Lesson Plan The US Government and Indigenous Peoples before the Trail of Tears, 1770-1839 Government and Civics 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Click to download this five-lesson unit.
Spotlight on: Primary Source The Union Army and Juneteenth, 1865 Government and Civics 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ This engraving depicts a White Union soldier reading the Emancipation Proclamation to an enslaved family. It was published in 1864 by Lucius Stebbins, based on a painting by Henry W. Herrick. According to Stebbins, the scene ...
Spotlight on: Primary Source Breaking Diplomatic Ties with Iran during the Hostage Crisis, 1980 Government and Civics, World History 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ On April 7, 1980, President Jimmy Carter announced the breaking of diplomatic ties with Iran as a result of the Iran hostage crisis of 1979–1981. The US had first become actively involved in Iran in 1953, when the CIA helped overthrow...
Spotlight on: Primary Source A family torn apart by war, 1777 The Revolutionary War divided families. In 1774, eighteen-year-old Lucy Flucker married twenty-four-year-old Henry Knox. Lucy’s parents were powerful, wealthy Tories, and they were not happy with the match. Henry Knox was the son of...
Spotlight on: Primary Source A brawl between Federalists and anti-Federalists, 1788 Government and Civics 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ In 1787 and 1788, debates over the ratification of the Constitution took place in towns and villages across the country. To gain support, both Federalists and anti-Federalists held meetings and marches that sometimes became violent....
Spotlight on: Primary Source “Defence of Fort McHenry” or “The Star-Spangled Banner,” 1814 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 In September 1814, Francis Scott Key, an attorney and DC insider, watched the American flag rise over Baltimore, Maryland’s Fort McHenry from a British ship in the harbor. Key had been negotiating the release of an American captive...
Lesson Plan The Trail of Tears 5, 6, 7, 8 Historical Background In 1830, under President Andrew Jackson, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act directing the executive branch to negotiate for American Indian lands. The act set the tone for President Jackson in dealing with...
Lesson Plan Children’s Attitudes about Slavery and Women’s Abolitionism as Seen through Anti-slavery Fairs 6, 7, 8 Overview Over two days, students will examine the attitudes that children from northern states had about slavery during the 1830s to 1860s and how abolitionists tried to change their way of thinking. They will also explore how woman...
Lesson Plan Pilgrims, the Mayflower Compact, and Thanksgiving Government and Civics, Religion and Philosophy, World History 3, 4, 5 Click here to download this four-lesson unit.
Lesson Plan Prominent Latinos and Latinas in the Twentieth- and Twenty-First-Century United States 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 About This Lesson Plan Unit The objective of the unit is to have students recognize the economic, social, and political challenges faced by Latinas and Latinos throughout the United States from the 1930s through the 1960s, as...
Lesson Plan The American Revolution: The Boston Massacre, “Yankee Doodle,” and the Declaration of Independence, 1770-1776 Government and Civics 3, 4, 5 About this Lesson Plan Unit In the four lessons in this unit, students will explore the Revolutionary era through three primary sources: an image of the Boston Massacre, the song "Yankee Doodle," and the preamble to the...
Lesson Plan Pilgrims, the Mayflower Compact, and Thanksgiving 3, 4, 5 About This Lesson Plan Unit The four lessons in this unit explore the voyage of the Pilgrims to America aboard the Mayflower , the writing of the Mayflower Compact, and the origins of Thanksgiving. Students will read or...
Lesson Plan Ratifying the US Constitution: Federalists v. Anti-Federalists and the State Debates, 1787-1788 Government and Civics 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Click here to download this five-lesson unit.