Primary Source Lessons for
Ancient American Civilizations To American Reconstruction
Ancient American Civilizations
- Inca Fortification (Beyond the Bubble)
The Natchez and the Mounds of Mississippi (Newsela, free account)
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Pre-European Contact American Indians (Before 1492)
- Celebrating Native American Heritage Month (Newsela, free account)
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Three Worlds Meet (1492-1600)
Interactions between Europeans and American Indians
- Columbus reports on his first voyage, 1493 (Gilder Lehrman)
- Pocahontas Basic and Pocahontas Advanced (CK-12)
- Primary Sources: Powhatan Exchanges Views with Captain John Smith, 1608 (Newsela, free account)
- Differing Accounts of Spanish Colonization (Newsela, pro account)
- Who Is Lying? Different Accounts Of Christopher Columbus’ Arrival (Newsela, pro account)
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Colonial America (1600-1750)
Early Colonial Establishments
- Primary Sources: John White Searches for the Lost Colonists of Roanoke (Newsela, free account)
- The Mayflower Compact (Beyond the Bubble)
- Early Maps Basic and Early Maps Advanced (CK-12)
- The Virginia Company (Beyond the Bubble)
- Under Colonial America (1600-1750), Colonial Religion, there are resources that focus on New England Religion and the groups of people that settled there.
Similarities and Differences of American Colonial Regions: Southern Colonies, Middle Colonies, New England Colonies
- Passenger Lists to the New World Basic and Passenger Lists to the New World Advanced (CK-12)
- Video Resource: Primary Source Analysis-Creating Questions from Passenger Lists of the New World (History Forge)
- Video Resource: Primary Source Analysis (Contextualization)-Part I (History Forge)
- Video Resource: Primary Source Analysis (Contextualization)-Part II (History Forge)
Native American Perspectives and Relations
- Portrait of an Iroquois Leader (Beyond the Bubble)
- The First Thanksgiving (Beyond the Bubble)
Colonial Religion
- The Salem Witch Trials Basic and The Salem Witch Trials Advanced (CK-12)
- Video Lecture: Primary Source Analysis: Monitoring/Questioning the Salem Witch Trials (History Forge)
- The First Great Awakening Basic and The First Great Awakening Advanced (CK-12)
- The Puritans Basic and The Puritans Advanced (CK-12)
Science and Technology
- Plague Doctor (Beyond the Bubble)
- Primary Sources: Benjamin Franklin Flies a Kite and Catches Lightning (Newsela, free account)
Military History
- King Philip’s War Basic and King Philip’s War Advanced (CK-12)
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Revolutionary America (1763-1789)
French and Indian War
- Seven Years’ War (Beyond the Bubble)
Taxes
- Stamp Act (Ck-12)
- The Stamp Act of 1765 (Newsela, pro account)
Patriot vs. Loyalist
- The American Spirit-Nationalism (History Forge)
- Loyalists during the Revolution (CK-12)
Declaration of Independence
- The Declaration of Independence (CK-12)
- Declaration of Independence and the Rights of Man (Newsela, Pro account)
- The Legacy of the Declaration of Independence (Newsela, pro account)
Strategies/Politics
- Forcefull Moments of the American Revolution (Newsela, pro account)
- War and Propaganda During The American Revolution (History Forge)
- Teaching Civic Ideals Using Primary Sources: The Origin and Evolution of the Bill of Rights (Library of Congress)
Armed Conflict
- The Battle of Lexington (CK-12)
- Experiences of Soldiers in War (History Forge)
- Battle of Brooklyn (Newsela, pro account)
Founding Fathers
- Primary Sources: Washington Sells a Runaway Slave to the West Indies (Newsela, free account)
- “Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death!” (Newsela, pro account)
- God King George Washington (History Forge)
- Primary Sources: George Washington’s Farewell Address (Newsela, free account)
- A New Leader (Newsela, pro account)
Myth & Memory
- Washington Crossing the Delaware (Beyond the Bubble)
- Commemoration of Battles (History Forge)
- The American Spirit-Nationalism (History Forge)
Economics
- English Map of the Island of Grenada (State Historical Society of Iowa)
- Cotton Gin and Expansion of Slavery (DPLA)
Science, Technology, and Mathematics
- Mathematics and Primary Sources: Historic Codes, Ciphers, an Computational Thinking (Library of Congress)
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Constitution and Politics (1776-1810)
Articles of Confederation
- The Articles of Confederation (Newsela, free account)
- Shay’s Rebellion (CK-12)
Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
- Protecting Democracy (Newsela, pro account)
- Federalists and Anti-Federalists (CK-12)
- The Federalist Papers (Newsela, pro account)
- Federalist Paper No. 10, November 22, 1787 (The State Historical Society of Iowa)
Breakdown of the Constitution
- Slavery in the Constitution (CK-12)
- The Constitution (Newsela, pro account)
- First Draft On Religious Freedom (Newsela, pro account)
Politics
- Primary Sources: George Washington’s Farewell Address (Newsela, free account)
- Hamilton vs Jefferson (CK-12)
Slavery
- Jefferson and Slavery (Newsela, free account)
- Jefferson and Washington on Slavery (Newsela, pro account)
Economics
- Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Charles Thomson Estimating Imports to the United States (State Historical Society of Iowa)
- Tax Rates on Common Imports to United States (State Historical Society of Iowa)
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Western Expansion and International Relations (1800-1850)
Lewis and Clark (Men, the Myths, the Legends)
- Lewis and Clark (CK-12)
- Primary Sources: Jefferson’s Message on the Lewis & Clark Expedition (Newsela, free account)
Land Acquirement
- Louisiana Purchase (CK-12)
- Manifest Destiny (CK-12)
- Texas Independence (CK-12)
War of 1812- Journals/Canadian Schools textbook
- The War of 1812 (Beyond the Bubble)
Native Americans
- Trail of Tears (CK-12)
- Native Perspective of American Conquering (History Forge)
- How Native American slaveholders complicate the Trail of Tears narrative (Newsela, free account)
- Traders in the West (Beyond the Bubble)
- Cherokee Removal and Federalism (Library of Congress)
The American West
Politics-Economics
- Clay’s American System (Beyond the Bubble)
- Primary Sources: The Monroe Doctrine (Newsela, free account)
- Chapter X: Parties in the United States” from Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville, 1835 (State Historical Society of Iowa)
Antebellum South
- Nat Turner’s Rebellion (CK-12)
- Antebellum South (Beyond the Bubble)
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Work, Labor, and the Industrial Revolution (1840-1900) (Southern Economy)
Labor
- Labor History (Beyond the Bubble)
- African American Workers (Beyond the Bubble)
- 1877 Railroad Strike (Beyond the Bubble)
Slavery Institution
- Legal Divisions (Newsela, pro account)
- Lincoln and Race (CK-12)
- Great Debates Over Slavery (Newsela, pro account)
- Exposing Slavery (Newsela, free account)
Slave Perspective
- The People behind the name- Primary sources
- Primary Sources: Excerpts from Harriet Jacobs’ Slave Narrative, Part One (Newsela, free account)
- Primary Sources: Excerpts from Harriet Jacobs’ Slave Narrative, Part Two (Newsela, free account)
- Slave Quarters (Beyond the Bubble)
- A Perspective on Slavery (Beyond the Bubble)
Abolitionists
- John Brown (CK-12)
- John Brown’s Legacy (Beyond the Bubble)
- John Brown (Beyond the Bubble)
- Primary Sources: Conductor on the Underground Railroad Part One (Newsela, free account)
- Primary Sources: Conductor on the Underground Railroad Part Two (Newsela, free account)
Immigration
- Irish Immigration (CK-12)
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Civil War and Reconstruction (1860-1880)
Battles-Soldiers accounts on the battles
- Attack on Fort Sumter (Beyond the Bubble)
- Morale after Fredericksburg (Beyond the Bubble)
- Pickett’s Charge (Beyond the Bubble)
- Experiences of Soldiers in War-Civil War (History Forge)
- Gardner’s Civil War Photography (Beyond the Bubble)
The Home Front
- The New York City Draft Riots (CK-12)
- Women in War-Civil War (History Forge)
President Abraham Lincoln
- Primary Sources: Lincoln Declares Thanksgiving a National Holiday (Newsela, free account)
- Primary Sources: Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation (Newsela, free account)
African American Freedom
- The Political Cartoons of Thomas Nest (CK-12)
- Sharecropping (CK-12)
- Reconstruction Riots (Beyond the Bubble)
Politics
- President Grant and Horace Greeley (Beyond the Bubble)
- Changing the U.S. Constitution-15th Amendment (Newsela, free account)
- Reconstruction: Great Help Or Epic Fail? (Newsela, free account)
Society
- The KKK in the 1870s (Beyond the Bubble)
Women
- Women’s Rights (Beyond the Bubble)
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Progressive Era, Imperialism, and the Nadir of American race relations (1880-1920)
Politics
- Creating Columbus Day (Beyond the Bubble)
- Primary Sources: Plessy v. Ferguson (Newsela, free account)
- Changing The U.S. Constitution-19th amendment (Newsela, free account)
- Anarchism and the Haymarket Affair (Beyond the Bubble)
- Haymarket Aftermath (Beyond the Bubble)
Immigration, Class and Racism
- Immigration (Beyond the Bubble)
- Chinese Immigration (CK-12)
- Friends of the Indian (CK-12)
- Jacob Riis (Newsela, free account)
- Jacob Riis (CK-12)
- Jacob Riis (Beyond the Bubble)
- Jacob Riis’s Urban Photography (Beyond the Bubble)
- Primary Sources: W.E.B. Du Bois’ Criticism of Booker T. Washington (Newsela, free account)
- Mexican Immigration in the 1920s (Beyond the Bubble)
- Native American Rights (Beyond the Bubble)
Memory of Antebellum South
- Post-Civil War South (Beyond the Bubble)
- “To My Old Master” (Newsela, free account)
Women
- Letter from a Kansas housewife to Thomas Edison (Newsela, free account)
- Edison and the Kansas Housewife (Beyond the Bubble)
The Role of Women (Beyond the Bubble)
Labor History
- Standard Oil Company (Beyond the Bubble)
- Photographs of Working Children (Beyond the Bubble)
- Children Working in Mines (Beyond the Bubble)
- The Rockefeller Foundation (Beyond the Bubble)
- Lewis Hine (Beyond the Bubble)
Military History-Imperialism
- Explosion of the USS Maine (Beyond the Bubble)
- Connections to the Philippine-American War (Beyond the Bubble)
- Opposition to the Philippine-American War (Beyond the Bubble)
American Imperialism (Beyond the Bubble)
Native American History
- The Case of the Clock (Beyond the Bubble)
Environmental-Science History
- The Conservation Movement (Beyond the Bubble)