Period: 1800
Early 19th Century: 1800 – 1849
Feb. 2, 1848: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, ending the U.S. Mexico War and extending the boundaries of the United States west to the Pacific Ocean.
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Feb. 15, 1848: Benjamin Roberts Filed the First School Desegregation Suit
Benjamin Roberts, African American, filed the first school desegregation suit after his daughter Sarah was barred from a public school because of her race in Boston, Massachusetts.
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April 25, 1846: U.S. Mexico War Begins
Today’s border with Mexico is the product of invasion and war. Grasping some of the motives for that war and some of its immediate effects begins to provide students the kind of historical context that is crucial for thinking about the line that separates the United States and Mexico.
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Midnight Teacher: Lilly Ann Granderson and Her Secret School
Picture book. By Janet Halfmann. Illustrated by London Ladd. 2018. 40 pages.
Tells the story of Lilly Ann Granderson, an enslaved woman who taught hundreds of people in Kentucky and Mississippi to read.
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Tells the story of Lilly Ann Granderson, an enslaved woman who taught hundreds of people in Kentucky and Mississippi to read.
Freedom on the Move: Rediscovering the Stories of Self-Liberating People
Digital collection. Crowdsourcing project that provides access to information, through thousands of print advertisements, about freedom-seekers and their would-be enslavers in the 18th and 19th centuries.
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Never Caught: The Story of Ona Judge
Book — Non-fiction. By Erica Armstrong Dunbar and Kathleen Van Cleve. 2019. 272 pages.
This is the true story of Ona Judge who escaped from enslavement by George and Martha Washington.
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This is the true story of Ona Judge who escaped from enslavement by George and Martha Washington.
Poetry of Defiance: How the Enslaved Resisted
Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez.
Through a mixer activity, students encounter how enslaved people resisted the brutal exploitation of slavery. The lesson culminates in a collective class poem highlighting the defiance of the enslaved.
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Through a mixer activity, students encounter how enslaved people resisted the brutal exploitation of slavery. The lesson culminates in a collective class poem highlighting the defiance of the enslaved.
Slave Nation: How Slavery United the Colonies & Sparked the American Revolution
Book — Non-fiction. By Alfred Blumrosen and Ruth Blumrosen. 2006. 304 pages.
A detailed account of the role slavery played in the Revolutionary War and the writing of the U.S. Constitution.
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A detailed account of the role slavery played in the Revolutionary War and the writing of the U.S. Constitution.
Andrew Jackson and the “Children of the Forest”
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. 5 pages.
A lesson in which students develop critical literacy skills by responding to Andrew Jackson's speech on "Indian Removal."
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A lesson in which students develop critical literacy skills by responding to Andrew Jackson's speech on "Indian Removal."
Frederick Douglass Fights for Freedom
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. 7 pages.
A lesson to introduce students to the numerous and varied ways African Americans resisted their enslavement, using the autobiographical Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.
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A lesson to introduce students to the numerous and varied ways African Americans resisted their enslavement, using the autobiographical Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.
The Line Between Us: Teaching About the Border and Mexican Immigration
Teaching Guide. By Bill Bigelow. 2006. 160 pages. Rethinking Schools.
Lessons for teaching about the history of U.S.–Mexico relations and current border and immigration issues.
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Lessons for teaching about the history of U.S.–Mexico relations and current border and immigration issues.
Echoes of Enslavement
Teaching Activity. By Ursula Wolfe-Rocca.
Students discover “echoes of enslavement” in their own state — discrete sites of remembering, forgetting, honoring, lying, or distorting — in this lesson based on the book How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smith.
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Students discover “echoes of enslavement” in their own state — discrete sites of remembering, forgetting, honoring, lying, or distorting — in this lesson based on the book How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smith.
Indian Removal
Teaching Activity. 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.
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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.
The War on Mexico
Teaching Activity. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 14 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 8 of Voices of a People's History of the United States on The Mexican-American War and domestic resistance to it.
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Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 8 of Voices of a People's History of the United States on The Mexican-American War and domestic resistance to it.
Reclaiming Hidden History: Students Create a Slavery Walking Tour in Manhattan
Teaching Activity. By Alan J. Singer. Rethinking Schools. 7 pages.
How a teacher and his students organized a tour of the hidden history of slavery in New York.
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How a teacher and his students organized a tour of the hidden history of slavery in New York.
Hunger on Trial: An Activity on the Irish Potato Famine and Its Meaning for Today
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools. 5 pages.
A trial role play helps students reflect on responsibility for the deaths of Irish peasants during the so-called potato famine.
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A trial role play helps students reflect on responsibility for the deaths of Irish peasants during the so-called potato famine.
On the Road to Cultural Bias: A Critique of The Oregon Trail
Article. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools.
Critique of the popular "Oregon Trail" computer game.
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Critique of the popular "Oregon Trail" computer game.
Seneca Falls, 1848: Women Organize for Equality
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. 17 pages.
A role play allows students to examine issues of race and class when exploring both the accomplishments and limitations of the Seneca Falls Convention.
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A role play allows students to examine issues of race and class when exploring both the accomplishments and limitations of the Seneca Falls Convention.
Reading Between the Lines: An Art Contest Helps Students Imagine the Lives of Runaway Slaves
Teaching Activity. By Thom Thacker and Michael A. Lord. Rethinking Schools. 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.
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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.
U.S. Mexico War: “We Take Nothing by Conquest, Thank God”
Teaching Activity. Lesson by Bill Bigelow and student reading by Howard Zinn. Rethinking Schools. 21 pages.
Interactive activity introduces students to the history and often untold story of the U.S.-Mexico War. Roles available in Spanish.
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Interactive activity introduces students to the history and often untold story of the U.S.-Mexico War. Roles available in Spanish.
Slavery and Defiance
Teaching Guide. 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.
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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.
The Expansion of Empire
Teaching Activity. 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.
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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.
‘If There Is No Struggle…’: Teaching a People’s History of the Abolition Movement
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools. 16 pages.
In this lesson, students explore many of the real challenges faced by abolitionists with a focus on the American Anti-Slavery Society.
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In this lesson, students explore many of the real challenges faced by abolitionists with a focus on the American Anti-Slavery Society.
Francis Scott Key Opposed “Land of the Free”
Article. By Jefferson Morley. 2012.
"Star-Spangled Banner" songwriter Francis Scott Key opposed abolitionists and free speech in his role as district attorney of the city of Washington.
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"Star-Spangled Banner" songwriter Francis Scott Key opposed abolitionists and free speech in his role as district attorney of the city of Washington.