Search | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

1,567 items

Lesson Plan

The Erie Canal and the Rise of the Market Economy

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

9, 10, 11, 12

Objectives Students will examine primary documents and secondary sources to analyze effects of technology on economic growth in the first half of the nineteenth century. Students will be able to identify the major economic trends of...

Lesson Plan

The Battle over the Bank: Hamilton v. Jefferson

Government and Civics

6, 7, 8

Background After months of battling and compromises, the US Constitution was finally sent to Congress by the Constitutional Convention on September 17, 1787. Through the ratification process and the first decade under the new...

Lesson Plan

Banking Basics

Economics

1, 2, 3, 4

Introduction Many elementary school students are unaware of how banks make money and what causes them to fail. This lesson will provide students with a basic understanding of those two issues, linking them to the Great Depression and...

Lesson Plan

New Amsterdam: The Center of the Dutch Settlement

Geography

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Teaching with Russell Shorto’s book Island at the Center of the World Objectives Students will examine primary documents and secondary sources to analyze the effects of the Dutch West India Company settlement in North America....

Lesson Plan

Transatlantic Trade, A Symbiotic Relationship

World History

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Background Crates full of rice slip and slide across the floorboards as the ship rocks back and forth. The ship looks insignificant in the vastness of the ocean. Air scented with tobacco wafts through the cracks in the ceiling of the...

Lesson Plan

The Conquest of Mexico: Past and Present Views

World History

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

Introduction The conquest of Tenochtitlan by Hernán Cortez in 1519 is one of the most well-known examples of encounters between Europeans and Americans prior to 1600. Some primary sources that document the event still exist, though...

Lesson Plan

Women and the Civil War

9, 10, 11, 12

Introduction The growth of manufacturing in the decades prior to the Civil War transformed the country. The nation experienced the appearance of cities, manufacturing, and a commitment to wage labor at the same time as the expansion...

Lesson Plan

Deadly Diseases: A Fate Worse than Dying on the Battlefield

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

9, 10, 11, 12

Background Cannons blasted and bayonets tore through flesh in America’s worst war, the American Civil War. This war was gruesome for many different reasons. It tore the country apart and created divides that exist to this day. One of...

Lesson Plan

"Men of Color: To Arms! To Arms!"

5, 6, 7, 8

Overview Approximately 200,000 African American men served as soldiers during the Civil War. This lesson seeks to teach fifth grade students not only the skill of analyzing a primary source but also the methods that were used to...

Lesson Plan

The Great Depression and The New Deal

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Essential Questions What should be the role of government in solving a national crisis? How effective were the responses of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration to the problems of the Great Depression? Objectives Write a Document...

Site Search

1,567 items

The Erie Canal and the Rise of the Market Economy

The Battle over the Bank: Hamilton v. Jefferson

Banking Basics

New Amsterdam: The Center of the Dutch Settlement

Transatlantic Trade, A Symbiotic Relationship

The Conquest of Mexico: Past and Present Views

Women and the Civil War

Deadly Diseases: A Fate Worse than Dying on the Battlefield

"Men of Color: To Arms! To Arms!"

The Great Depression and The New Deal

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