Overview Students will examine posters and broadsides from the 1800s to examine attitudes about slavery in the United States at that time. Materials Overhead or copies for all students of the poster packet (PDF) Poster Inquiry Sheet for each student (PDF) Chart paper Essential Question How can the posters and broadsides of the 1800s help us to understand various attitudes towards slavery in the United States prior to the Civil War? Introduction During the 1800s, people used public notices such as posters and broadsides to advertise slave sales, rewards for missing slaves, anti-slavery meetings…

BackgroundThe study of immigration in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries goes beyond the study of the ethnic make-up of the immigrants of this era, the challenges and hardships they encountered in the United States, and their place in urban and/or labor history. While each of those areas of immigration history holds an important place in any study of the twentieth century, these immigrants also made a significant contribution to the emerging twentieth century popular culture. Using the classroom as an historical laboratory, students can use primary sources to research, read…

Aim / Essential Question How successful were photographs in demonstrating the conditions of immigrants during the Gilded Age? Background The latter portion of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century witnessed the start of photojournalism - investigators scouring the slums and ghettos of American cities. Just forty to fifty years following the devastating and powerful photographs taken by Matthew Brady during the Civil War, these new chroniclers of the urban scene, along with the print "muckrakers," recognized that photographic images could have an effect on perceptions of social…

Background For most Norwegians in the nineteenth century, America remained a remote and exotic place until the first immigrants began to write home. These "American letters," which traveled from the immigrants back to former neighbors, friends, and family in the old country and which were freely shared with others, had a great influence on the extent and nature of nineteenth century migration from Europe, and especially from Norway, to the United States. Once these early Norwegian immigrant letters reached Norway, quite a few of them were transformed into pamphlets and used as emigrant guides…

OverviewStudents will examine immigration documents and interviews in order to describe the experience of Chinese immigrants entering California in the 1900s.Students will use depth and complexity icons as tools to develop higher-level thinking skills.MaterialsOverhead or copies for all students of Soo Hoo Lem Kong's Document and Interview to Enter the U.S. (PDF)Copies for all students of Soo Hoo Lem Kong's Interview to Enter the U.S. Reader's Theater (PDF) - script version of the interview8 by 11 inch paper for each studentDepth and Complexity Frame (PDF) for each student and an overhead for…

Background Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 21, is celebrated by Americans each year to remember and recognize the life and work of the man. Martin Luther King Jr., however, represents far more than the contributions of a single individual. He is the symbol of a movement that included varied organizations and wide support. Understanding the broadness and diversity of the Civil Rights Movement is an important way of honoring both the man and his cause. Using the classroom as an historical laboratory, students can use primary sources to research, read, evaluate, and understand the goals of…

Essential Question To what extent have the conditions of American workers improved over the past 100 years? Background After the Civil War, the United States witnessed an accelerating movement of people westward, a rapidly increasing number of immigrants, and the large growth of urban areas. Along with these trends, the massive changes in how corporations were organized and operated and the growth of the labor movement during this period wrought significant changes in American life. The right to organize, to bargain for wages and working conditions, the equitable distribution of wealth and…

Learning Objectives Students will use literature to gain insight into the lives of the Wampanoag people and their participation in the first Thanksgiving celebration. Students will present information on different aspects of the Wampanoag lifestyle. Materials chart paper for KWL chart children’s literature on the Wampanoag (see suggested books in this lesson) paper for each group pencils and markers Essential Question Why should we remember the Wampanoag people when we celebrate Thanksgiving? Background Information The Wampanoag have lived in the coastal area of Massachusetts and Rhode Island…

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 western expansion and the admission of new states into the Union. The public discourse in the first half of the nineteenth century exposed the nation’s ambivalence about slavery and race. Politicians were increasingly pressured to make their opinions known, and Abraham Lincoln was no exception. Objectives Students will: Read the letters and speeches of Abraham…