United States History

Lesson Plans for U.S. History

• Unit on the Civil War
• Reporting on the Battle of Antietam
• Executive Orders: Emancipation Plus
• African-American Medal of Honor Recipients
• The Human Toll of the Civil War
• Spanish-American War
• Life in the Twenties
• Introduction to Culture of the Twenties
• Life in the Thirties
• The 1930's Dustbowl
• The U.S. is Drawn into World War II
• Japanese-Americans Internment Camps
• To Drop or Not Drop the Atomic Bomb
• Vietnam War Political Cartoon
• Southeast Asia Map

Internet Lessons and Podcasts

The American Experience (click on POD on the right for a long list of topics)

Grade 11 The Civil War as Photographed by Matthew Brady
In small groups, students will analyze Civil War photographs, create an in-class gallery and write a diary entry from a Civil War soldier's viewpoint

Grade 8 & 11 Voting Rights for Women: Pro and Anti Suffrage 
Students will investigate the struggle for women's suffrage from 1848 to the 19th Amendment in 1920.

Grade 8 & 11 Battle Lines: Letters from American's Wars 
Listen to readings and examine the original letters (from Revolutionary War through World War II) covering such subjects as enlisting, missing the comforts of home and love

Grade 9-12 The Industrial Age in America: Robber Barons and Captains of Industry
Using primary sources, students will learn the pros and cons of wealth, by studying the lives of Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan

Grade 9-12 The Industrial Age in America: Sweatshops, Steel Mills and Factories
What was it like to live and work in a factory during the last 1800's? How were immigrants treated? Why were some unions successful and some not?

Grade 9-12 United States Entry Into World War I: A Documentary Chronology
Students will consider the U.S. entry into the Great War by exploring documents of the time.

Grade 9-12 Sow the Seeds of Victory! Posters from the Food Administration During World War I
Use poster art to show how the government expanded its powers to persuade the public during wartime.

Grade 9-12 The Debate in the United States over the League of Nations
Students will learn the basics of the League, and hear the voices of consent turn into dissent

Grade 9-12 Powers of Persuasion-Poster Art of World War II 
In this one to two day lesson, use poster art produced by our government to teach about the "home front."

Grade 9-12 From Jim Crow to Linda Brown - A Retrospective of the African American Experience from 1897-1953
This lesson, for grades 9-12, from the Library of Congress uses primary sources to explain the days of segregation caused by Plessey vs. Ferguson.

Two Day Lesson to Teach the Cold War 
Using a list of Cold War events from Yalta to the collapse of the Soviet Union, students quickly research their assigned topic, write a brief newspaper article and post on a timeline on the bulletin board. Students make an oral presentation of their findings.

Teaching the Vietnam War Through Photographs 
Students will analyze Vietnam War photographs and create a "museum exhibit" on the bulletin board describing the aspect of the war shown in each photo.