Skip to main content
★ ★ ★

Calling all K–12 teachers: Join us July 16–19 for the second annual Gilder Lehrman Teacher Symposium.

★ ★ ★

User menu

  • Shop
    • Self-Paced Courses
    • Subscriptions
    • Traveling Exhibitions
    • Classroom Ready PD
    • Gift Shop
  • Donate
  • Search
  • Log In

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

  • Education
    • Students
      • AP US History Study Guide
      • History U: Courses for High School Students
      • History School: Summer Enrichment
    • Teachers
      • Lesson Plans
      • Classroom Resources
      • Spotlights on Primary Sources
      • Professional Development (Academic Year)
      • Professional Development (Summer)
    • All Audiences
      • Book Breaks
      • Inside the Vault
      • Self-Paced Courses
      • Browse All Resources
    • History Now: The Journal
      • About
      • Search by Issue
      • Search by Essay
      • Subscribe
  • Programs
    • Affiliate Schools
      • About
      • Become a Member (Free)
      • Monthly Offer (Free for Members)
    • Master's Degree in American History
      • About
      • Courses (Spring 2023)
      • Courses (Summer 2023)
      • Open House Sessions
      • Apply
      • Current Students
    • Hamilton Education Program
      • About
      • Eligibility (In-Person)
      • EduHam Online
      • Hamilton Cast Read Alongs
      • Official Website
      • Press Coverage
    • Special Initiatives
      • The Declaration at 250
      • Black Lives in the Founding Era
      • Celebrating American Historical Holidays
      • Browse All Programs
  • Historical Documents
    • The Gilder Lehrman Collection
      • About
      • Donate Items to the Collection
    • Research
      • Search Our Catalog
      • Research Guides
      • Rights and Reproductions
    • Exhibitions
      • See Our Documents on Display
      • Bring an Exhibition to Your Organization
      • Interactive Exhibitions Online
    • Transcribe Our Documents
      • About the Transcription Program
      • Black Lives in the Founding Era
      • Civil War Letters
      • Founding Era Newspapers
  • Recognizing Excellence
    • Research Fellowships
      • College Fellowships in American History
      • Scholarly Fellowship Program
    • Student Awards
      • Richard Gilder History Prize
      • David McCullough Essay Prize
      • Affiliate School Scholarships
      • Ham4Progress
    • History Teacher of the Year
      • About
      • Nominate a Teacher
      • Eligibility
      • State Winners
      • National Winners
    • Book Prizes
      • Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize
      • Gilder Lehrman Military History Prize
      • George Washington Prize
      • Frederick Douglass Book Prize
  • About
    • What We Do
      • Our Mission and History
      • Annual Report
    • Who We Are
      • Student Advisory Council
      • Teacher Advisory Council
      • Board of Trustees
      • Remembering Richard Gilder
      • President's Council
      • Scholarly Advisory Board
      • Departments and Staff
    • Work With Us
      • Careers
      • Internships
      • Our Partners
    • News
      • Our News
      • Newsletter
      • Press Releases

227 Search items found

  • 5
  • 10
  • 25
  • 50
10
  • Relevance
  • Title
  • Most recent
Title
Lesson Plan

"City upon a Hill"

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

For a resource on John Winthrop fromthe Gilder Lehrman Collection click here.Unit ObjectiveThis 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 significance. Students will demonstrate this knowledge by writing summaries of selections from the original document and, by the end of the unit, articulating their understanding of the complete document by answering questions in an argumentative writing style to fulfill the Common Core State…

Lesson Plan

"Contagious Liberty": Women in the Revolutionary Age

Government and Civics

Background The American Revolution, a byproduct of events both on the North American continent and abroad, unleashed a movement that focused on egalitarianism in ways that had never been seen before. Even John Adams commented on these changes in a letter to his wife Abigail. He wrote, "We have been told that that our Struggle has loosened the bands of Government everywhere. That Children and Apprentices were disobedient—that schools and Colledges were grown turbulent—that Indians slighted their Guardians and Negroes grew insolent to the Masters. But your Letter was the first Intimation that…

Lesson Plan

"Father" of Our Country v. "Father" of the Bill of Rights

Government and Civics

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

Essential QuestionsTo what extent does the Bill of Rights provide a "blanket of protection" for American citizens?Why do many Americans believe that the Bill of Rights is especially relevant today?ObjectivesStudents will be able to:Identify the parts of the Constitution and their purposesExplain the first ten amendments and how they affect people todayDescribe the rights and responsibilities of American citizensHistorical BackgroundAt the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, delegates analyzed, argued, and debated the new Constitution. George Mason, a Virginian, pleaded with the fifty…

Lesson Plan

"Men of Color: To Arms! To Arms!"

5, 6, 7, 8

Overview Approximately 200,000 African American men served as soldiers during the Civil War. This lesson seeks to teach fifth grade students not only the skill of analyzing a primary source but also the methods that were used to entice free Blacks to serve in the Union Army during the war. Students will read and then rewrite a recruitment broadside and then will create a visual that contains four reasons why African Americans should fight in the Civil War. Introduction On March 21, 1863, Frederick Douglass asserted that “a war undertaken and brazenly carried on for the perpetual enslavement of…

Lesson Plan

"The Spirit of Empire": America Debates Imperialism

World History

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Click here to download this two-lesson unit. This unit was created in partnership with World101 from the Council on Foreign Relations.

Lesson Plan

A Different Perspective on Slavery: Writing the History of African American Enslaved Women

9, 10, 11, 12

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…

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 UniversityNotes and Excerpts from Nixon’s Meeting with Mao, February 1972, National Security Archive, George Washington University"Nixon and Kissinger’s Meeting with Mao Zedong," February 21, 1972, National Security Archive, George Washington University"Nixon’s Trips to China," February 22, 23, 24, 1972, National Security Archive, George Washington UniversityA Poem for Two Voices (PDF)Lesson ActivitiesSelect appropriate excerpts from the documents provided below for your students.Have students work in pairs to…

Lesson Plan

A Look at Slavery through Posters and Broadsides

Art

6, 7, 8

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…

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 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…

Lesson Plan

Abraham Lincoln: A Man for All Seasons

8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Overview At one time in our country’s history we stood divided as a nation over the issue of slavery. It was Abraham Lincoln’s ideology and sense of purpose that helped to unite our country and set us on a path toward realizing the principles of the Declaration of Independence. "All men are created equal" are words that Abraham Lincoln took literally, from a moral and economic standpoint. After all, as Lewis Lehrman argues in his book Lincoln at Peoria, Lincoln felt slavery was grounded in coercion. It was an involuntary economic exchange of labor. In commercial terms, slavery is theft…

Showing results 1 - 10

Pagination

  • Current page 1
  • Page 2
  • Page 3
  • Page 4
  • Page 5
  • …
  • Next page Next ›
  • Last page Last »
Page Type
  • deactivate History Resources (227)
Time Period
Topics
Type
Time Period
  • The Americas to 1620 (12)
  • Colonization and Settlement, 1585-1763 (23)
  • The American Revolution, 1763-1783 (18)
  • The New Nation, 1783-1815 (31)
  • National Expansion and Reform, 1815-1860 (29)
  • Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877 (25)
  • The Rise of Industrial America, 1877-1900 (34)
  • The Progressive Era to the New Era, 1900-1929 (24)
  • The Great Depression and World War II, 1929-1945 (25)
  • 1945 to the Present (49)
Resource Type
  • Show all (1439)
  • deactivate Lesson Plan (227)
  • Classroom Resources (117)
  • Essay (94)
  • Online Exhibition (61)
  • Special Topics (73)
  • Spotlight on: Primary Source (309)
  • Video (558)
  • Teaching Literacy through History (68)
Theme
  • African American History (40)
  • American Indian History (25)
  • Art, Music and Film (21)
  • Economics (24)
  • Global History and US Foreign Policy (33)
  • Government and Civics (94)
  • Immigration and Migration (23)
  • Literature and Language Arts (20)
  • Military History (28)
  • Reform Movements (35)
  • Religion (7)
  • Women's History (25)
Time Period
Type
Theme
Audience
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

(646) 366-9666

info@gilderlehrman.org

Headquarters: 49 W. 45th Street 2nd Floor New York, NY 10036

Our Collection: 170 Central Park West New York, NY 10024 Located on the lower level of the New-York Historical Society

  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

Careers

Technical Support

Privacy Policy

 

© 2009–2023 all rights reserved