Civil War photographs

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has an exhibit thru September 2, 2013 that contains some amazing photographs taken during the Civil War.

We have compiled some images along with their information to be ready for your classroom use.

For more Civil War era resources check out our PowerPoints:

• Colonization to Reconstruction: US History Review
• Slavery in America
• Expansion and Reform: The United States from 1829-1860
• Causes of the Civil War
• The Civil War
• Reconstruction: 1863-1877
• The West: Miners, Ranchers, Farmers, and Native Americans
• Rise of Industrial America, 1865-1900
• Response to Industrialism: Protest Movements, Unions, and the Agrarian Revolt

Check out our classroom history games:

• Causes of the Civil War Game
• American Immigration Game
• Critical Decisions Lincoln, part one and part two

History and Functions of the Presidency

Click here to check out this educational film on the Presidency. Not super exciting, but it gets to the point.

For more resources on teaching American Government, check out our PowerPoints:

• The Judiciary
• The Presidency
• The Congress
• The Bureaucracy
• Constitutional Underpinnings

Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman” speech

Sojourner Truth was an amazing woman who lived an extraordinary life.

Her famous speech given in Ohio in 1851 is a simple yet eloquent argument on the equality of the sexes.

There is a bit of controversy, however, as two versions have been recorded, one during the convention, a second a few years later.

The second version is the widely known speech. It is notable though that the second version is in a southern-style dialect which is not how the native New Yorker who only spoke Dutch for her early years talked.

We have included both and encourage adding questions to the assignment we have included for your classroom use.

Causes of World War II

This graphic from our World History World War II PowerPoint breaks down the major causes of the conflict. For a printable version click here.

We suggest using this as a starting point for researching each cause in greater detail either as a group or individual activity. Groups could present to the class as a whole and individuals could create a PowerPoint, news article, or other creative product describing the major causes of WWII.

For more on this era check out our:

World History PowerPoints

• Europe Between the Wars
• World War II

Classroom History games

• Causes of World War II: Part 1
• Causes of World War II: Part 2
• Causes of World War II: Part 3

US History PowerPoints

• Causes of World War II
• World War II

The Great Society by LBJ

President Johnson and others in the 1960s hoped to end poverty and racial injustice through a series of programs known as “The Great Society”.

In one of LBJ’s first speeches about the program at the University of Michigan on May 22, 1964 he outlines some of the major goals.

We have included an excerpted copy of the speech along with questions and answers. It is an accessible speech for students of all reading levels, which makes it a great primary source document lesson.

For more resources on teaching this era check out our:

US History PowerPoints

• US Foreign Policy in the Cold War Era: Truman to Kennedy
• US Foreign Policy in the Cold War Era: Johnson to the Fall of the Berlin Wall
• The 1950s
• The Civil Rights Movement
• 1960s
• Vietnam

Classroom History Games

• Critical Decisions of Harry Truman
• Critical Decisions of John F. Kennedy
• Causes of the Cold War, Part 1: 1946-1960
• Causes of the Cold War, Part 2: 1961-1980
• Causes of the Cold War, Part 3: 1981-2008

Thanksgiving by Puck, 1903-1905

We collected 3 images from the years of 1903-1905 as a way of showing students the way the holiday was represented over 100 years ago.

We created questions and answers for your classroom.

For more teaching resources check out our Products page.

Interview a Veteran

One of our favorite assignments is to interview people about their life experiences, especially if they lived through a significant event.

The best way to find a local veteran is to contact the VFW.

Over the years we have created our own questions, however the Library of Congress Veteran’s History Project has a wonderful resource that is available for your classroom use.  Click here to access the page with questions.

We appreciate all of the sacrifices that veterans have made for our nation and the world.

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

The controversial Fugitive Slave Act in 1850 was one of several compromises made during the tenuous antebellum period.

The cartoon we have chosen to highlight today works great for students as it requires them to analyze both the images and text in order to gain a deeper understanding of the artist’s position.

We have included a copy of the cartoon as well as questions and answers.

For more US History resources on this era check out our PowerPoints:

• Slavery in America
• Expansion and Reform: The United States from 1829-1860
• Causes of the Civil War

Classroom History games:

• American Economy 1823-1860
• Famous Inventors Game
• Famous Presidents Game, Part 1: Washington to Garfield

Cuban Missile Crisis political cartoon

This cartoon, drawn by Edmund Valtman and published in The Hartford Times, October 30, 1962, is a fantastic cartoon for classroom use.

The symbols used are easily recognizable and that makes students feel much more confident going into a cartoon interpretative assignment.

We have included a copy of the cartoon as well as questions and answers ready to use in your classroom.

For more Cold War resources check out our PowerPoints:

US History

• US Foreign Policy in the Cold War Era: Truman to Kennedy
• US Foreign Policy in the Cold War Era: Johnson to the Fall of the Berlin Wall
• The 1950s
• 1960s
• Vietnam
• The 1970s
• Late History Overview: 1970s, 1980s, 1990s
• The 1980s
• America’s Smaller Wars: 1798-2001
  

World History

• The Modern Era: 1945-1970
• The Modern Era 2: 1971-2009

Classroom History Games:

• Critical Decisions of Harry Truman
• Critical Decisions of John F. Kennedy
• Causes of the Cold War, Part 1: 1946-1960
• Causes of the Cold War, Part 2: 1961-1980
• Causes of the Cold War, Part 3: 1981-2008

Lincoln’s message to the Senate, 1861

The Civil War is rich with primary source materials ranging from photographs to speeches to letters and much more. What a great opportunity for students to experience firsthand the depths of despair people felt at having a war within the nation.

President Lincoln hoped to end the conflict without bloodshed, but when it became obvious that was impossible he wanted to expedite the process as much as possible.

At the time of this speech, on July 5, 1861 several states had seceded and the attack on Fort Sumter had already occurred.

This speech is Lincoln appealing to the first session of the 37th Congress to take action in order to end the war quickly. We have included a page from the Journal of the Senate as well as questions and answers.

For more resources on teaching this era check out our PowerPoints:

• Causes of the Civil War
• The Civil War
• Reconstruction: 1863-1877

Classroom history games:

• Causes of the Civil War Game
• American Immigration Game
• Critical Decisions Lincoln, part one and part two