondary Sources: Slavery in the Founding Era

The Cold War Across Time (1945–1990): A Jigsaw with Expert Groups

Analyzing the Great Compromise, 1787

A Lesson on Détente

How to Analyze Primary Source Documents / F.D.R. & The Great Depression

Making a Covenant with Death: Slavery in the Constitutional Structure

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