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Guided Readings

Guided Readings: Using Primary and Secondary Sources: Slavery in the Founding Era

3, 4, 5

Primary and secondary sources can provide different kinds of information about the past. In the context of slavery, Phillis Wheatley is considered the most important figure of the eighteenth century. Two accounts of her experience...

Lesson Plan

The Cold War Across Time (1945–1990): A Jigsaw with Expert Groups

Economics

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Objective To discover the impact the Cold War had on multiple aspects of life, both in the United States and around the world, by exploring changes over time. Overview of Jigsaw Process Expert Groups will create four timelines...

Lesson Plan

Analyzing the Great Compromise, 1787

Government and Civics

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

Essential Question How could our Founding Fathers balance the needs of the states as we created a national government? Materials The Virginia Plan, 1787 (PDF). Source: Virginia (Randolph) Plan as Amended (National Archives Microfilm...

Lesson Plan

A Lesson on Détente

World History

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

Materials "Memorandums of Conversation," National Security Archive, George Washington University Notes and Excerpts from Nixon’s Meeting with Mao, February 1972 , National Security Archive, George Washington University "Nixon and...

Lesson Plan

How to Analyze Primary Source Documents / F.D.R. & The Great Depression

Government and Civics

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

Essential Question How effective was President Franklin Roosevelt in communicating with the American public during this time of crisis? Objectives Understand the importance of thinking critically about historical events. Be able to...

Lesson Plan

Making a Covenant with Death: Slavery in the Constitutional Structure

Government and Civics, Religion and Philosophy

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

Materials US Constitution , Our Documents Finkelman, Paul. Slavery and the Founders: Race and Liberty in the Age of Jefferson . New York: M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 2001. Essential Question Why did the Founders find it necessary to provide...

Lesson Plan

Nineteenth-Century Native American Viewpoints

Geography

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

Objective Identify and compare the ideas of major Native American leaders from the nineteenth century. Evaluate the impact of those ideas on the United States and Native Americans. Locate the original and final reservation territory...

Spotlight on: Primary Source

A proclamation on the suspension of habeas corpus, 1862

The doctrine of habeas corpus is the right of any person under arrest to appear in person before the court, to ensure that they have not been falsely accused. The US Constitution specifically protects this right in Article I, Section...

Spotlight on: Primary Source

The price of war: A letter from Mary Kelly to Sarah Gordon, 1862

James Kelly served with the 14th Indiana Volunteers beginning in 1861. In March 1862, his wife, Mary, traveled to the field hospital in Virginia where he lay wounded after the Battle of Winchester. She described the terrible...

Spotlight on: Primary Source

Gen. Ulysses S. Grant on the Siege of Vicksburg, 1863

One of the Union’s top military objectives was to gain control of the Mississippi River, and thereby split the Confederacy in two. General Ulysses S. Grant took up this challenge late in 1862 but was frustrated for several months by...

Spotlight on: Primary Source

George Washington would have supported the New Deal, 1934

During his first term, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sought to deflect opposition to the New Deal. Speaking at Gettysburg on Memorial Day, 1934, Roosevelt invoked the memory of George Washington by comparing his federal agenda with...

Spotlight on: Primary Source

The Spanish Armada, 1588

World History

The rivalry between Spain and England grew throughout the late sixteenth century. In the 1570s and 1580s, Sir Francis Drake led English attacks on Spanish vessels and raided Spanish settlements in the Americas. In 1588, Spain’s King...

Lesson Plan

The Folly of Empire

Overview Students will be introduced to a book written by John B. Judis entitled, The Folly of Empire: What George Bush Could Learn From Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson . This book compares recent foreign policy to the foreign...

Lesson Plan

The Folly of Empire (Condensed Version)

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12

O verview Students will be introduced to a book written by John B. Judis entitled, The Folly of Empire: What George Bush Could Learn From Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. This book compares recent foreign policy to the foreign...

Lesson Plan

Religion and Literacy in Colonial New England

Religion and Philosophy

5, 6, 7, 8

Historical Background Puritans believed that reading the Bible was important to achieving salvation and, therefore, teaching children to read was a priority in their colonial centers. The New England Primer , first published in Boston...

Lesson Plan

Thomas Jefferson, Renaissance Man

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

Background Thomas Jefferson has often been called a “Renaissance man,” someone who is talented in many areas. The term is often used to describe the Italian painter Leonardo Da Vinci, who not only painted the Mona Lisa , but who also...

Lesson Plan

Jefferson and Slavery

6, 7, 8

Background Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence invokes the ideals of democracy and freedom. Yet he remains a slaveholder for his entire adult life, and (unlike George Washington) does not free his slaves in his will....

Lesson Plan

Letter from Christopher Columbus on Returning from His First Voyage to the Americas, 1493

Geography, World History

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Click here to download this five-lesson unit.

Lesson Plan

Religion and the American Revolution

Religion and Philosophy

9, 10, 11, 12

Historical Background While the dominant narrative of the American Revolution focuses on its political causes, the factor of religion cannot be ignored. Many settlers came to the North American colonies seeking the freedom to practice...

Lesson Plan

The Great Awakening

Religion and Philosophy

5, 6, 7, 8

Historical Background The most important religious development in colonial America was the introduction of religious revivals known as the Great Awakening. Religious revivals first appeared in England, Scotland, and Germany, and...

Lesson Plan

Analyzing Protest Songs of the 1960s

Background In January 1969, America’s recently elected conservative president Richard Nixon took office, young Americans were engaged in a radical and vivacious counterculture, and a devastating war in Vietnam continued amidst a...

Lesson Plan

Introduction to Imperialism

Overview Students will be introduced to the concept of imperialism, and specifically the three justifications US foreign policy leaders used to justify US Imperialism at the turn of the twentieth century. Warm Up Define Imperialism....

Spotlight on: Primary Source

Our Victorious Fleets in Cuban Waters, 1898

In 1898, the US Navy was small—especially compared to the navies of the European powers. The Navy had shrunk in the years after the Civil War, from more than 600 vessels at that conflict’s close to just forty-eight ready but aging...

Spotlight on: Primary Source

Confirming governors for territories of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, 1901

President Theodore Roosevelt wrote this letter to William H. Hunt, the governor of Porto Rico (as Puerto Rico was known at the time), just twelve days after he assumed the presidency following President William McKinley’s...

Spotlight on: Primary Source

The Grange Movement, 1875

The Patrons of Husbandry, or the Grange, was founded in 1867 to advance methods of agriculture, as well as to promote the social and economic needs of farmers in the United States. The financial crisis of 1873, along with falling crop...

Spotlight on: Primary Source

Building Mount Rushmore, 1926

Art

This September 1926 report by the sculptor Gutzon Borglum to the Harney Peak Memorial Association anticipates the construction of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Borglum’s report offers a look...

Spotlight on: Primary Source

Creating the Air Force, 1924

In this July 1924 letter to aviation pioneer and publisher Lester D. Gardner, Brigadier General William "Billy" Mitchell prophesied the coming tide of Japanese militarism. Concerned about Japan’s growing military power in the skies,...

Spotlight on: Primary Source

J. Edgar Hoover on campus unrest, 1970

Government and Civics

In September 1970, J. Edgar Hoover composed an open letter to American students detailing his view on civil unrest at the nation’s colleges and universities and warning against the elements he believed responsible. Hoover opened with...

Spotlight on: Primary Source

Henry Knox on the British invasion of New York, 1776

When twenty-six-year-old Henry Knox, the Continental Army’s artillery commander, penned this letter to his wife, Lucy, on July 8, 1776, patriot morale was at a low point. The summer of 1776 was a particularly hard time as word of...

Classroom Resources

Study Aid: Cultures of the Americas, 1200 BC–AD 1600

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

Mound Builders (Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River) Key Groups : Adena (500 BC), Hopewell (100 BC) Religion and Culture : Known as mound builders because they buried the dead in large earth mounds, these groups lived in small...

Classroom Resources

Study Aid: Major European Explorers

Foreign Languages, Geography, World History

5, 6, 7, 8, 9

View this infographic as a PDF.

Lesson Plan

The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

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

Essential Question What lessons have been learned about space travel from the Challenger incident? What makes someone a hero? Materials "The Shuttle Explodes," January 28, 1986 , New York Times Speech on the Challenger Disaster,...

Lesson Plan

The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine

Government and Civics, Literature, World History

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

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, and analyze original texts of historical...

Lesson Plan

Andrew Jackson's Message to Congress Concerning the Indian Removal Act of 1830

Geography, Government and Civics

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

View a copy of Jackson’s Message to Congress in the Gilder Lehrman Collection by clicking here . For additional resources click here . Unit Objective This unit is part of Gilder Lehrman’s series of Common Core State Standards–based...

Lesson Plan

The Haymarket Riot

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Lesson Plan

Washington's Farewell Address

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

View a copy of Washington’s Farewell Address in the Gilder Lehrman Collection by clicking here . For a resource regarding the possibility of Washington staying on for a third term click here . Click here to download this five-lesson...

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,...

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