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.
Wesley Lowery's Arrest
Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery describes how he was arrested in Ferguson, Missouri, and explains how freedom of the press was threatened during the protests.
Terrence Roberts on Understanding History
Dr. Terrence Roberts, one of the Little Rock Nine, speaks about the importance of understanding the history of segregation and civil rights to combat racism and discrimination today.
What Does It Mean to “Be American?”
Here are a selection of answers to New York Times reporter Damien Cave’s question, “What does it mean to be American?”
The Wooden Shoes
A high school student tells the story behind a pair of wooden shoes and their connection to her family's history in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
James Baldwin’s Lesson for Teachers in a Time of Turmoil
This 2017 essay by author and former high school teacher Clint Smith draws connections between the role of education in past turbulent historical times and the present political climate.
Race and Belonging in Colonial America: The Story of Anthony Johnson
Learn about Anthony Johnson, a Black forced laborer who became free in seventeenth-century Virginia.
Black Officeholders in the South
These tables provide data about African American officeholders in the South during Reconstruction.
Changing Names
Three formerly enslaved people discuss their names and the changes they underwent after Emancipation.
The Civil Rights Act of 1866
This is the full text of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which made freedpeople citizens.
Collaborators and Bystanders
Historian Eric Foner explains the various ways white Southerners showed support for the Ku Klux Klan during the Reconstruction era.
Congress Debates the Fourteenth Amendment
Quotations from the 1866 congressional debate over the Fourteenth Amendment help students clarify what the amendment says and its significance.