Lesson Plan The History of the Supreme Court, 1787 to 1937 Government and Civics 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Click here to download this five-lesson unit.
Spotlight on: Primary Source The Gettysburg Address, 1863 Government and Civics, Religion and Philosophy 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ On November 19, 1863, four months after the Battle of Gettysburg, a ceremony was held at the site in Pennsylvania to dedicate a cemetery for the Union dead. The battle had been a Union victory, but at great cost—about 23,000 Union...
Spotlight on: Primary Source President Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address, 1861 Government and Civics 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ On March 4, 1861, the day Abraham Lincoln was first sworn into office as President of the United States, the Chicago Tribune printed this special pamphlet of his First Inaugural Address. In the address, the new president appealed to...
Spotlight on: Primary Source President Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, 1865 Government and Civics 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Just 701 words long, Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address took only six or seven minutes to deliver, yet contains many of the most memorable phrases in American political oratory. The speech contained neither gloating nor rejoicing....
Guided Readings Guided Readings: Sectional Conflict Economics, Government and Civics 9, 10, 11, 12 Reading 1 I do not . . . hesitate to avow before this House and the country, and in the presence of the living God, that if by your legislation you seek to drive us from the territories of California and New Mexico, purchased by the...
Lesson Plan Abraham Lincoln on Slavery and Race 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Background Slavery played a prominent role in America’s political, social, and economic history in the antebellum era. The "peculiar institution" was at the forefront of discussions ranging from the future of the nation’s economy to...
Lesson Plan The Gettysburg Address Literature, Religion and Philosophy 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Click here to download this four-lesson unit.
Spotlight on: Primary Source Lincoln speech on slavery and the American Dream, 1858 Economics, Government and Civics 4 Through the 1830s and 1840s, Abraham Lincoln’s primary political focus was on economic issues. However, the escalating debate over slavery in the 1850s, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act in particular, compelled Lincoln to change his...
Spotlight on: Primary Source Mary Todd Lincoln on life after the White House, 1870 Economics Mary Todd Lincoln’s years in the White House were a combination of triumph and tragedy. Never fully accepted by the public and vilified by the press for overspending, her tenure as First Lady was unstable at best. After the death of...
Spotlight on: Primary Source Lincoln on the execution of a slave trader, 1862 This stunning document, a refusal of clemency for a convicted slave trader, stands out among the papers of Abraham Lincoln, a man renowned for his mercy and willingness to pardon. In November 1861, Nathaniel Gordon was convicted of...