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…

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…

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…

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…

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

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…