These lesson plans highlight different perspectives on the American Revolution, the early American republic, and the continued efforts to create a more perfect union throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These classroom resources help teachers engage students with unique primary sources and themes of democracy and citizenship throughout U.S. history. Developed by The National Endowment for the Humanities and NHD.
Articles
“Toward A More Perfect Union”
The American Revolution in Four Questions: Digging Deeper for Unfamiliar Stories
Principles of the Constitution: Inventing We the People
An Incomplete Revolution
Lesson Plans
18th Century
A Voter’s Guide to Post-French and Indian War Policy
Fighting With Words and Deeds: Founding Mothers Breaking Stereotypes in Revolutionary America
Quelling the Whiskey Rebellion: Taking a Stand for Our Future
Opposition to the Alien and Sedition Acts
19th Century
The Monroe Doctrine: Debating America’s Defense of Indepedence Abroad
Expanding the Vote in the Jacksonian Era
A More Perfect Union: Women and the Abolition Movement
“A Most Practical Movement”: The Civil Engagement of Black Americans During Reconstruction to Gain and Exercise Equal Rights
Buffalo Soldiers: Protecting the American West
The Language of Resistance: Native American Boarding Schools
Challenging School Desegregation: The Fight of Chinese Americans
Early 20th Century
African American Suffragists and the Nineteenth Amendment
The Great Migration: Putting It All Together
National Parks: Perspectives on Preservation and Development
“Separate But Unequal” Citizenship: Puerto Rico Since the Jones-Shafroth Act of 1917
The Seattle General Strike of 1919: Labor Unions Uniting for Change
The NAACP’s Mission to Forge a More Perfect Union
Doing Her Civic Duty: Anna Coleman Ladd and the American Red Cross
The Indian Citizenship Act and the Meaning of American Citizenship
Exclusion or Inclusion: The Japanese Struggle to Own Land in California
Mid to Late 20th Century
Then and Today: Mendez v. Westminster
You’re Invited!: A Dinner Party with Heroines of the Civil Rights Movement
Uncovering the Contributions of Bayard Rustin
The 1968 Indian Civil Rights Act: From Termination to Self-Determination
Exploring the Impact of U.S. Immigration Policy in the Twentieth Century
Rising Tides of Immigration During the Cold War
Building a More Inclusive Electorate: The Voter Education Project 1966–1977
The Equal Rights Amendment: Debating a More Perfect Union
The Americans with Disabilities Act: Taking Action for Access
The Long Path Toward LGBTQ+ Rights
