English Dutch French German Italian Portuguese Russian Spanish

Search

Teaching Resources

Welcome to the Emerging America resource library. Browse our ever-growing collection of primary source sets, lesson plans, classroom assessments, and more, developed by teachers and edited for quality and consistency. Use the controls in the blue box to search and filter by Type, Subject, Time Period, and Grade Level. NOTE: Use the website search engine (above) to find resources–such as apps and curriculum from other organizations–that appear only in the blog.
Young Russian men and women striding forward carrying flags; in lower right corner are caricatures of Winston Churchill and Uncle Sam, holding a money bag, looking over their shoulders at the scene above.

The following primary source set explores documents depicting life and events during the Cold War Era. A few topics, such as Civil Rights, have been organized by the Library of Congress to readily offer many primary sources online. Sections below will reference those resources. The CES primary source set draws upon diverse collections to offer a few high quality illustrations for discussion…

"Torturing women in prison Vote against the government" illustration

The demand for women’s suffrage began in the 1840’s and culminated in 1920 with the passage of the nineteenth amendment. Two competing organizations were established in 1869 and eventually merged in 1890 to become the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Cartoons, newspaper articles, and marches demonstrate the urgency with which women sought this basic democratic right. In…

sounds for the union

The Library of Congress holds the best collection of primary sources anywhere on the Civil War and Reconstruction. (See especially the exhibitions under “d” below.) Therefore, the great challenge is to choose the most significant yet engaging and classroom-friendly from among hundreds of thousands of photos, drawings, newspaper articles, speeches, maps, and songs. Each item in this set focuses…

population famine in ireland 1847

The following immigration flow map is a valuable resource both to further understanding of the progression of the immigration experience and as an example of a flow map for virtually any topic or lesson plan. Tracing the origins of the immigrant decision to leave their homes through their settlement into a new environment, this flow map provides visual clarification through primary source…

""

In the following lesson plan students will examine several primary source images and documents related to Civil War wounded. From the sources, students will develop a narrative about changes in the responsibilities of the federal government in response to the enormous numbers of wounded Union soldiers. This lesson can stand alone or kick off a research project. 

See the online exhibit…