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90,976 items

Lesson Plan

The Declaration of Independence

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

View the Declaration in the Gilder Lehrman Collection by clicking here and here . For additional primary resources click here and here . Unit Objective This unit is part of Gilder Lehrman’s series of Common Core State Standards–based...

Lesson Plan

The New Deal: Legislation & Policies

9, 10, 11, 12

Historical Background When the stock market crashed in October of 1929, American citizens faced economic challenges unlike anything previously experienced in U.S. history. By the time Franklin Delano Roosevelt became President in 1933...

Lesson Plan

Rise of the Populists and William Jennings Bryan

9, 10, 11, 12

Historical Background As the United States evolved into an industrial powerhouse in the decades following the Civil War, the growing strength of the railroads and the banks particularly, coupled with the impact of mechanization on...

Lesson Plan

Success and the American Dream during the 1950s

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

Essential Question How did conformity apply as a value to the living and working choices of Americans during the 1950s? How did the notion of success during the 1950’s relate to the "American Dream"? Materials Death of a Salesman by...

Lesson Plan

Students’ Constitutional Rights in Public School

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12

Essential Question When may the rights of students in school be restricted? Materials Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District, 1969 , Boston College New Jersey v. T.L.O., 1985 , Legal Information Institute, Cornell University...

Lesson Plan

The Role of Women in the 1950s

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

Essential Question What roles were women expected to play during the 1950s? Materials Questions for The Feminine Mystique (PDF) Four Photos of Women , ProQuest K–12 "Housewife or Career Woman: The Changing Roles of Women in WWII and...

Lesson Plan

Ronald Reagan on Reducing the Size of Government

Economics, Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12

Essential Questions How can the powers of government be divided to best run our nation in this modern era? What role should the federal government play in shaping our economy? Document Ronald Reagan’s State of the Union Message,...

Lesson Plan

Dwight D. Eisenhower's Domestic Leadership

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

Essential Questions What constitutes great presidential leadership? How did Eisenhower demonstrate great leadership through his support of the Federal-Aid Highway Act (1956) and his warning about the growth of the Military-Industrial...

Lesson Plan

Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority

Religion and Philosophy

9, 10, 11, 12

Essential Questions What impact did "the Moral Majority" have on American culture and politics in the 1980s? What are the differences between primary and secondary sources? Materials Excerpt from Listen America by Jerry Falwell (1980)...

Lesson Plan

Mass Production, Suburbia & Conformity in the 1950s

Economics

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

Essential Question How did conformity apply as a value to the living choices of Americans during the 1950’s? Materials Postwar Society Data and Questions (PDF) Little Boxes , written by Malvina Reynolds (1962) (Lyrics) Two Photos &amp...

Lesson Plan

The Treaty of Tordesillas: Resolving "a Certain Controversy" over Land in the Americas

Foreign Languages, Geography, World History

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

Background Imperial rivalries have often been resolved through war; however, the Treaty of Tordesillas is an important example of a rivalry that was resolved without hostilities through the demarcation of areas of influence by the...

Lesson Plan

Early European Imperial Colonization of the New World

World History

8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Introduction By the early to mid-seventeenth century, Spain, England, France, and the Netherlands were all competing for colonies and trade around the world. Beginning in the late fifteenth century, explorers, conquerors, missionaries...

Lesson Plan

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s First Inaugural Address

Economics, Government and Civics

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

View this item in the Gilder Lehrman Collection. Unit Objective This unit is part of Gilder Lehrman’s series of Common Core State Standards–based teaching resources. These units were written to enable students to understand, summarize...

Lesson Plan

Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech

Government and Civics

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Unit Overview This unit is part of the Gilder Lehrman Institute’s Teaching Literacy through History resources, designed to align to the Common Core State Standards. These units were developed to enable students to understand,...

Classroom Resources

Study Aid: The Bill of Rights

5, 6, 7, 8, 9

The Bill of Rights First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people...

Classroom Resources

Study Aid: Checks and Balances

Government and Civics

5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Checks and Balances Executive Branch carries out the laws can veto laws can call special sessions of Congress controls enforcement of laws nominates judges can pardon people convicted of federal crimes commander in chief develops...

Lesson Plan

The Cold War: Discussing the Speech of President Kennedy in 1963

Government and Civics, Literature, World History

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

Introduction The Cold War is the term for the rivalry between the two blocs of contending states that emerged following the Second World War. It was a series of confrontations played out on the world stage between the non-Communist...

Spotlight on: Primary Source

Lincoln on abolition in England and the United States, 1858

Government and Civics

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

Though Lincoln spoke frequently during the 1858 Illinois Senate race against Stephen Douglas—a campaign that propelled Lincoln to the political forefront and helped shape him into a presidential candidate—very few Lincoln manuscripts...

Spotlight on: Primary Source

Lincoln speech on slavery and the American Dream, 1858

Economics, Government and Civics

Through the 1830s and 1840s, Abraham Lincoln’s primary political focus was on economic issues. However, the escalating debate over slavery in the 1850s, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act in particular, compelled Lincoln to change his...

Spotlight on: Primary Source

The state of the English colonies, 1755

Economics, Government and Civics, World History

The French and Indian War, also known as the Seven Years’ War, was primarily fought along the frontier between New France and the British colonies in North America from 1754 to 1763. This newspaper article, printed in the Maryland...

Spotlight on: Primary Source

The horrors of slavery, 1805

Originally circulated in 1805 to educate the public about the treatment of slaves, this broadside, entitled "Injured Humanity," continues to inform twenty-first-century audiences of the true horrors of slavery. As evidenced by this...

Spotlight on: Primary Source

Slavery in the New York State census, 1800

Government and Civics

While numbers do not explain the everyday realities of slavery in the eighteenth century, they do provide a sense of the pervasiveness of the peculiar institution even in a northern state like New York. This broadside provides figures...

Spotlight on: Primary Source

The massacre of American Indian allies, 1818

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

On April 23, 1818, Captain Obed Wright of the Georgia militia ordered an attack on a Chehaw village, which resulted in the slaughter of several American Indians. In a letter written a week after the attack, Brigadier General Thomas...

Spotlight on: Primary Source

The Civil War and early submarine warfare, 1863

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

Civil War combat foreshadowed modern warfare with the introduction of the machine gun, repeater rifles, and trench warfare, and the use of trains to quickly move troops. However, one of the most celebrated tactical innovations of the...

Spotlight on: Primary Source

Amelia Earhart to her former flight instructor, Neta Snook, 1929

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

The first decades of the twentieth century brought a golden age of aviation. During this exciting period, many pioneering women defied traditional female roles to become pilots. Amelia Earhart is the most famous of this group of...

Site Search

90,976 items

The Declaration of Independence

The New Deal: Legislation & Policies

Rise of the Populists and William Jennings Bryan

Success and the American Dream during the 1950s

Students’ Constitutional Rights in Public School

The Role of Women in the 1950s

Ronald Reagan on Reducing the Size of Government

Dwight D. Eisenhower's Domestic Leadership

Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority

Mass Production, Suburbia & Conformity in the 1950s

The Treaty of Tordesillas: Resolving "a Certain Controversy" over Land in the Americas

Early European Imperial Colonization of the New World

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s First Inaugural Address

Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech

Study Aid: The Bill of Rights

Study Aid: Checks and Balances

The Cold War: Discussing the Speech of President Kennedy in 1963

Lincoln on abolition in England and the United States, 1858

Lincoln speech on slavery and the American Dream, 1858

The state of the English colonies, 1755

The horrors of slavery, 1805

Slavery in the New York State census, 1800

The massacre of American Indian allies, 1818

The Civil War and early submarine warfare, 1863

Amelia Earhart to her former flight instructor, Neta Snook, 1929

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