Search results

Aztec empire map

This map shows the extent of the Aztec empire before its conquest by the Spanish around 1519.

Format: image/map

Antebellum North Carolina

Primary sources and readings explore North Carolina in the antebellum period (1830–1860). Topics include slavery, daily life, agriculture, industry, technology, and the arts, as well as the events leading to secession and civil war.

Format: book (multiple pages)

And justice for all: The Trail of Tears, Mexican deportation, and Japanese internment

Many textbooks mention the Trail of Tears, but fail to mention that this early displacement of an ethnic minority is only the one of many legally-sanctioned forced relocations. This lesson will address the displacement of American Indians through the Trail of Tears, the forced deportation of Mexican Americans during the Great Depression, and the internment of Japanese American citizens during WWII.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 and 11–12 Social Studies)

By Patricia Camp.

Funds of knowledge

In Bridging Spanish language barriers in Southern schools, page 2.1

Teachers can use "funds of knowledge," the knowledge students gain from their family and cultural backgrounds, to make their classrooms more inclusive.

By Janet Kier Lopez.

American History

This selection of American history resources found on LEARN NC takes students from the very infancy of our country to modern times.

Format: bibliography/help

Wake Forest University Museum of Anthropology

Learn what it was like to grow up an Indian in the southwestern United States or find out about the processes used in discovering how the ancient people of the Yadkin River Valley lived at this anthropology museum at Wake Forest University.

Format: article/field trip opportunity

Educator's guide: Spain and America

In Two worlds: Educator's guide, page 3.1

The article "Spain and America: From Reconquest to Conquest" introduces a lot of information and a number of issues that may be new to students. These suggestions will help you use the article in a way that best fits the needs of your class.

Format: /lesson plan (grade 8 Social Studies)

By Pauline S. Johnson.

Deficit thinking

In Bridging Spanish language barriers in Southern schools, page 4.2

Teachers frequently attribute the academic struggles of English language learners to the students' inability or unwillingness to learn English, but this "deficit thinking" can better be replaced by a focus on what immigrant students bring to the classroom.

By Buck Cooper.

Bridging language barriers

In Bridging Spanish language barriers in Southern schools, page 1.3

How schools can ease the transition for Latino immigrant students.

By Regina Cortina.

Dig finds evidence of Spanish fort

Near Morganton, North Carolina, archaeologists are excavating what they believe to be the remnants of Juan Pardo's outpost at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. The 16th-century outpost, known as Fort San Juan, disappeared after Indians burned it to the ground.

Format: article

Civil War casualties

In North Carolina in the Civil War and Reconstruction, page 4.14

Historians estimate that about 620,000 Americans died in the Civil War -- almost as many as have died in all other U.S. wars combined. This article explains why.

Format: article

By David Walbert.

Spanish had many reasons for Pardo expedition

In Prehistory, contact, and the Lost Colony, page 3.5

What spurred the Spanish to set up a territorial capital on the South Carolina coast in the 1560s and launch Juan Pardo’s expedition into the Southeastern interior? The reasons range from the self-serving (protecting an enormously profitable silver mine) to the spiritual (converting the Indians to Christianity) to the anxious (reducing the capital’s population to lower the demand for food).

Format: article

The Louisiana Purchase

In North Carolina in the New Nation, page 8.2

Since 1762, Spain had owned Louisiana, the vast territory between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. When France acquired the territory in 1802, President Thomas Jefferson offered to buy New Orleans to ensure U.S. access to trade on the Mississippi. When Napoleon offered the entire territory for $15 million, Jefferson accepted.

Format: article

Expansion and empire, 1867–1914

In North Carolina in the New South, page 6.1

The United States expanded its economic influence and added overseas territory in the last decades of the nineteenth century, but the drive for empire was tempered by a strong anti-imperialist strain in American politics.

Format: article

Reading guide: Spain and America

In Two worlds: Educator's guide, page 3.2

These terms and questions will guide students as they read "Spain and America: From Reconquest to Conquest." Filling in the chronological list of dates will enable students to understand the order in which events unfolded in Spain and in America, and answering the questions will encourage students to think critically about the readings in the chapter.

Format: /lesson plan (grade 8 Social Studies)

By Pauline S. Johnson.

Spain and America: From Reconquest to Conquest

In Prehistory, contact, and the Lost Colony, page 3.1

In 1491, no European knew that North and South America existed. By 1550, Spain -- a small kingdom that had not even existed a century earlier -- controlled the better part of two continents and had become the most powerful nation in Europe. In half a century of brave exploration and brutal conquest, both Europe and America were changed forever.

Format: article

By David Walbert.

Resources on the web

Five artists of the Mexican Revolution

In this ARTESEDGE lesson, students research the major events and personalities in the Mexican Revolution, and explore how these people and events influenced the art being created at that time in Mexico. Using the guided directives, students learn about... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Visual Arts Education, Second Languages, and Social Studies)

Provided by: 92

The New Americans

This site provides information on five immigrant groups in the United States, including their histories, cultures, and current situations. Eleven lesson plans related to immigration can be accessed in the educator's section of the site. (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: Independent Television Service

Texas Beyond History

A virtual museum of historical information and images showing the cultural heritage of the state of Texas which spans over 13,500 years! (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: University of Texas - Austin, College of Liberal Arts

South Texas Border, 1900 - 1920: Robert Runyon Photograph Collection

Images comprise a multi-faceted documentation of the everyday lives of Anglo Americans and Mexican Americans in Southern Texas in the early 20th century. (Learn more)

Format: website/general

Provided by: Library of Congress