One of the heroes of the Battle of Bunker Hill was Salem Poor, an African American. Black people fought on both sides during the American Revolution. Census data also reveal that there were slaves and free Blacks living in the North in 1790 and after. What do we know about African-American communities in the North in the years after the American Revolution?

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.

About one-third of Patriot soldiers at the Battle of Bunker Hill were African Americans. Census data also reveal that there were slaves and free Blacks living in the North in 1790 and later years. What were the experiences of African-American individuals in the North in the years between the American Revolution and the Civil War?

In this lesson, students examine two reform movements - anti-slavery and women's rights. In addition to learning about the beliefs and motivations of each group, students will seek cultural connections among the various reform impulses.

This lesson explores the reasons for the development of the tenant farming and sharecropping system in the post-Civil War era. Using primary sources (pictures and labor contracts), the lesson presents some of the situations that caused the system to develop. It covers the lifestyle of the farmers and investigates the reasons for the decrease in the system of tenant farming and sharecropping after the Depression and World War II.

Albion W. Tourg spent his lifetime (1838--1905) dedicated to fighting for equality and justice, during a period when rights for many were severely restricted or entirely denied. In this lesson, students will learn about the life and contributions of Albion Tourg through class discussion, reading, and group work.

The purpose of this lesson is to help students understand how landowners and freedmen met their needs following the Civil War through sharecropping. Students will also gain an understanding of the challenges that came along with being a sharecropper and become aware of the disparity that remained between freedmen and landowners despite the end of slavery.

Why was the Emancipation Proclamation important? While the Civil War began as a war to restore the Union, not to end slavery, by 1862 President Abraham Lincoln came to believe that he could save the Union only by broadening the goals of the war. Students can explore the obstacles and alternatives America faced in making the journey toward "a more perfect Union."

This activity asks students to analyze three primary documents about the experiences of young women who worked in textile factories in New England during the 1830s and 1840s. It provides worksheets to guide and support students in writing a paragraph that cites evidence about the documents.

In this lesson, students will use documents from 1865 to 1902 to examine the impact of Reconstruction on African American Rights. It is the student’s role to determine the extent to which this impact resulted more broadly in change or continuity for African Americans. By the end of this lesson, students will be able to evaluate the impact of Reconstruction on African American rights by analyzing documents and completing a Brief Constructed Response (BCR).

This inquiry leads students through an investigation of western expansion in America as an example of how nations often develop policies that help to expand and organize their land and how expansion sometimes leads to war.  Through an examination of primary and secondary sources, students will learn how to develop arguments supported by evidence that answer the compelling question “Did Americans achieve the American Dream through Manifest Destiny?”

Supporting Question I What positives can be seen to the Industrial Revolution?Supporting Question II What negatives can be seen to the Industrial Revolution?Supporting Question IIIWhat we’re lasting impacts on America and the American people due to the Industrial Revolution?  

In the 1800s Irish immigrants to the United States faced intense discrimination. The treatment of the Irish raises the historical question of whether the Irish were considered "white" in the 19th century. In this lesson, students examine political cartoons, a Know-Nothing party speech, and a historian's account to consider how racial categories may be ambiguous and change over time.

In this lesson, students will evaluate the extent to which Andrew Jackson deserves to be celebrated as champion of democracy by selecting evidence to support one's assigned position. Students will complete a DBQ (document-based question) essay using the documents they select.

Discover the stories of the men, women, and children that were enslaved and lived at Vance Birthplace in the mountains of North Carolina from 1795-1865. This audio tour was completed in partnership with the North Carolina African American Heritage Commission.

Frederick Douglass's 1845 narrative of his life is a profile in both moral and physical courage. In the narrative Douglass openly illustrates and attacks the misuse of Christianity as a defense of slavery. He also reveals the turning point of his life: his spirited physical defense of himself against the blows of a white "slave-breaker."

With this digital collection, students will examine documents that offer differing views of the Mississippi in the early part of the nineteenth century.

In this activity students research roles as either Irish immigrants or African-American residents in the midst of the New York City Draft Riots that took place in July 1863. Students gather evidence from primary sources to develop their characters, based on actual census records, and then enact a role play debating whether to stay in the city or flee (if they are African American) and whether to participate in the riots or protect their black neighbors (if they are Irish immigrants).

In this lesson, students recognize reasons for isolation of the early Mormons and see how these factors set in motion a series of confrontations.

In this lesson, students will analyze multiple sources to write an extended response evaluating the effectiveness of the federal government's attempts to utilize the Freedmen's Bureau to implement and enforce the "Reconstruction Amendments" in the south between the years of 1865-1877.