After the Philippine-American War ended in 1902, Americans became fascinated by the natives of the newly acquired territory, which led to the development of anthropological exhibits showcasing what “primitive” life was like in the Philippines. During this time period, anthropologists adopted an evolutionary perspective rooted in white superiority. One of the exhibits featured the Igorot people, who anthropologist Albert Jenks believed were the most uncivilized tribe in the Philippines. These exhibits/human zoos sparked the creation of negative stereotypes of both the Igorot people and the Filipino community. Students will view the video segment from Asian Americans and engage in activities and discussions to explore the power of perception and its impact on shaping the identities of Asian Americans. Students will also examine the U.S. politics and scientific theories that shaped the perception of Americans and sought to justify U.S. colonization in the Pacific and the mistreatment of the Filipino community.

2021 Social Science Standards Integrated with Ethnic Studies:
Civics and Government: HS.2, HS.9
Historical Knowledge: 5.22, 6.20, 6.21, 8.22, 8.25, HS.52, HS.63, HS.64
Historical Thinking: 5.24, 7.25, 8.31, HS.67, HS.70
Social Science Analysis: 5.26, 5.27, 6.24, 7.27, 8.33, 8.34, 8.36, HS.72, HS.73, HS.74, HS.78

Lincoln, Abraham. 1858. "First Debate with Stephen A. Douglas." Excerpts of speech delivered at Ottawa, Illinois, August 21, 1858. https://www.nps.gov/liho/learn/historyculture/debate1.htm

Statement by Abraham Lincoln and Dan Stone on the Subject of Domestic Slavery March 3, 1837

Images can be a useful component in any subject.  This lesson will guide students through an analysis of an image.  Students will use critical thinksing skills to interpret an image. Students will then generate a hypothesis about the source and construct questions for further investigation. 

This lesson provides students with an introduction to Angel Island. The lesson begins with students completing a timeline of Chinese immigration to America. The progression of events will help them understand the escalation of anti-Chinese sentiment in America culminating with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the first law that restricted immigration based on nationality.

2021 Social Science Standards Integrated with Ethnic Studies:
Civics and Government: 8.7, 8.8, HS.1, HS.2
Historical Knowledge: 8.22, 8.25, HS.52, HS.63, HS.64, HS.65
Historical Thinking: 7.25, 8.30, 8.31, 8.32, HS.67, HS.69
Social Science Analysis: 7.28, 8.33, 8.36, HS.72, HS.73, HS.74

LOC has compiled a consortium of primary sources to work in the classroom. Ready-to-use lesson plans, student activities, collection guides and research aids to spread awareness and highlight the Asian Pacific American experience.

Students will analyze multiple sources to determine which of the causes of the Civil War each source best supports. Students will support their choices with evidence from the source and their own understanding of the causes of the Civil War.

This activity was produced in conjunction with The Library of Congress and the TPS at Metropolitan State University of Denver. This activity will allow learners toinvestigate and explain how different groups of people were treated in the past, and the ways in which that treatment changed over timeidentify injustice in multiple formsidentify ways in which groups become marginalizedThis lesson leads students through several major events in the history of the Cheyenne & Arapaho tribes, and asks that they use primary source documents to describe the ways in which the treatment and perception of the tribes changed over time in southern Colorado.

On February 14, 1818, David Gordon received a patent for his raft design. When a patent is granted, it excludes others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention. This drawing accompanied Gordon’s application.

The Civil Rights Movement in America featured many different leaders, some with very different approaches they thought would help African Americans achieve equality. Of these figures Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X are two of the most influential. Students will analyze one writing from each of these leaders to determine what their beliefs were and how they were different from one another, before discussing these beliefs and differences with a partner. Image: Warren K. Leffler (photographer), Library of Congress (source). Public Domain.

This lesson will cover the story of the Tape family, Chinese immigrants and their American-born children residing in San Francisco, California. Joseph and Mary Tape attempted to enroll their daughter, Mamie, at Spring Valley Primary, an all-white school, and were denied based on their race. Students will learn about the Tape family, Joseph and Mary’s California Supreme Court case, Tape v. Hurley (1885), and the greater connections their story lent itself to anti-Asian sentiment in the United States at that time and fight for school desegregation.

2021 Social Science Standards Integrated with Ethnic Studies:
Civics and Government: 7.5, 8.2, 8.6, 8.7, 8.8, HS.1, HS.2
Geography: HS.51
Historical Knowledge: 8.22, 8.25, HS.52, HS.58, HS.64, HS.65, HS.66
Historical Thinking: 7.25, 8.31, 8.32, HS.67, HS.68, HS.69
Social Science Analysis: 8.34, 8.36, HS.72, HS.73, HS.74

This unit has been developed to guide students and instructors in a close reading of Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address.” The activities and actions described below follow a carefully developed set of steps that assist students in increasing their familiarity and understanding of Lincoln’s speech through a series of text dependent tasks and questions that ultimately develop college and career ready skills identified in the Common Core State Standards.

This lesson leads students through analyzing primary source documents from the Civil War to determine if the Freedman's Bureaus was effective in assisting formerly enslaved persons.

This How To Do Research Unit Guide provides a lesson-to-lesson foundation for teaching:● What primary sources are● Real vs. fake information (evaluating sources)● Document analysis● Different ways to obtain information● How to formulate research questions● How to find answers to research questions● The hows and whys of citations (annotated bibliography)By the time students get to high school, they should have a basic understanding of how to effectively do research. Considering that there are so many steps involved in the research process, the earlier these necessary skills are taught, the more time students will be able to devote to theiractual projects. Moreover, in today’s world, information literacy needs to be achieved at an earlier age, so students can learn to be smart consumers, responsible sharers, and presenters of information. Throughout the research process, students will learn that there will be dead ends, questions that are too broad or too narrow, questions that do not have answers. This is an accurate reflection of what their experiences will continue to be as they move into higher level research projects in their educational careers. 

This is a History lesson plan on housing segregation and restrictive covenants in the United States during the 1950s. It is suitable for grades 9 and up. The focus of this lesson is a primary source from Alan Paton available from History Matters. There are also Algebra and English lessons connected to this lesson as noted in this plan.

President Lincoln addresses a group of border-state politicians about emancipation in a letter to Albert G. Hodges

This Political Cartoon, published in Harper's Weekly in October 1862, shortly after the Battle of Antietam, summarizes the idea behind the Emancipation Proclamation. In it an axe-wielding President Lincoln threatens to cut down the tree a Confederate Soldier is using as refuge. Labeled "Slavery," the tree/soldier relationship in the cartoon is meant to convey the idea that slavery in the south was supporting the Confederate war effort - note also the poor state the Southern soldier appears to be in, shoeless and ragged (one Maryland resident who observed the invading Confederate army described them as "scarecrows"). Lincoln sought to frame the Emancipation of slaves as a "fit and necessary war measure for suppressing [the] rebellion," arguing that ending slavery in the south would deprive the Confederate army of the Home Front labor support slaves provided, thus ending the war quicker. The comic is specifically about the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation (issued at the end of Sept, 1862), which was a warning to the South that if they did not cease their rebellion before January 1, 1863, he would pass the formal Emancipation Proclamation - hence the title "Lincoln's Last Warning."

As a young man, Takashi Hoshizaki was imprisoned on McNeil Island, Washington in 1944 for resisting the draft for World War II.  His resistance was part of a broader legal battle for the civil rights of over 120,000 Japanese Americans, including Takashi's family, imprisoned in American concentration camps.  This lesson includes a 7-minute introduction video, lesson plan notes, activities, vocabulary, and educator resources.

This series of videos is part of the RAC’s educational programming. These videos include audiovisual primary sources, and are designed to be part of a media literacy curriculum.The clips of audiovisual documents serve as primary sources that can be viewed, analyzed, and discussed in a classroom setting to help students build media literacy skills.