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.
![A group of high school students sit at desks in conversation.](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_480/public/2023-10/AdobeStock_254378868.jpg?itok=f6YAphey)
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.
Chinese Immigrants Write to President Grant
Chinese leaders in California write to President Ulysses S. Grant in 1876 about the discrimination their communities face from a rising anti-Chinese movement.
![President Ulysses S. Grant, half-length portrait, seated, facing right](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Ulysses_Grant_1869_FH21412.jpg?h=4b9455f5&itok=BuGykV5F)
Chinese Immigrants Write to President Grant (en español)
In Spanish, Chinese leaders in California write to President Ulysses S. Grant in 1876 about the discrimination their communities face from a rising anti-Chinese movement.
![President Ulysses S. Grant, half-length portrait, seated, facing right](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Ulysses_Grant_1869_FH21412.jpg?h=4b9455f5&itok=BuGykV5F)
Steve Biko Calls for Black Consciousness
Activist Steve Biko’s speech links white racism to the Black Consciousness movement, calling on black South Africans to create their own power to fight oppression.
![Steve Biko spearheaded the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) in South Africa from the mid 1960s until his death while in police custody in 1977.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Democracy_2018_SteveBiko_FH282029.jpg?h=39c2980c&itok=RY4sYtvP)
What Is Ethical?: The Case of Polaroid
Consider the case study of Polaroid, in which opposing sides (Polaroid Revolutionary Workers Movement and Polaroid) voice their reasoning of whether or not to divest from South Africa.
![Caroline Hunter wears a “No Bullshit, Boycott Polaroid” campaign button.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/2018_CarolineHunterBoycottPolaroid_FH282021.jpg?h=7784dd4d&itok=AQ66r1aS)
Apartheid Policies
Read the National Party’s 1948 statement in support of apartheid, which justifies separation as a way to preserve the white European race.
![The Reservation of Separate Amenities Act (passed in 1953) led to signs such as the one shown above. The Act prohibited people of different races from using the same public amenities.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Apartheid_Era_Sign.jpg?h=77e8015d&itok=b86oNSyE)
Experiencing Apartheid
Writer Mtutuzeli Matshoba provides a vivid account of life under apartheid through the story of his friend who was forcibly ejected from his home.
![A child walks to school through the barren village of Qunu, South Africa, located just outside of the town of Mthatha.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Democracy_2013_GirlWalkingtoSchoolMthatha_FH281816.jpg?h=a5f2f23a&itok=lR43Ngto)
Amin Maalouf Histoires d’Identité
Amin Maalouf, écrivain et auteur français, parle du besoin de trouver de nouvelles façons de penser l'identité.
![A student reads a handout in the classroom.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/UK_ClassroomImage_2019_FH2117918.jpg?h=79583b4d&itok=p7P8_T0w)
The Freedom Charter
Examine the 1955 Freedom Charter, established by the ANC and supporting groups, which calls for all races to enjoy equal rights, protections, and benefits under the law.
![A group of resisters proudly pose after their release from prison in Durban during the Defiance Campaign Against Unjust Laws, 1952.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Democracy_1952_TheDefianceCampaign_FH281822.jpg?h=56feb499&itok=2LnEBZM4)
Mandela on Trial
Nelson Mandela describes the ANC and PAC’s shift from non-violent resistance of apartheid to violent sabotage under the militant faction MK in his testimony during the Rivonia Trial.
!["A young Nelson Mandela poses for a photograph in Umtata shortly before moving to Fort Beaufort to attend Healdtown Comprehensive School. "](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Nelson_Mandela_Medium_res.jpg?h=623540e1&itok=0V950_BY)
A Wife's Lament
Consider the unique experiences of black South African women during apartheid, many of whom were forced to live far away from their husbands on bantustans.
![A group of women hold signs in demonstration against the pass laws in Cape Town on August 9, 1956, the same day as the massive women’s protest in Pretoria.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Democracy_1956_WomenResistPassLaws_FH281823.jpg?h=cb9047e7&itok=NA94IMQt)
Afrikaner Identity
Examine the tension between two white European groups in South Africa, the Afrikaners (formerly Boers) and the English, in Afrikaner politician Francis Reitz’s A Century of Wrong.
![The Boers, semi-nomadic farmers of Dutch descent, often lived in impoverished conditions due to social isolation and their views on racial superiority.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Boer_Family_1886.jpg?h=412eaa8a&itok=9uWPTy6b)