This site features the colorful diaries of the first U.S. President, written between 1748 and 1799. They chronicle his life from his time as a self-made farmer to his tenure as a soldier-statesman.
This Teacher Resource Guide is designed for incorporation into history and social studies curricula. It will introduce your students to some of the events and issues that shaped George Washington’s life. The activities should enhance your students’ knowledge of Washington and expand their horizons about this complex and interesting man.
This site consists of three lessons examining George Washington's leadership in the French and Indian War, at the Federal Convention, and as chief executive. They are based on primary source documents from the George Washington Papers, 1741-1799. The lessons are intended for secondary students, grades 8-12. The documents from Washington's Letterbooks include focus questions that may be used in Socratic seminars and in cooperative learning groups.
This site includes letters, diaries, financial accounts, military records, and other writings from Washington's youth and service as a surveyor and colonel, as delegate to the Continental Congress, as commander during the Revolutionary War, and as president (1789-97). His many interests and correspondents make these papers are a rich source for almost every aspect of early American history.
The following lesson will introduce students to the research process--formulating questions, choosing resources, fact finding, and note-taking. After completing their research, they will write a short obituary for George Washington. Activities will integrate Reading, Language, Social Sciences, Writing, and Computer Skills.
Stuart portrayed virtually all the notable men and women of the Federal period in the U.S., and was declared the Father of American Portraiture by his contemporaries. Stuart portrayed American and European figures, including George Washington, John and Abigail Adams, John Jay, and Robert Liston. In 1805 he painted the Gibbs-Coolidge Set, the only surviving depiction of the first five presidents.
The Liberty! Teacher’s Guide is designed to fully engage students in the drama and rich educational information presented in the six-part PBS series LIBERTY! THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. The plans are flexible and can be easily adapted.
In this section of our site, we have endeavored to provide teachers and students with useful primary and secondary materials to help foster understanding of early America through the life of George Washington. These resources can work on several levels. First, the twelve slides themselves provide a general chronology of the life of George Washington as well as secondary information on the larger historical context. Ideally, this background material reiterates your own class text readings and discussion. From here we hope you'll link to the accompanying primary document and questions. Manuscripts like Washington's school book exercises, an address to the Senate, his will and others give students the chance to examine the life and times of a leading figure in American history firsthand and in greater depth. Finally, throughout the lessons, we've tried to communicate just what it is that "historians" do by referring to the editing process along the way and giving students a chance to try their own hand at a transcription.
This site features 40 documents from 23 Presidents -- Washington's first inaugural address, Adams' description of his reception by King George III as America's first minister to Great Britain, Adams' letter ordering the relocation of government offices from Philadelphia to D.C., Lincoln's instructions to the commander at Fort Sumter, Roosevelt's letter thanking Oppenheimer and his colleagues for their ongoing secret atomic research, and more.
Produced in partnership with George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens, this site is has information about George Washington as a farmer and a businessman. Information includes slave labor at Mount Vernon; how George Washington improved his farming practices; how farm resources are managed; the operation of a water-powered gristmill; the jobs that exist at a farm and mill; and the importance of animals to farming.
This teacher manual complements the video, Seed to Table: Farming at Mount Vernon.
This site examines the history of transportation in America, early history of mail service, the Civil War, West Point, profiles of U.S. presidents, Lakota winter counts, Lewis and Clark as naturalists, Japanese Americans during World War II, Brown v. Board of Education, athletes who broke social barriers, how voting systems have evolved, September 11, and America's wars.
