Changes in voting qualifications and participation, the election of Andrew Jackson, and the formation of the Democratic Party"”due largely to the organizational skills of Martin Van Buren"”all contributed to making the election of 1828 and Jackson's presidency a watershed in the evolution of the American political system.

This online textbook is designed for grade 8 and up and covers all of North Carolina history, from the arrival of the first people some 12,000 years ago to the present. There are eleven parts, organized chronologically, a collection of primary sources, readings, and multimedia that can be rearranged to meet the needs of the classroom. Special web-based tools aid reading and model historical inquiry, helping students build critical thinking and literacy skills.

By examining Lincoln's three most famous speeches the Gettysburg Address and the First and Second Inaugural Addresses in addition to a little known fragment on the Constitution, union, and liberty, students trace what these documents say regarding the significance of union to the prospects for American self-government.

PBS American Experience’s Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Dividedis a 6 episode mini-series available as a 3 DVD set. The following activity focuses on the causes and consequences of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation through an active viewing of Episode 4: The Dearest of All Things(Disc 2). There is a companion website to the series, The Time of the Lincolns, that contains a Teacher’s Guide, primary sources, and episode transcripts.

Containing more than 50 articles from the award-winning Tar Heel Junior Historian magazine and over 40 lesson plans, this multidisciplinary Educator Notebook will enrich your exploration of North Carolina and American history with diverse perspectives. This resource's link takes you to a very short form that gives you free downloadable access to the complete PDF book.

In this lesson, students understand the provisions of the Alien and Sedition Acts within their political and constitutional contexts. Students will explore the issues raised by the prosecutions under these acts and the larger constitutional issues they raised, including a comparison of antebellum political conflicts and current issues.

In this lesson, students learn about the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. Discussion questions are provided. In an associated activity, students extend their understanding by studying free speech and free press issues of the 20th century. Students will look up some of these important Supreme Court cases and report back to the class.

A chapter from The American Yawp open source history textbook focusing on, "The American Revolution."

In this activity, students will delve into some of the revolutionary documents and consider the ideas of "authority" and "power" from the perspectives of those who had such a great stake in America's revolutionary struggle.

In this lesson, students will compare/contrast the information in their textbook about Andrew Jackson to political cartoons of the era. Students will identify symbols, allusions and stereotypes used in these cartoons and infer the intended message and tone of the Jackson era cartoons. Students will also identify any biases in the cartoons and check for historical accuracy, and then formulate their own opinion about the Jackson Administration. As a culminating activity, students will write an opinion essay that articulates their personal stance on Andrew Jackson’s character, using proper writing conventions.

Students compare their state's constitution to the U.S. Constitution, explain how the two documents illustrate federalism, and evaluate the need for state constitutions.

In this lesson, students attempt to formulate their own declaration before examining the Declaration of Independence. Through a close reading of the document, they come to an understanding of how its structure forms a coherent, lucid, and powerful argument for independence.

In this lesson, students read and interpret eighteenth-century documents in order to make inferences about the nature and characteristics of slavery. Students will communicate findings via annotated diagrams in order to develop a comprehensive picture of slavery in eighteenth-century Virginia.

Students will analyze primary sources to understand the necessary and proper clause; and learn about the war debt and currency issues to better understand the national bank debate.

In this lesson, students will examine documents, narratives and maps to gain understanding of the significance of the battle of Trenton. By the end of this lesson, students will be able to write a BCR (single paragraph essay) explaining why the battle of Trenton was a turning point in the American Revolution, citing evidence from an eyewitness account of the battle and Thomas Paine's American Crisis.

The goal of this inquiry is to help students analyze a pivotal event within the American Revolution. Students look at the grievances of American colonists prior to 1773, and then examine their choice of action, as well as the British response. This inquiry invites students to use multiple perspectives to assess historic and modern-day cries for justice and why revolutionaries often break laws to further their cause.

Students will learn about the events leading up to the Revolutionary War and develop an understanding of the causes of Patriot resentment of the British. Students will experience emotions similar to those felt by colonists by participating in an experiential activity and represent various opinions of the time by creating a political cartoon focused on a particular event, tax, act, or law.

A chapter from The American Yawp open source history textbook focusing on, "The Civil War."

In this lesson, students will analyze primary sources to identify the perspectives of various political parties regarding the Kansas Nebraska Act and Scott v. Sandford in order to write an ECR (multi-paragraph essay) which determines the impact these events had on national political unity.

Students will analyze several eighteenth-century documents to determine colonial opinions of Great Britain's attempts to tax the colonists in the 1760s.