The Compromise of 1790: A Capital Simulation
--David L. Ghere Study the handout map and chart. The national capital would be built in the South if the federal government would assume the states' Revolutionary War debts. Would it work?This URL...
View ArticleRunaway Slave Advertisements: Teaching from Primary Documents
--Tom Costa and Brooks Doyle Interpret short primary source documents to reveal some details about slave life and the moral dilemmas of antebellum U.S. Also includes "Abolitionists Among the Founding...
View ArticleBen Franklin’s Evolving View on Race and Ethnicity
--Steven S. Lapham and Drew Saunders A wise man observes, learns, and grows. Also includes a related classroom activity about Ben's interesting personality: "Will the Senate Confirm 'Karl B. Fennin'?"...
View ArticleVenture Smith’s Autobiography and Runaway Ad: Enslavement in Early New York
--Alan J. Singer Students compare primary sources (included as handouts) to validate historical information. The ad is from the "New York Gazette," April 1, 1754, published in the slave-holding colony...
View ArticleWhat Having Students “Write the Constitution” Taught Me
--Thomas Ladenburg Students learn the historical setting background of an event, but then must debate and "decide upon" the outcome before they discover what actually happened. This issue also includes...
View ArticleFrederick Douglass, the Constitution, and Slavery: A Classroom Debate
--Vanessa Rodriguez Students debate Douglass versus . . . Douglass! Before 1851, he argued that the U.S. Constitution abetted slavery. But then he proclaimed, "Let the North now make that instrument...
View ArticleYellow Fever in Philadelphia, 1793
--Sandra W. Moss, M.D. Book review of "An American Plague" by Jim Murphy. Also in this issue: Handouts and teaching ideas, such as handout/graph "On the Trail of an Epidemic: Yellow Fever in New...
View ArticleThe Great Irish Famine (and Immigration to USA)
--Maureen Murphy, Alan Singer, Maureen McCann Miletta, and Judity Y. Singer Theme issue with brief history, excerpts from primary historical documents, references, handouts, historical...
View ArticleThe Constitution by Cell (Teaching with Documents)
--Stephanie Greenhut and Megan Jones A pilot program at the National Archives challenges students to determine how certain documents illustrate the Constitution “in action,” then create digital stories...
View ArticleAdvocating for Abolition: Staging an Abolitionist Society Convention
--Andy Robinson and Joan Brodsky Schur This simulation illustrates for students that the most complex debates in American history are not necessarily between those for and against social change, but...
View ArticleDraft of the Constitution (August 1787) and Schedule of the Compensation of...
--Michael Hussey and Stephanie Greenhut The two featured documents can serve as a starting point for a lesson on public service while students debate the amount of pay that public servants should...
View ArticleLearning History with Mini-Camcorders
--Jeremy D. Stoddard and Meg Hoffman Three activities described here engage the creativity of at-risk students by incorporating mini-camcorders into the study of the American Revolution, Civil War, and...
View ArticleConstitution Day Lesson Plans
The NCSS Publications archives and a number of educational websites offer excellent lesson plans that can help teachers prepare for Constitution Day. *...
View ArticleEvaluating Perspectives on Westward Expansion: Weighing the Evidence
--Stephanie Greenhut A unique online tool helps students analyze documents from opposing perspectives, weigh each source’s significance, and come to evidence-based conclusions. *...
View ArticleChanging Faces: Your State Hero in the U.S. Capitol
--Dennis Denenberg Each state has a statue of one of its notable citizens displayed in the U.S. Capitol. Learn about this collection, read your state hero's biography, and/or propose a new...
View ArticleHistory Mystery Lessons: Powhatan Culture / Lewis & CLark
--Jana Kirchner and Carla JuddThe Pullout of the Jan/Feb 2011 issue of SSYL comprised two History Mystery Lessons: The first was about Powhatan culture, and included a clue sheet about life in a Native...
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