Civil War Era
Teaching Activity PDFs
Reconstructing Race: A Teacher Introduces His Students to the Slippery Concept of Race
Teaching Activity PDF. By Nathanial W. Smith. 6 pages.
A teacher describes a series of lessons he teaches to help his students understand race as a social construct.
‘If There Is No Struggle…’: Teaching a People’s History of the Abolition Movement
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. 16 pages.
A role play putting students in the position of abolitionist groups working together to end slavery.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery
The Election of 1860 Role Play
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 12 pages.
Role play based on the election of 1860 allows students to explore the political debates of the time and the real reasons for the Civil War.
African American, Individuals in US History, Slavery, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
A War to Free the Slaves?
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 7 pages.
Students examine excerpts from Lincoln’s first inaugural address, the rarely mentioned original Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution that Lincoln promised to support, and the Emancipation Proclamation to explore some of the myths about the Civil War.
African American, Democracy & Citizenship, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery
The Draft Riot Mystery
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 9 pages.
Students are invited to solve a mystery, using historical clues, about the real story of the Draft Riots.
Democracy & Citizenship, Immigration, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery, Social Class, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
Who Freed the Slaves?
Student Handout in PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 2 pages.
This timeline can be used as a resource for lessons on the Civil War, President Lincoln, the 54th Regiment, and the end of slavery.
African American, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
Reading Between the Lines: An Art Contest Helps Students Imagine the Lives of Runaway Slaves
Teaching Activity PDF. By Thom Thacker and Michael A. Lord. 4 pages.
An art contest is used as the basis from which students can examine primary historical documents (advertisements for runaway slaves) to gain a deeper understanding of the institution of slavery in the North.
Reclaiming Hidden History: Students Create a Slavery Walking Tour in Manhattan
Teaching Activity PDF. By Alan Singer. 7 pages.
How a teacher and his students organized a tour of the hidden history of slavery in New York.
Civil War and Class Conflict
Teaching Activity PDF. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 16 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 10 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on “The Other Civil War” – the class conflict fought by the poor in the north and south.
The Expansion of Empire
Teaching Activity PDF. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 15 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 12 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on internal dissent over American expansionist policies.
Imperialism, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
The First Slaves
Teaching Activity PDF. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 15 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 2 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on early American slavery, resistance, and rebellion.
Indian Removal
Teaching Activity PDF. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 18 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 7 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on the American policy of “Manifest Destiny” and Native American resistance to their own displacement.
Slavery and Defiance
Teaching Activity PDF. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 17 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 9 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on black and white resistance to slavery before the Civil War.
Teaching Guides
Teaching What Really Happened: How To Avoid the Tyranny of Textbooks and Get Students Excited About Doing History
Teaching Guide. By James W. Loewen. 2010. 264 pages.
A wealth of ideas on how to rethink the teaching of U.S. history.
Audio
Books: Fiction
Bull Run
Book – Fiction. By Paul Fleischman. 1993. 128 pages.
A historical novel for middle school and above about the Civil War Battle of Bull Run drama told in sixteen voices.
Dzání Yázhí Naazbaa’: Little Woman Warrior Who Came Home
Book – Fiction. By Evangeline Parsons Yazzie. Illustrated by Irving Toddy. 2005. 32 pages.
Historical fiction for upper elementary about the Navajo Long Walk (forced removal by U.S. soldiers) of 1863-1864.
The Game of Silence
Book – Fiction. By Louise Erdrich. 2006. 288 pages.
The second in a series of novels for middle school and high school students about an Ojibwe family in the mid-19th century. The story parallels the time of the widely read Little House on the Prairie.
Nettie’s Trip South
Book – Fiction. By Ann Turner and Ronald Himler. 1995. 32 pages.
Based on the diary of the author’s great-grandmother, this is a poignant and compelling look at slavery through the eyes of a young girl.
Pink and Say
Book – Fiction. By Patricia Polacco. 1994. Upper elementary.
The narrative of two young boys who meet and help each other during the Civil War.
Riot
Book – Fiction. By Walter Dean Myers. 2011. 176 pages.
Historical novel for young adults about the 1863 draft riots in New York.
Underground Man
Book – Fiction. By Milton Meltzer. 2006. 288 pages.
An historically accurate novel on abolitionists and the Underground Railroad for middle school readers.
Books: Non-Fiction
The Black Americans: A History in Their Own Words, 1619-1983
Book – Non-fiction. Edited by Milton Meltzer. 1987. 320 pages.
Engaging first person stories and primary documents.
The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader: The “Great Truth” about the “Lost Cause”
Book – Non-fiction. Edited by James W. Loewen and Edward H. Sebesta. 484 pages. 2010.
Primary documents on the causes of the Civil War.
A People’s History of the Civil War: Struggles for the Meaning of Freedom
Book – Non-fiction. By David Williams. 2006. 594 pages.
An account of the American Civil War though the eyes of ordinary people
A People’s History of the United States: 1492 – Present
Book – Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn. 2005. 702 pages.
Howard Zinn’s groundbreaking work on U.S. history. This book details the lives and facts that are rarely included in textbooks — an indispensable teacher and student resource.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Economics, Education, Immigration, Imperialism, Individuals in US History, Labor, Laws & Citizen Rights, Native American, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery, Social Class, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements, Women's History
Films
Frederick Douglass: “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro”
Film clip. Frederick Douglass “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro” (1851) is read by Danny Glover. From Voices of a People’s History of the United States.
African American, Democracy & Citizenship, Racism & Racial Identity
John Brown’s Last Speech
Film clip. Josh Brolin reads John Brown’s Last Speech delivered on November 2, 1859. From Voices of a People’s History of the United States.
Picture Books
Dzání Yázhí Naazbaa’: Little Woman Warrior Who Came Home
Book – Fiction. By Evangeline Parsons Yazzie. Illustrated by Irving Toddy. 2005. 32 pages.
Historical fiction for upper elementary about the Navajo Long Walk (forced removal by U.S. soldiers) of 1863-1864.
Pink and Say
Book – Fiction. By Patricia Polacco. 1994. Upper elementary.
The narrative of two young boys who meet and help each other during the Civil War.
Pink y Say
Book – Fiction. By Patricia Polacco. 2003. Upper elementary.
The narrative of two young boys who meet and help each other during the Civil War. (In Spanish.)
Spanish/Bilingual
Pink y Say
Book – Fiction. By Patricia Polacco. 2003. Upper elementary.
The narrative of two young boys who meet and help each other during the Civil War. (In Spanish.)
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