There certainly can’t be a greater Grievance to a Traveler, from one Colony to another than the different values their Paper Money bears. —an English visitor, ca.1742 Introduction Students use different kinds of paper money to purchase items to learn about the problem in colonial times when each colony had its own currency. The students will find that it is nearly impossible to complete tasks due to the confusion. Procedure With student help, generate a list of things that colonial people might have sold in stores. Demonstrate how to fold an 8½"-by-11" piece of paper to create nine sections…

Background Under the leadership of Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a convention for the rights of women was held in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. It was attended by between 200 and 300 people, both women and men. Its primary goal was to discuss the rights of women—how to gain these rights for all, particularly in the political arena. The conclusion of this convention was that the effort to secure equal rights across the board would start by focusing on suffrage for women. The participants wrote the Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, patterned after the…

BackgroundWomen always played a significant role in the struggle against slavery and discrimination. White and black Quaker women and female slaves took a strong moral stand against slavery. As abolitionists, they circulated petitions, wrote letters and poems, and published articles in the leading anti-slavery periodicals such as the Liberator. Some of these women educated blacks, both free and enslaved, and some of them joined the American Anti-Slavery Society and founded their own biracial organization, the Philadelphia Women’s Anti-Slavery Society.The little-known history of most of these…

Essential QuestionDid militancy help or hinder the abolitionist movement?MaterialsAbolition Excerpts (PDF)Timeline of the Abolitionist Movement (PDF) BackgroundAlthough the original Constitution of the United States did not mention the word "slavery" in its text, it recognized the existence and legality of this institution. It protected the rights of slaveholders with regard to the return of runaway slaves, by increasing representation for slaveholders through the three-fifths compromise, and the slave trade would be continued for twenty years (until 1808). As the United States developed so…

"Did John Brown fail? John Brown began the war that ended American slavery and made this a free Republic." —Frederick Douglass Background The late 1840s and the 1850s were a turbulent and complex time in American history as the country ground inexorably toward civil war. Abolitionist and pro-slavery positions hardened both north and south of the Mason-Dixon Line as events built toward a bloody confrontation. John Brown would be a catalyst that triggered the violent reaction. As he wrote just before his execution: "I John Brown am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty, land: will…

Overview Over two days, students will examine the attitudes that children from northern states had about slavery during the 1830s to 1860s and how abolitionists tried to change their way of thinking. They will also explore how woman abolitionists used anti-slavery fairs to generate support for the anti-slavery cause. Materials Chart paper Rose and Miss Belle, MerryCoz.org The Slave-Boy's Wish The Slave’s Friend, two covers, MerryCoz.org A Child’s Anti-Slavery Book cover, Cornell University Anti-Slavery Fair Poster #1, Cornell University Anti-Slavery Fair Poster #2, Ontario County Records and…

AimWhat can the statistics tell us about the rise and fall of the second two-party system? How did the breakdown of this system contribute to the onset of the Civil War?OverviewIt is appropriate in this presidential election year to examine the antebellum era through the lens of elections and electoral politics.Although an "era of good feeling" had followed the War of 1812, signs of political dissension were appearing as early as the presidential election of 1824. The issues contested in elections and debated in the legislative sessions from 1824 to 1861 were critical ones: the direction that…

OverviewStudents will examine aspects of Article II of the Constitution for specific information related to the requirements for and method of electing the president.Materials (attached)KWL Chart (PDF)The United States Constitution: Article II; Section 1 (excerpts) (PDF)The Presidency: Unofficial Requirements (PDF)American Presidents: A Reference Resource on the website of the Miller Center, The University of Virginia at millercenter.org/presidentEssential QuestionShould the qualifications to become president be changed?Learning ObjectivesStudents will:Students will identify the Constitutional…

Lesson Overview The students will examine, explain, and evaluate Article II, Section 1 of the US Constitution for specific information concerning the eligibility requirements and election process for the office of President of the United States and develop a position and express a viewpoint on the lesson’s "essential question": "How democratic is the American election process for the office of president?" Lesson Objectives Students will be able to Identify and explain the constitutional eligibility requirements and the process and procedure for the election of the president Evaluate the extent…

Introduction The accounts of African American slavery in textbooks routinely conflate the story of enslaved men and women into one history. Textbooks rarely enable students to grapple with the lives and challenges of women constrained by the institution of slavery. The collections of letters and autobiographies of enslaved women in the nineteenth century now available on the Internet open a window onto the lives of these women and allow teachers and students to explore this history. Using the classroom as a historical laboratory, students can use these primary sources to research, read…