Primary
Resources
Documents, online here and available through our partners, for teaching any American History class.
Find out more..
Lesson Plans - year two
| Ch-ch-ch-Changes: The Anatomy of a Reform Movement How can citizens legally push for, and achieve, change within their community? |
| Women and Abolition in Massachusetts Comparing and contrasting male and female abolitionist societies |
| The Hidden Voice of the North Discerning the Northern attitude toward slavery |
| Social Norms and Abolition Examining social norms and their effects upon women during the Abolitionist Movement |
| Letter from an Abolitionist Understanding the perspectives of both abolitionists slaves |
| |
| What were they thinking?? Understanding the Founding Fathers view of the Second Amendment |
| Historic Preservation: Federal Period Architecture & Material Culture Analyzing the underlying symbolism in Federal styles in architecture, furniture, and other forms of material culture |
| Why the Second Amendment? A close look at three sources Using Hancock's "Proclamation to the Rebels of Massachusetts," Mason's debate in the Virginia Ratifying Convention, and Story's "Commentaries on the Constitution" |
| 200 Years and still going at it: Debating the Power of the Federal Government |
| Original Gun Laws and the Debate over States’ Rights A look at the roles of early state and local militias |
| |
| Race and Power: Examining Resistance to Integration in the North and South Examining how resistance to integration culminated in a battle between state and federal power |
| Civil Rights and Affirmative Action in Education An examination of Affirmative Action as an ongoing process |
| Schools and Race in the 20th Century Using Brown v. Board of Education and the Boston Busing Crisis to examine integration and the quality of education in schools |
| Desegregation is Equal Discovering the truth about whether or not separate can be, or is equal |
| |
| The Route to Reform in American Via Religion Understanding how the Second Great Awakening contributed to and coexisted with other reform movements of the early 19th century |
| Do Unto Others - The Foundation of the Second Great Awakening How and why did the Second Great Awakening lead to the social reform movements of the 19th Century? |
| “Bound to Aid”: Christianity and the Urgency for Reform in Antebellum America Examining the evangelical zeal prevalent in the early 19th Century and its translations in the public and political sphere. |
| The Legacy of the Second Great Awakening The lasting social legacy of the Second Great Awakening |
| |
| Prohibition and Suffrage The social and political impact of the 18th and 19th amendments to the Constitution at the start of the 1920s |
| Limits on Immigration - Yes or No? Understanding both sides of the immigration debate of the 1920s |
| Prohibition: Success or Failure? Examining the success or failure of Prohibition, as it directly relates to one's economic status |
| “I’ze got a Bridge to Sell Ya!” –New Advertising Techniques in the 20s How did advertisers use new understandings of psychology to revolutionize the consumer product industry in the 1920s? |
| Sacco and Vanzetti: Justice or Murder? Linking Sacco and Vanzetti to today |
| |
| Salem Possessed: The Map of Salem of 1692 Using geography to explain the Witch Trials of 1692 |
| Changes in the Economy Examining economic change in Salem, MA |
| Perception vs. Reality: Indians / Puritans Understanding how differences in culture and concepts of land ownership between native Indians and Puritans led to conflict |
| Needs Improvement? Europeans, Indians, and the Land Explaining the differences between American Indians’ views of land use and those of the New England colonists. |
| The Emergence of Industry in New England Identifying the changes that took place in transportation in the early 1800s and how the Industrial Revolution changed methods of production |
| Views on Politics in Essex County, 1876 Examining the political landscape of Northern Essex County |
| Words to Live By: The Declaration of Independence and its Enduring Legacy Analyzing the major factors contriburing to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 |
| From National to Local and Back; Repercussions of the Boston Tea Party in Salem, MA Understanding the relationship between the Emancipation Proclamation and the 54th Massachusetts Regiment of Volunteers |
| Jamestown, a place of many beginnings Daily life in America during the War |
| How to Catch a Crook: Watergate and the Constitution Analyzing the American character during World War II |
| Presidential Politics in the 1970s A closer look at the lives of Americans during World War II |
| GIRLS GONE WILD! Stepping out of gender roles to struggle with the enemy |
