Search | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

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Lesson Plan

The 1919 Black Sox Scandal

9, 10, 11, 12

Introduction Baseball became an increasingly integral part of the American landscape in the second half of the nineteenth century and the early decades of the twentieth century. Growth of the sport occurred in conjunction with the...

Lesson Plan

The Scottsboro Trial

Government and Civics

5, 6, 7, 8

Background In 1932, times were hard for many as jobs were not easy to find and people had difficulty putting food on the table. In March of that year, nine black boys ventured out looking for work only to find themselves caught in a...

Lesson Plan

Revolutionary Propaganda: Persuasion and Colonial Support

Government and Civics, Literature

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Background Many students misconstrue the American Revolution as a period of unanimous support for independence from Great Britain. However, colonists generally considered themselves loyal British citizens, asserting rightful...

Lesson Plan

Colonists Divided: A Revolution and a Civil War

Government and Civics

6, 7, 8

Background The Stamp Act, the Quartering Act, the Declaratory Act, the Sugar Act, and the Tea Act were just a few of the many policies Great Britain enacted in the British North American colonies in the eighteenth century. To many...

Lesson Plan

The Boston Massacre

Art

9, 10, 11, 12

Introduction In this lesson, students will be asked to learn the disputed and agreed-upon facts of the Boston Massacre in small groups and then discuss them and propose a website definition of the Massacre as a class. This lesson...

Lesson Plan

Andrew Jackson and the Bank War

9, 10, 11, 12

Introduction When Alexander Hamilton called for a Bank of the United States in his Report on a National Bank , he envisioned a central bank that would sustain a developing national economy. The bank would, through the creation of bank...

Lesson Plan

Common Man and Contradictions: A Mock Trial of Andrew Jackson

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12

Overview The election of Andrew Jackson in 1828 marked a change in American politics. For the first time a presidential candidate had been elected from west of the Appalachian Mountains, marking an end to the streak held by wealthy...

Lesson Plan

The Nullification Crisis

Government and Civics

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

Background The relationship between the North and the South was tenuous when Andrew Jackson came to office in 1828. Ever since the Constitutional Convention of 1787, northerners and southerners had fought over slavery and tariffs....

Lesson Plan

Perspectives on the Trail of Tears

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12

Introduction In this lesson, student groups will design and create a poster containing facts about the Trail of Tears as well as a collage and concluding statement expressing the group’s feelings about the event. Background The Trail...

Lesson Plan

TITLE IX: Striving for Gender Equity in Athletics

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Objectives Students will examine primary documents and secondary sources to analyze gender equity during the last quarter of the twentieth century and the first decade of the twenty-first century. Students will be able to identify the...