Primary
Resources
Documents, online here and available through our partners, for teaching any American History class.
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Social reforms and cultural changes
| How Enlightened Are We? Understanding the impact of Enlightenment ideas in American domestic life through the analysis of personal dwellings |
| Making Connections Finding Deeper Meanings in the Local Community |
| Perceptions of Race: How Do You See Me? An examination of the impact of race on Irish-American and African-American communities, drawing parallels between the antebellum period and the period of forced integration of schools in Boston in the 1970s |
| Understanding Cultural Prejudice Through Sports Mascots Comparing Yesterday and Today |
| Politics, Immigration and Urban Life A Closer Look at the Immigrant Experience |
| Anti-Irish Sentiment – To What Do We Compare this Prejudice? Comparing and Contrasting the Experiences of Irish Immigrants and African Americans |
| Immigration Part I – How does it feel to ‘melt’ in the ‘pot’? An examination of the impact of race on Irish-American and African-American communities, drawing parallels between the antebellum period and the period of forced integration of schools in Boston in the 1970s |
| How Did We Get Here? An exploration of the local effects of immigration policy in the 20th century and today, using primary resources |
| Worker's Griveances and the Lawrence (‘ Bread and Roses’ ) Strike of 1912. An exploration of the local effects of immigration policy in the 20th century and today, using primary resources |
| Working Conditions in the Past, Present and Future An exploration of the local effects of immigration policy in the 20th century and today, using primary resources |
| Bread and Roses Strike Analyzing the use of Propaganda during the Bread and Roses Strike of 1912 |
| Ch-ch-ch-Changes: The Anatomy of a Reform Movement How can citizens legally push for, and achieve, change within their community? |
| Women and Abolition in Massachusetts Comparing and contrasting male and female abolitionist societies |
| The Hidden Voice of the North Discerning the Northern attitude toward slavery |
| Social Norms and Abolition Examining social norms and their effects upon women during the Abolitionist Movement |
| Letter from an Abolitionist Understanding the perspectives of both abolitionists slaves |
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| Race and Power: Examining Resistance to Integration in the North and South Examining how resistance to integration culminated in a battle between state and federal power |
| Civil Rights and Affirmative Action in Education An examination of Affirmative Action as an ongoing process |
| Schools and Race in the 20th Century Using Brown v. Board of Education and the Boston Busing Crisis to examine integration and the quality of education in schools |
| Desegregation is Equal Discovering the truth about whether or not separate can be, or is equal |
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| The Route to Reform in American Via Religion Understanding how the Second Great Awakening contributed to and coexisted with other reform movements of the early 19th century |
| Do Unto Others - The Foundation of the Second Great Awakening How and why did the Second Great Awakening lead to the social reform movements of the 19th Century? |
| “Bound to Aid”: Christianity and the Urgency for Reform in Antebellum America Examining the evangelical zeal prevalent in the early 19th Century and its translations in the public and political sphere. |
| The Legacy of the Second Great Awakening The lasting social legacy of the Second Great Awakening |
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| Prohibition and Suffrage The social and political impact of the 18th and 19th amendments to the Constitution at the start of the 1920s |
| Limits on Immigration - Yes or No? Understanding both sides of the immigration debate of the 1920s |
| Prohibition: Success or Failure? Examining the success or failure of Prohibition, as it directly relates to one's economic status |
| “I’ze got a Bridge to Sell Ya!” –New Advertising Techniques in the 20s How did advertisers use new understandings of psychology to revolutionize the consumer product industry in the 1920s? |
| Sacco and Vanzetti: Justice or Murder? Linking Sacco and Vanzetti to today |
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| Salem Possessed: The Map of Salem of 1692 Using geography to explain the Witch Trials of 1692 |
| Changes in the Economy Examining economic change in Salem, MA |
| Perception vs. Reality: Indians / Puritans Understanding how differences in culture and concepts of land ownership between native Indians and Puritans led to conflict |
| Needs Improvement? Europeans, Indians, and the Land Explaining the differences between American Indians’ views of land use and those of the New England colonists. |
| The Emergence of Industry in New England Identifying the changes that took place in transportation in the early 1800s and how the Industrial Revolution changed methods of production |
| Americanization: A Melting Pot or a Fruit Salad? Taking a closer look at early 20th century immigration and the melting pot theory |
| Progressivism - Then and Now Who were the Progressives, what issues did they chosoe as targets for reform, and what methods did they chose to address those issues? |
| Sinclair’s The Jungle As It Relates to Urbanization, Industrialization, and Immigration of the Progressive Era Analyzing Sinclair's The Jungle and the impact of urbanization, industrialization, and immigration on the immigrants and on the American population and culture. |
| Progressivism and You: Making Change Today What key issues did Progressives seek to reform and what key issues need reform today? |
| FAUX NEWS ALERT: WOMAN SUFFRAGE—A MENACE TO SOCIETY? What were the main arguments for and against Woman Suffrage in the thirty years leading up to the 19th Amendment to the Constitution? |
| Not tired, not huddled, not wretched Discovering the push-pull theory of immigration and the origins and goals of late 19th and 20th century immigrants |
| Southern Slavery What was life like for a slave in the Antebellum South? |
| Was slavery cruel? Examining the true cruelty of slavery and the justification of slave owners. |
| The True Experience of the Peculiar Institution Comparing and contrasting the portrayals of slavery in primary documents and non-fiction and fiction writing. |
| Boun' for de promised land: Harriet Tubman Evaluating the actions and decisions of Harriet Tubman |
| Hannah Valentine and Lethe Jackson, An Insight to Slavery Through Personal Letters Illustrate the dehumanizing aspects of slavery through the letters of Hannah Valentine and Lethe Jackson. |
