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.
Mendez v. Westminster
Learn about the Mendez family's experience as Mexican Americans fighting against school segregation in Southern California during the 1940s.
Excerpt from Mississippi Black Codes (1865)
The Mississippi Black Codes attempt to codify expectations of freedpeople around topics such as intermarriage and labor laws.
South Carolina "Red Shirts" Battle Plan (1876)
Read an excerpt of the battle plan developed by the “Red Shirts,” a Democratic Party paramilitary group that emerged in South Carolina in the late 19th century.
A Teacher Describes Violence and Intimidation (1875)
J. L. Edmonds, an African American schoolteacher, gave this account of the murder and intimidation before the 1875 election in Clay County, Mississippi.
A Strength of My Neighborhood
A high school student describes how his neighborhood in Los Angeles helps him feel connected to the traditions of his family’s “old world” heritage in Mexico.
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.
Collaborators and Bystanders
Historian Eric Foner explains the various ways white Southerners showed support for the Ku Klux Klan during the Reconstruction era.
Election Violence in Mississippi (1875)
Robert Gleeds, an African American candidate for sheriff in Lowndes County, Mississippi, describes the violence that occurred on the eve of the 1875 election.
The Fourteenth Amendment
This is the full text of the fourteenth amendment to the US Constitution, which granted citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States,” including former slaves recently freed.