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.
Defining Human Rights
Students create a definition for a "right" in order to explore the challenges faced by the UN Commission on Human Rights to create an international framework of rights for all human beings.
![A black and white photo of Eleanor Roosevelt holding a large copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Spanish.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/19_ER_with_UDHR.jpg?h=765edc00&itok=7RVP-8e7)
The Union As It Was
Students examine documents that shed light on life in the South under the policies of Presidential Reconstruction in 1865 and 1866.
![Photo shows a group of six African American men and women posed picking cotton in a field.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Civil_Rights_Picking_Cotton_Savannah_1867_FH2177912.jpg?h=2b78d577&itok=DpnqiD0k)
Radical Reconstruction and the Birth of Civil Rights
Students learn about the responses to Johnson’s policies by Republicans in Congress and examine the fourteenth amendment that overturned Presidential Reconstruction.
![Photo of page 1 of the 14th amendment of the US Constitution](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Civil_Rights_1868_14th_Amendment_of_the_United_States_Constitution_%20FH21203.jpg?h=4359e9ca&itok=4j99BHvV)
Expanding Democracy
Students reflect on the revolutionary changes that occurred because of the landmark legislation and amendments passed during the Reconstruction era.
![A studio portrait shows African American members of the General Assembly from 1887 to 1888](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Civil_Rights_1887_Members_of_the_Virginia_GA_FH21416.jpg?h=4b21dcd5&itok=ZtAL-w-Y)
The Struggle over Women’s Rights
Students learn about the debate within the women’s rights movement over the passage of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments.
![Five black women officers sitting for a portrait](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/5_female_Negro_officers_Womens_League_Newport_RI_Public_Domain.jpeg?h=1e888344&itok=0nc29UPK)
Equality for All
Students explore some of the limitations of Reconstruction's transformation on US democracy and learn about groups who demanded that the promise of equality be made a reality.
![Seated portrait of women's voting rights advocate Susan B. Anthony.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Ch02_Image05.png?h=498cfac0&itok=w8RpswXr)
The Power of Representation: Patsy Takemoto Mink, Shirley Chisholm, and Kamala Harris
Use this mini-lesson to help students learn about the groundbreaking careers of Patsy Takemoto Mink and Shirley Chisholm and to consider the significance of Vice President Kamala Harris’s election.
![Kamala Harris being sworn in as the 49th Vice President of the United States.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/USA-Biden%3AInauguration_2021_FH2143511.jpg.JPG?h=790be497&itok=4KIchZQ-)
Backlash and the KKK
Students learn about the violent responses to the transformation of US democracy that occurred as a result of Radical Reconstruction.
![Black and white photo of the house committee](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Civil_Rights_House_Committee_Investigating_KKK_2021_FH2177934.jpg?h=a9a611f7&itok=-pUVaIhR)
Shifting Public Opinion
Students examine the factors that led many northerners to turn against federal policies passed during the Reconstruction era that protected freedpeople.
![A drawn picture of people crowding into the Fourth National Bank](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Civil_Rights_1873_The_Panic_Run_Fourth_National_Bank_FH2177935.jpg?h=42c383de&itok=6Sqx22pi)
Political Violence and the Overthrow of Reconstruction
Students learn about the period of violence in the South from 1873-1876 and examine its role in influencing elections and ending Republican control of Southern state governments.
![A picture of one hand holding down another hand on top of a gun and a pile of papers](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Civil_Rights_1877_truce_not_compromise_FH21406.jpg?h=312fc7ac&itok=MV62_lKt)
The Unfinished Revolution
Students explore the legacies of the Reconstruction era today, reflect on the idea of democracy as a continuous process, and consider how they can best participate in the ongoing work of strengthening our democracy.
![Demonstrators march down Pennsylvania Avenue with signs for Black Lives Matter](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/GettyImages-1243915005.jpg?h=854cce58&itok=t3udj4vL)