Lesson Plan Native American Cultures and the Impact of the Boarding Schools 3, 4, 5 Click to download this four-lesson unit.
Spotlight on: Primary Source Remember the Maine, 1898 Government and Civics, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, World History On February 15, 1898, the battleship USS Maine exploded in Havana’s harbor in Cuba, killing nearly two-thirds of her crew. The tragedy occurred after years of escalating tensions between the United States and Spain, and the “yellow...
Spotlight on: Primary Source Frederick Douglass’s tribute to Abraham Lincoln, 1880 Literature Despite initial differences, Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln forged a relationship over the course of the Civil War based on a shared vision. Fifteen years after Lincoln’s death, Douglass described him as "one of the noblest...
Lesson Plan Americans All: Foreign-born Soldiers and World War I 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Click to download this three-lesson unit.
Spotlight on: Primary Source Indian Wars: The Battle of Washita, 1868 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ The Battle of Washita on November 27, 1868, pitted US Army troops commanded by General George Custer against the Southern Cheyenne. An excerpt from Custer’s report on a return to the battlefield ten days later is presented here. The...
Spotlight on: Primary Source William T. Sherman on the western railroads, 1878 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ After Ulysses S. Grant’s election as president, William Tecumseh Sherman, known for leading the "March to the Sea" in the closing months of the Civil War, was appointed commanding general of the United States Army. Headquartered in St...
Lesson Plan June 25, 1876: An Interpretation of an Historical Event Government and Civics 6, 7, 8 Essential Question How should events from the Indian Wars be commemorated by the federal government? Background The Battle of Little Bighorn was one in a series of conflicts that occurred during the American attempt to remove native...
Lesson Plan Alamo Simulation Geography 9, 10, 11, 12 Overview Through a simulation, in which Canadians try to seize the state of Maine, students will gain an understanding of the circumstances surrounding the Battle of the Alamo, February 23–March 6, 1836, between approximately 200...
Lesson Plan Nineteenth-Century Native American Viewpoints Geography 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Objective Identify and compare the ideas of major Native American leaders from the nineteenth century. Evaluate the impact of those ideas on the United States and Native Americans. Locate the original and final reservation territory...
Spotlight on: Primary Source Confirming governors for territories of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, 1901 President Theodore Roosevelt wrote this letter to William H. Hunt, the governor of Porto Rico (as Puerto Rico was known at the time), just twelve days after he assumed the presidency following President William McKinley’s...
Lesson Plan The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine Government and Civics, Literature, World History 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Unit Objective This 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...