Classroom Resources Infographic: Reform Movements of the Progressive Era Economics, Government and Civics, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math 9, 10, 11, 12 View this infographic as a PDF.
Classroom Resources Historical Context: "Birth of a Nation" Art, Geography, Government and Civics, Literature 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ In 1915, fifty years after the end of the Civil War, D. W. Griffith released his epic film Birth of a Nation . The greatest blockbuster of the silent era, Birth of a Nation was seen by an estimated 200 million Americans by 1946. Based...
Classroom Resources Historical Context: Black Soldiers in the Civil War Government and Civics 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ By early 1863, voluntary enlistments in the Union army had fallen so sharply that the federal government instituted an unpopular military draft and decided to enroll Black as well as White troops. Indeed, it seems likely that it was...
Classroom Resources Historical Context: The Breakdown of the Party System Government and Civics 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ As late as 1850, the two-party system seemed healthy. Democrats and Whigs drew strength in all parts of the country. Then, in the early 1850s, the two-party system began to disintegrate in response to massive foreign immigration. By...
Classroom Resources Historical Context: The Confederacy Begins to Collapse Economics, Government and Civics 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ By early 1863, the Civil War had begun to cause severe hardship on the southern home front. Not only was most of the fighting taking place in the South, but also as the Union blockade grew more effective and the South's railroad...
Classroom Resources Historical Context: The Constitution and Slavery Government and Civics 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ On the 200th anniversary of the ratification of the US Constitution, Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to sit on the Supreme Court, said that the Constitution was "defective from the start." He pointed out that the framers...
Classroom Resources Historical Context: The Survival of the US Constitution Government and Civics 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ The United States has the oldest written national framework of government in the world. At the end of the twentieth century, there were about 159 other national constitutions in the world, and 101 had been adopted since 1970. While...
Classroom Resources Historical Context: The Post-World War I Red Scare Economics, Government and Civics 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ The end of World War I was accompanied by a panic over political radicalism. Fear of bombs, Communism, and labor unrest produced a “Red Scare.” In Hammond, Indiana, a jury took two minutes to acquit the killer of an immigrant who had...
Guided Readings Guided Readings: Jacksonian Democracy Government and Civics 9, 10, 11, 12 Reading 1: The aristocracy of our country . . . continually contrive to change their party name. It was first Tory, then Federalist, then no party . . . then National Republican, now Whig. . . . But by whatever name they reorganize...
Guided Readings Guided Readings: Indian Removal Geography, Government and Civics 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Reading 1 Toward the aborigines of this country no one can indulge a more friendly feeling than myself, or would go further in attempting to reclaim them from their wandering habits and make them a happy, prosperous people. Humanity...