Browse lesson plans

The African American experience in NC after Reconstruction

The documents included in this lesson come from The North Carolina Experience collection of Documenting the American South and specifically focus on African Americans and race relations in the early 20th century. The lesson juxtaposes accounts that relate to both the positive improvements of black society and arguments against advancement. Combined, these primary sources and the accompanying lesson plan could be used as a Document Based Question (DBQ) in an AP US history course.

Format: lesson plan (grade 11–12 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By Meghan Mcglinn.

Exploring the church in the southern black community

Students explore the Documenting the American South Collection titled, the “Church in the Southern Black Community.” Beginning with a historian's interpretation of the primary sources that make up the collection, students search the collection for evidence to describe the experiences of African Americans living in the south during the Antebellum through the Reconstruction Period centering on their community churches. The activity culminates in student presentations of a digital scrap book.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 and 10–12 Social Studies)

By Meghan Mcglinn.

"Forward" to the great escape

In this lesson, students will read a primary source document from Documenting the American South and examine a painting by Jacob Lawrence to understand the conditions of the underground railroad before the Civil War. Students will then create a painting and a narrative related to the underground railroad.

Format: lesson plan (grade 11–12 Visual Arts Education and Social Studies)

By Jamie Lathan.

Fugitive Slave Law simulation

Students face the critical issue of the Fugitive Slave Law that gave Southerners the right to regain their runaway slaves and return them to bondage. It is also considered by many to have contributed to growing sectionalism in the U.S. and eventually the Civil War. In order to take on the roles of historical actors, students will examine primary source documents from the Documenting the American South collection and critique arguments in favor and opposed to the law.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By Meghan Mcglinn.

Interracial "harmony" and the Great Awakening

The students will be introduced to two episodes in 19th-century American history, around the time of the Great Awakening, that show glimpses of some positive and negative consequences of interracial interaction in a religious context. The students will examine primary sources from the Documenting the American South collection to then be able to write a "sermon" from the perspective of a southern itinerant preacher during the Great Awakening arguing for or against religion as a cure for the social ill of racism and slavery.

Format: lesson plan (grade 11–12 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By Jamie Lathan.

An introduction to slave narratives: Harriet Jacobs' Life of a Slave Girl

In this lesson, students will learn about the life experiences of slaves in the United States during the 1800s by reading the story of a North Carolina slave woman who eventually escaped.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Social Studies)

By Joe Hooten.

Lunsford Lane: A slave in North Carolina who buys his freedom

In this lesson plan, students read a primary source document to learn about the life of Lunsford Lane, a slave who worked in the city of Raleigh, North Carolina. Students answer questions about Lane based on his memoir to help them understand the details of his life.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By John Schaefer and Victoria Schaefer.

Mountain dialect: Reading between the spoken lines

This lesson plan uses Chapter 13 of Our Southern Highlanders as a jumping-off point to help students achieve social studies and English language arts objectives while developing an appreciation of the uniqueness of regional speech patterns, the complexities of ethnographic encounter, and the need to interrogate primary sources carefully to identify potential biases and misinformation in them. Historical content includes American slavery, the turn of the century, and the Great Depression.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By Kathryn Walbert.

North Carolina maps

A collection of lesson plans for grades K-12 centered on historic maps of North Carolina

Format: lesson plan (multiple pages)

Religion and slavery in the American South: Comparing perspectives

In this lesson plan, students consult a variety of primary sources from the Documenting the American South Collection to uncover the varied impacts of religion in the lives of slaves in the American South. They are encouraged to seek out multiple, and sometimes contradictory, perspectives of this history.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Social Studies)

By Meghan Mcglinn.

Slave songs

In this lesson, students learn more about the religious observances of slaves in the United States by presenting hymns from Slave Songs in the US digitized in the Documenting the American South Collection. This is a great lesson to introduce the intersection of religion and slavery in a US history or African American history class.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–10 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By Meghan Mcglinn.

Slavery across North Carolina

In this lesson, students read excerpts from slave narratives to gain an understanding of how slavery developed in each region of North Carolina and how regional differences created a variety of slave experiences.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Social Studies)

By Dayna Durbin Gleaves.

Teaching about slavery through newspaper advertisements

In this lesson for grades 8 and 11, students will analyze a selection of advertisements related to slavery from an 1837 newspaper in order to enhance their understanding of antebellum North Carolina, U.S. history, and the history of American slavery.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8–12 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By Kathryn Walbert.

Two perspectives on slavery: A comparison of personal narratives

In this lesson, students will evaluate and critique authors' perspectives. Students will read two first-person narratives and analyze how each text is influenced by its author's cultural background.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By Dayna Durbin Gleaves.

Resources on the web

Africans in America

Chronicles the history of racial slavery in the United States using historical documents and interactive maps to accompany in-depth articles (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: PBS

Families in Bondage

This two-part lesson plan draws on letters written by African Americans in slavery and by free blacks to loved ones still in bondage, singling out a few among the many slave experiences to offer students a glimpse into slavery and its effects on African... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 11–12 Social Studies)

Provided by: EDSITEment

The great migration

In this ARTSEDGE lesson, students learn about the migration of African Americans to Harlem, beginning with the original migration of blacks to North America. Students explore paintings by Jacob Lawrence to understand the experience of blacks who migrated... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 Visual Arts Education and Social Studies)

Provided by: ArtsEdge

Harriet Beecher Stowe Center

Located in the home of Harriet Beecher Stowe, the Center's mission is to "preserve and interpret Harriet Beecher Stowe's Hartford home and the Center's historic collections, create a forum for vibrant discussion of her life and work, and inspire individuals... (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center

Historical fiction: Using literature to learn about the Civil War

In this lesson, the teacher reads aloud a section of Connie Porter's Meet Addy, a book from The American Girls Collection® that tells the story of a young girl who escapes from slavery during... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

History Matters - The U.S. Survey Course on the Web

A gateway to U.S. History Web resources. Teaching materials, first-person primary documents and discussions on teaching U.S. history. (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: George Mason University