Harriet Tubman was also a nurse, cook, and spy. This lesson can help your students understand how her service was acknowledged by Congress.
Category: Teaching Activities & Lesson Plans
Records of the Monuments Men at the National Archives
Films based on major historical events are often based on records from the National Archives. This is especially true with the upcoming film “The Monuments Men” which opens this Friday, February 7th.
To What Extent was Reconstruction a Revolution?
Reconstruction was a tumultuous period in American history, and the question of whether it produced lasting change in regard to civil rights is still debated by scholars. A DocsTeach Activity using primary sources allows your students to enter the debate and develop critical thinking skills by evaluating historical congressional records as historians. Available on DocsTeach.org, … Continue reading To What Extent was Reconstruction a Revolution?
Oh Freedom! William and Ellen Craft’s Escape from Slavery and Continued Search for Freedom
A new primary source activity introduces students to the Crafts, who escaped slavery and were pursued under the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850.
New Teaching Activity: From Dred Scott to the Civil Rights Act of 1875
Students will learn how rights for African-Americans changed quickly from the Dred Scott decision to the Civil Rights Act of 1875 by examining primary sources and explaining the relationships between them.
Black Soldiers in the Civil War: A New DocsTeach Activity
In this activity, students can analyze a Government poster used to recruit recently freed slaves to fight for the Union Army during the Civil War. The poster refers to the Emancipation Proclamation and President Lincoln’s General Order 233, to provide equal pay for Black soldiers and equal protection if they were captured by the Confederacy and became … Continue reading Black Soldiers in the Civil War: A New DocsTeach Activity
The Equal Rights Amendment: The Most Popular Never-Ratified Amendment
Documents from the records of Congress help students understand why the Equal Rights Amendment wasn't ratified, even with its considerable support.
Connecting Science and Diplomacy: President Ford at 100
Our new "Apollo-Soyuz: Space Age Detente" activity invites students to explore how President Ford used the first joint country space flight as a diplomatic opportunity.
Kidnapping of Free People of Color
Abolitionist Elisha Tyson wrote to Congress with details on several kidnapping cases of free African Americans in the North who were sold into slavery under the guise of the 1793 Fugitive Slave Act. Tyson argued that federal legislation was necessary to address the problem.
The Documents Behind Twelve Years a Slave
Students can see part of Solomon Northup’s story, told in his 1853 autobiography and the new movie, Twelve Years a Slave, in documents found in the National Archives.