The Library of Congress holds thousands of the most important primary sources on slavery and opposition to it and has devoted extensive and thoughtful labor to bringing them to the public. (See also the CES Primary Source Set: “Civil War and Reconstruction”). This primary source set offers distinct and vitally important sources not included in other primary source sets.

The following unit plan highlights how patterns of immigration are both similar and different for immigrant groups coming to America. The cornerstone of the unit is a diagram and PowerPoint Presentation detailing the progression of the immigrant experience that serves as a model for a variety of immigrant groups. Included in the set is a Universal Design for Learning chart and an extensive annotated list of primary source documents from the Library of Congress provide a visual reinforcement of the immigrant journey both before, during, and after their arrival in the United States.

Included in the following primary source set are a variety of resources ranging from sheet music to promotional fliers and propaganda materials. Immigrants in the United States during and after the wartime era surrounding WWI were encouraged to offer their support in a variety of contexts. The first worldwide war (called the Great War at the time) roiled emotions for immigrants from countries all over the globe. Loyalty became a priority. At the same time, immigration from most European countries of origin became impossible.

This two-day lesson is based on students acquiring a better understanding of the effects the Great Depression had on migrant workers and their children as portrayed in the novel: Esperanza Rising. The use of photographs, as primary sources, will support understanding of this time period, as well as provoking oral discussion among English Language Learner students. As a summative assessment, students are asked to write a paragraph explaining their increased understanding of the time period through the use of primary source documents.

Find more resources on how to organize local history civic engagement and service-learning projects at http://emergingamerica.orgprograms/windows-on-history/. The following resource is a set of slides created for the Windows on History graduate course for teachers, supported by the Library of Congress TPS Program at CES.

Slides created for the Windows on History graduate course for teachers, supported by the Library of Congress TPS Program at CES. Find more resources on how to organize local history civic engagement and service-learning projects at http://emergingamerica.orgprograms/windows-on-history/.

The subject of American Indian history and culture is generally not emphasized significantly in American history curriculum and classrooms. Without more focused study on the culture, history, politics, and society of the indigenous first peoples of the United States, a truly holistic history of America is impossible. The following primary source set focuses on material culture produced about and by American Indians.

What impact did the Magna Carta have on the U.S. Constitution and the shaping of the 14th Amendment? In the following lesson plan students will trace both the origins and results of the Magna Carta in the context of the U.S. Constitution and the 14th Amendment. With a particular emphasis placed on the due process of law, students will analyze and organize primary source documents ranging from a British Court of Common Pleas from 1610 to Chief Justice Warren’s notes on Miranda v. Arizona in 1966.