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.
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)
Speech by President Lincoln: Second Inaugural Address
This is the full text of President Lincoln's second inaugural address, which took place March 4, 1865.
![A full-length portrait of Abraham Lincoln, seated.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/3a17571v.jpg?h=c4bf7d29&itok=od9eEoPK)
Speech by Senator Charles Hays Reaffirming the Rights of African Americans (1874)
Republican congressman Charles Hays of Alabama, a former slaveholder, shares his views on a new civil rights bill that would end segregation of public transportation and public accommodations.
![Print shows a campaign banner for the 1876 Republican presidential ticket.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Hayes-Wheeler.jpg?h=2cf6f983&itok=MzMPM0qt)
What the Black Man Wants
Frederick Douglass demands voting rights and civil equality for Black Americans in an 1865 speech.
![A portrait of Frederick Douglass, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing right.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/3a18122v.jpg?h=28b1f63e&itok=LuMCd-Xt)
Statistics From the Civil War
This reading features statistics on the number of deaths during the Civil War.
![Ruins of a building and carriages.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Charleston_sc_1865.jpg?h=02857a37&itok=Qup7m3tC)
W. E. B. Du Bois Reflects on the Purpose of History
W. E. B. Du Bois questions the way that Reconstruction was studied and taught in an excerpt from his 1935 book Black Reconstruction in America.
![A portrait of W.E.B. Du Bois, head-and-shoulders, facing slightly right.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/3a53178u.jpg?h=87584735&itok=bgkKYE0Q)
What Is Democracy?
Use this selection of quotes about democracy to prompt reflection on democracy's complex definition.
![English language newspaper from election day with an "I voted" sticker.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-08/media_democracy_newspaper_voting_wikimedia_commons.jpeg?h=424dc15a&itok=URCrHs-G)
Learning to Be a Good German
Consider how Nazi ideology influenced the morality of a girl growing up in Nazi Germany.
![German military recruits swear allegiance to Adolf Hitler.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Holocaust_SwearingAllegianceToHitler_FH229433.jpg?h=827069f2&itok=8JL6O5JQ)
The Night of Hitler's Triumph
Read firsthand accounts of the day that Hitler took office as chancellor of Germany in 1933.
![On the night of January 30, 1933, SA men paraded with torches through Berlin to celebrate Hitler’s appointment as chancellor.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Holocaust_1933_TorchlightParadeCelebratingHitler_%20FH229432.jpg?h=cb9047e7&itok=WsHG6GG0)