Resource Library
Find compelling classroom resources, learn new teaching methods, meet standards, and make a difference in the lives of your students.
We are grateful to The Hammer Family Foundation for supporting the development of our on-demand learning and teaching resources.
Introducing Our US History Curriculum Collection
Draw from this flexible curriculum collection as you plan any middle or high school US history course. Featuring units, C3-style inquiries, and case studies, the collection will help you explore themes of democracy and freedom with your students throughout the year.
A Nucleus of Ordinary Men (en español)
In Spanish, consider the role that secrecy and fear play in mob violence with W. E. B. Du Bois’ analysis of the Ku Klux Klan’s power.
Presidential Reconstruction
Investigate aspects of President Andrew Johnson’s plans for Reconstruction that outlined how to bring former Confederate citizens and states back into the Union.
Reconstructing Mississippi
Learn about the accomplishments of the first interracial legislature in Mississippi from the account of John Roy Lynch, a freedman who served in the state’s House of Representatives.
Reconstructing Mississippi (en español)
In Spanish, learn about the accomplishments of the first interracial legislature in Mississippi from the account of John Roy Lynch, a freedman who served in the state’s House of Representatives.
The Reconstruction Acts of 1867
This reading examines measures of the Reconstruction Acts of 1867, which enacted the plan that became known as Radical Reconstruction.
A Right to the Land
Freedman Bayley Wyatt advocates for freedpeople's rights to their land at a public meeting.
A Right to the Land (en español)
In Spanish, Freedman Bayley Wyatt advocates for freedpeople's rights to their land at a public meeting.
The Role of Carpetbaggers
Alexander White, a white congressman from Alabama, describes the role that “carpetbaggers” and “scalawags” played in Reconstruction politics.
Savannah Freedpeople Express Their Aspirations for Freedom
Read an excerpt from the transcript of the Savannah Colloquy, a meeting between Union officials and Savannah’s Black community in January 1865. This reading is available in Spanish.
Savannah Freedpeople Express Their Aspirations for Freedom (en español)
In Spanish, read an excerpt from the transcript of the Savannah Colloquy, a meeting between Union officials and Savannah’s Black community in January 1865.
Sharecropping Contract
In this sharecropping contract, farmer Thomas J. Ross agrees to employ Freedmen to plant and raise a crop on his Rosstown Plantation in Shelby County, Tennessee.