Search | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

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Lesson Plan

Baseball and Race in the United States

9, 10, 11, 12

Background On April 15, 1947, 27,000 fans packed Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York, to watch the Dodgers' new first baseman take to the field. They came to watch a baseball game, and they came to see a talented 28-year-old rookie,...

Lesson Plan

Bruised Egos, Battles, and Boycott: The 1980 Moscow Olympics

World History

4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Background Politics and sports have intermingled since the inception of the Olympic Games in Greece, but not until the 1980 Olympics did people fear that politics might destroy the Olympic movement and spirit. The Union of Soviet...

Lesson Plan

Sports and Politics: Making Statements

World History

3, 4, 5

Introduction In this lesson, elementary school students will debate whether or not prominent athletes should promote political and social issues. The debate will be informed by the activism of Muhammad Ali, who resisted the drafted...

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...