The SlaveVoyages website is a collaborative digital initiative that compiles and makes publicly accessible records of the largest slave trades in history. Search these records to learn about the broad origins and forced relocations of more than 12 million African people who were sent across the Atlantic in slave ships, and hundreds of thousands more who were trafficked within the Americas. Explore where they were taken, the numerous rebellions that occurred, the horrific loss of life during the voyages, the identities and nationalities of the perpetrators, and much more.

Search the Atlantic Slave Trade or the Intra-America Slave Trade, as well as the people and images of victims and lesson plans that teach students how to use the data.

Assessment template to guide students in a standards-based grading classroom on Social Studies Standard 3: CER.

This text set includes a variety of multimodal resources designed to help learners understand treaty rights as they apply to the state of Wisconsin, giving special emphasis to the court cases of LCO v. Voight and State v. Gurnoe.  Indian tribes were independent, sovereign nations, before the arrival of Europeans in North America. Despite ceding their lands in the northern part of Wisconsin to the U.S. government, Chippewa tribes reserved the right to hunt, fish, and gather within the Ceded Territory. In the 1980’s, these court cases affirmed those rights. The year 2024 celebrates 50 years of the court decision. 

In this lesson, students examine classic Maya art and monumental inscriptions, as well as an excerpt from an Aztec encyclopedia, to explore how the ancient Mexican city of Teotihuacan influenced other Mesoamerican societies. Students also reason about contemporary scholars' commentary on the historical sources.

Why did Texans revolt against the Mexican government? In this lesson, students read the Texas Declaration of Independence, military commander letters, and an abolitionist pamphlet to explore causes of the Texas Revolution.

On Constitution Day, students will examine the role of the people in shaping the United States Constitution. First, students will respond to a provocative statement posted in the room. They will then watch a video that gives a brief explanation of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, or listen as the video transcript is read aloud. A Constitution poster is provided so students can examine Article VII and discuss it as a class.
The elementary and middle school educator will then
guide students through a read-aloud play depicting two Constitutional Convention delegates who disagreed about ratifying the Constitution.

Important information about how to honor Veterans in school and classroom settings. The activities in this 2021 guide can be applied to any year. The VA publishes a new guide every year.

Use this PBS NewsHour lesson plan to help students understand the significance of Veterans Day and the meaning of sacrifice. Students will identify important veterans in their lives, examine an interactive timeline of military history and study issues facing veterans today

This lesson describes some conflicting points of view of leading Framers about the Constitution. Most of the delegates argued for the adoption of the Constitution, although many had reservations about all or parts of it. The reservations of three were so serious that they refused to sign the document. The position of one of these Framers, George Mason, is explored in detail. You also will examine Benjamin Franklin's statement in defense of the Constitution.

When you have completed this lesson, you should be able to explain the positions of Franklin and Mason, and give arguments in support of and in opposition to these positions.

Who comes to mind when considering the Modern Civil Rights Movement (MCRM) during 1954 - 1965? Is it one of the big three personalities: Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, or Rosa Parks? Or perhaps it is John Lewis, Stokely Carmichael, James Baldwin, Thurgood Marshall, Ralph Abernathy, or Medgar Evers. What about the names of Septima Poinsette Clark, Ella Baker, Diane Nash, Daisy Bates, Fannie Lou Hamer, Ruby Bridges, or Claudette Colvin? What makes the two groups different? Why might the first group be more familiar than the latter? A brief look at one of the most visible events during the MCRM, the March on Washington, can help shed light on this question.Students will be able to conduct an inquiry into the following research questions through this source:Who were some of the women leaders of the Modern Civil Rights Movement in your local town, city, or state? What were the expected gender roles in 1950s - 1960s America?Did these roles vary in different racial and ethnic communities?How would these gender roles affect the MCRM?Who were the "Big Six" of the MCRM?What were their individual views toward women in the movement?How were the ideas of gender similar or different from the MCRM and the later Black Power Movement?How did African American women in the MCRM relate to women in other women movements of the era (ex. Chicano, LGBT, or American Indian Movement)? 

The goal of this module is to provide resources and information about the history of women’s vote in the U.S. Looking at the women’s suffrage movement provides a framework for exploring the changing role of women in politics and society in the 19th and 20th centuries. The history of suffrage offers an opportunity to examine women’s roles at critical points in the nation’s history, and to think about the impact of women’s voting behavior on politics in our time.
Activities and discussion questions are designed to explore the changing role of women in society and in politics. The module includes ideas for developing lessons on women’s suffrage and integrating the issue of suffrage into lessons on US history and politics, and to consider the impact of full suffrage on politics and society today.

The events of the American Revolution took place just when political cartoons became very popular in England. People gathered every day at print shops all over London to learn the news and see the latest cartoons mocking the events of the day. Politicians quickly learned the power of a good cartoon. There is even evidence that some English politicians hired artists to mock their enemies and improve their own standing.
Students will be able to examine and analyze various political cartoons on the empowerment of colonial women and how through political cartoons, their actions were displayed and perceived by individuals of the period. Students will be able to use historical thinking skills to understand how images play a vital role in spreading information and sentiments.

Plastic bottles are everywhere! About 70% of the plastic water bottles bought in the U.S. are not recycled, and end up in the oceans. It seems obvious that using fewer plastic water bottles would be a good thing for our environment, but sometimes the alternatives can have negative consequences. Do the costs of banning plastic bottles outweigh the benefits?

In 1943, Anglo servicemen attacked Mexican American, Filipino American, and African American adolescents in Los Angeles. This violence was known as the "Zoot Suit Riots," named for the allegedly un-patriotic fashion then popular among the city's youth. In this lesson, students examine four historical sources to answer the question: What caused the Zoot Suit Riots?