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.
The Reconstruction Acts of 1867
This reading examines measures of the Reconstruction Acts of 1867, which enacted the plan that became known as Radical Reconstruction.
![An image of the document “The policy of Congress in reference to the restoration of the Union”](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/reconstruction_act.jpg?h=ff0754a0&itok=gvvtIEwi)
A Right to the Land
Freedman Bayley Wyatt advocates for freedpeople's rights to their land at a public meeting.
![A photo of Black children and young adults on their porch.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/8a16176v.jpg?h=bb50dc57&itok=J6eq8ZB_)
The Role of Carpetbaggers
Alexander White, a white congressman from Alabama, describes the role that “carpetbaggers” and “scalawags” played in Reconstruction politics.
![Caricature of Carl Schurz carrying bags labeled, "carpet bag" and "carpet bagger South."](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Carpetbagger.jpg?h=b7ce557f&itok=XJcyhTwu)
Savannah Freedpeople Express Their Aspirations for Freedom
Read an excerpt from the transcript of the Savannah Colloquy, a meeting between Union officials and Savannah’s Black community in January 1865. This reading is available in Spanish.
![A photo of General Sherman's headquarters.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/03227v.jpg?h=d763378d&itok=qwcC0DDT)
Sharecropping Contract
In this sharecropping contract, farmer Thomas J. Ross agrees to employ Freedmen to plant and raise a crop on his Rosstown Plantation in Shelby County, Tennessee.
![A black and white image of two cotton sharecroppers in a field.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/8b32081v.jpg?h=40282f03&itok=vNvAN43D)
South Carolina Freedpeople Demand Education
Read an excerpt of the resolution passed at an 1865 convention of freedmen in South Carolina that demanded, among other rights, education.
![A black and white image of African American schoolchildren in Liberty County, circa 1890.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Copy_of_m-11013.png?h=d1cb525d&itok=BZqbljCV)
Kimchee on the Seder Plate
Read this reflection on Jewish identity by the daughter of an Ashkenazi, Reform Jewish father and a Korean Buddhist mother.
![A woman and a child light a candle as their family gathers during the Passover Seder.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Ch01_Image04_Medium_res.jpg?h=0429cc9e&itok=d2t6Z_O3)
Excerpt from Mississippi Black Codes (1865)
The Mississippi Black Codes attempt to codify expectations of freedpeople around topics such as intermarriage and labor laws.
![Book cover of American flag with faces over it.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Reconstruction_cover_large.jpg?h=51bee232&itok=yY8xN3AK)
South Carolina "Red Shirts" Battle Plan (1876)
Read an excerpt of the battle plan developed by the “Red Shirts,” a Democratic Party paramilitary group that emerged in South Carolina in the late 19th century.
![Book cover of American flag with faces over it.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Reconstruction_cover_large.jpg?h=51bee232&itok=yY8xN3AK)
A Teacher Describes Violence and Intimidation (1875)
J. L. Edmonds, an African American schoolteacher, gave this account of the murder and intimidation before the 1875 election in Clay County, Mississippi.
![Book cover of American flag with faces over it.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Reconstruction_cover_large.jpg?h=51bee232&itok=yY8xN3AK)
Bielski Brothers’ Biography
Introduce students to the four brothers whose partisan unit saved Jewish lives from the forests of Belarus.
![Tuvia Bielski](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Holocaust_2016_JewishPartisanTuviaBielski_FH227678.jpg?h=f922ae5d&itok=-Uq8w1oa)