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.
The Government’s “Statement of Reconciliation”
Learn about the 1980s response of the Canadian government to the long-lasting effects of residential schools on indigenous communities.
Prime Minister Harper's Apology
As part of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established. Before its work got under way, Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a public apology on June 11, 2008, on behalf of the Canadian government. The apology is part of the process arranged by the government and the First Nations as parties to the agreement, part of an overall attempt to address the government’s role in the history of the Indian Residential Schools.
The Charge of Genocide
In the 1990s, residential schools scholars and many indigenous leaders began to argue that the efforts of the Canadian government to assimilate the Indigenous Peoples in the residential schools embodied the principle of cultural genocide: assimilation was intended to destroy the Indigenous Peoples as culturally distinct group.
Prime Minister Harper’s Apology
The apology is part of the process arranged by the government and the First Nations as parties to the agreement, part of an overall attempt to address the government’s role in the history of the Indian Residential Schools.
Faith Despite a Broken World
Read personal reflections on retaining faith after the Holocaust from Jewish scholars and writers.
The Danger of a Single Story
Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie challenges us to consider the power of stories to influence identity, shape stereotypes, and build paths to empathy.
We Need a New American Founding
Scholar Eddie S. Glaude draws from the history of Reconstruction and the the Civil Rights movement to call for a “new American founding.” This reading is available in Spanish.
The Invention of the “Indian”
One of the first acts of the European colonization of the Americas was an act of naming or, more accurately, misnaming.
Colonization
When the European powers set their sights on North America, some three hundred years after the so-called discovery of the continent (which for them was the “New World”), it became a location for French and British settlements.
Colonial Power Struggle
War and political changes also contributed to the destruction of indigenous ways, livelihoods, and physical existence.
How It Feels to Be Colored Me
Zora Neale Hurston describes her sense of identity and experience being a black woman in this 1928 essay.