Classroom Resources Study Aid: Major European Explorers Foreign Languages, Geography, World History 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 View this infographic as a PDF.
Spotlight on: Primary Source Lincoln on abolition in England and the United States, 1858 Government and Civics 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Though Lincoln spoke frequently during the 1858 Illinois Senate race against Stephen Douglas—a campaign that propelled Lincoln to the political forefront and helped shape him into a presidential candidate—very few Lincoln manuscripts...
Spotlight on: Primary Source Sergeant Francis Fletcher of the 54th Massachusetts on equal pay for Black soldiers, 1864 Government and Civics 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Francis H. Fletcher, a 22-year-old clerk from Salem, Massachusetts, enlisted as a private in Company A of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment on February 13, 1863. One year after the regiment left Boston with great fanfare,...
Spotlight on: Primary Source A northerner’s view of southern slavery, 1821 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Aurelia Hale of Hartford, Connecticut, offered her impressions of southern life in this letter of June 11, 1821. Hale, then about twenty-two years old, had recently traveled to Washington County, Georgia, to serve as a schoolteacher....
Spotlight on: Primary Source A Ku Klux Klan threat, 1868 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ This page contains language that may be offensive or inappropriate for some viewers. Reconstruction politics was a catalyst for widespread racism and hatred that freed people experienced throughout the South. The Ku Klux Klan, founded...
Spotlight on: Primary Source A Founding Father on the Missouri Compromise, 1819 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ In 1819 a courageous group of Northern congressmen and senators opened debate on the most divisive of antebellum political issues—slavery. Since the Quaker petitions of 1790, Congress had been silent on slavery. That silence was...
Spotlight on: Primary Source Frederick Douglass on Jim Crow, 1887 Government and Civics 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Frederick Douglass tirelessly labored to end slavery but true equality remained out of reach. Despite the successful passage of several Constitutional amendments and federal laws after the Civil War, unwritten rules and Jim Crow laws...
Classroom Resources Breaking from Great Britain, 1776 World History 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Sid Lapidus Collection: Liberty and the American Revolution By 1776, Thomas Paine had become the most influential writer defending the break from Great Britain. Born in England, Paine arrived in the colonies in 1774, at age 34. His...
Spotlight on: Primary Source The British evacuation of Boston, 1776 Art, Government and Civics 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 On March 25, 1776, only eight days after the British evacuation of Boston, the Continental Congress authorized a medal, “George Washington before Boston,” to commemorate the event. During the war, Congress commissioned eleven medals...
Spotlight on: Primary Source A World War II poster: "Starve the Squander Bug," 1943 Art, Government and Civics, World History 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 Before he became world-renowned as Dr. Seuss for his children’s books and illustrations, Theodor Geisel worked for the US government during World War II designing posters such as this one, encouraging patriotism and investment. The...