Explore North Carolina's colonial history with these digital Primary Source Sets from the State Archives of North Carolina.

Students will explore the personalities of the Revolutionary War's Patriots and Loyalists by participating in a character role play. The lesson will culminate with students researching and writing a character sketch of a key Revolutionary figure of their choice and participating in a Colonial Town Hall & Debate.

This teacher's packet is designed to provide Middle and High School Teachers ideas and tools to explore the history of Victor Green's travel guide for Black travelers during the Jim Crow era in North Carolina. It provides lessons and activities to take a closer look at this time period in our state's history and learn about the NC businesses featured in Victor Green's books.

In this lesson, students will explain the causes, major events, and consequences of the Civil War by examining how the differences between the North and South create conflict and war between the two regions.

In this lesson, students explore the different regions of North Carolina and how the topography of the region affected economic, social, and political development by completing one of the projects options included.

In this lesson, students will learn how the North Carolina Constitution is relevant in today’s world. They will view and take guided notes from a Power Point that explains the changes made to the state Constitution since its ratification in 1776, helping students understand that the state Constitution is a “living document” and that is can be updated to reflect the times while keeping its core principals the same. Students will then complete a “Comparing Constitutions Scavenger Hunt” where they will examine the NC and US Constitutions and compare the differences and similarities. The lesson culminates in a “You Be the NC Supreme Court Justice” activity where students examine a scenario and determine its constitutionality.

In this lesson, students will learn about the tobacco industry, from the tobacco farm to the tobacco warehouse and auction, and its impact on the people involved. Students will particularly focus on downtown Durham in the 1900s, whose tobacco warehouse district became a hub of the tobacco trade. Through the exploration of Main Street, Carolina’s digital history project on Preservation Durham’s Tobacco Heritage Trail (http://mainstreet.lib.unc.edu/projects/tobacco_durham/index.php/), as well as through readings, class discussion, primary source examination (photographs, music, videos, etc.), creative writing, and more, students will gain a comprehensive sense of the vibrant culture and rich history of tobacco in North Carolina. In a culminating group project, students will apply their understanding by researching, designing, and presenting a “living” exhibit for a museum on “North Carolina’s Tobacco History and Culture.”

This online exhibit explores Victor Green's travel guide, The Green Book, which helped Black travelers during the Jim Crow era. The exhibit takes a closer look at the North Carolina businesses that were featured in his book, and what life was like for Black travelers in North Carolina during this time.

In this lesson, students will receive an introduction/overview of the US Constitution through reading, an optional Power Point presentation and class discussion. Focusing on the underlying principles of the US Constitution, students will create public service announcements on the Constitution, its relevance, and the principle assigned to their group. In presenting their PSAs to classmates, students will review and learn additional details regarding how the US Constitution defines the framework and organization of our national government.

This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 8th Grade Social Studies. 

This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 8th Grade Social Studies.

In this lesson, students will employ their detective skills to examine the life, ideals, and actions of John Brown, one of historyʹs most controversial abolitionists. Reviewing primary source documents regarding Brown’s actions throughout the 1850s, students will work with partners in an inquiry activity to learn about the righteous crusade Brown waged against slavery, based in religious faith yet often carried out with violence.  Applying critical thinking skills to the “evidence” presented regarding Brown, students will make a “detective’s” determination regarding Brown’s character and the justifiability of his actions.

Students will explore how various black entrepreneurs thrived in Durham's downtown, so much so that Durham's Parrish Street was soon known as Black Wall Street. Students will gain a sense of the challenges overcome and successes experienced by the various black entrepreneurs and businesses on Black Wall Street.

In this lesson, students examine how various government policies, such as rationing and limited wage increases,impacted Americans’ daily lives during World War II. By examining various government agencies and their war time policies, students will gain insight into how and why the government encroached upon people’s daily lives during the War. Students will apply what they have learned throughout the lesson by creating their own World War II advertising campaign informing Americans how they can contribute to the war effort.

In this lesson, students will explore the history of this nation of immigrants. In the Introductory Activity, students will identify their own countries of heritage, as well as those of their classmates. Students will then identify ethnic groups that migrated to the United States during various historic “waves” of immigration. In the Learning Activities, students will explore video segments from FACES OF AMERICA to develop an understanding of key motivations for immigration, and explore online resources to examine specific immigrant experiences from various points in American history. In the Culminating Activity, students will utilize their historical knowledge and examination of case studies to develop a brief narrative summarizing the experiences, aspirations, and emotions of a hypothetical immigrant to the United States in the past or the present.

In this series of three lessons, the students examine transportation and its impact on our nation (and vice versa) since the United States declared its independence in 1776. Lesson 1 focuses on improvements in transportation during the 19th century, particularly the development of a national rail system, to show how invention, innovation and infrastructure encouraged western expansion and economic growth. Lesson 2 moves on to the 20th century focusing on the development of auto transport and aviation. The impact on communities and world trade, for both good and bad, is examined. Lesson 3 calls upon the students to create a class time line of transportation milestones; the time line will help the students more clearly understand the factors, especially the economic incentives, that have played a key role in what has been called the 'Transportation Revolution.'

On March 23, 1849, Henry Brown began one of the most dramatic escapes from slavery in Americanhistory. In this lesson plan, students will learn about the institution of slavery by examining the life and experiences of Henry “Box” Brown, focusing on his innovative escape when mailing himself from a slave state to a free state. Through participation in activities such as class discussion, reading excerpts of The Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown, Written by Himself, and the creation of their own art and dramatic presentation based on Henry’s life and experiences, students will learn about the complexities of slavery and freedom in the 1800s.

In this lesson, students explore the various options for ending the war with Japan by simulating a meeting of President Truman’s advisory committee.  Students will also evaluate Truman’s decision to drop two atomic bombs on Japan. This activity is adapted from a lesson by the Constitutional Rights Foundation (http://www.crf‐usa.org/bill‐of‐rights‐in‐action/bria‐15‐3‐b‐choices‐truman‐hirohito‐and‐the‐atomic‐bomb.html.)

In this lesson, students analyze primary and secondary source documents to make claims regarding slave life at Mount Vernon. As an optional extension, they can create a biography about one of the individuals identified.