In this special revised and updated feature for Black History Month, teachers, parents, and students will find a collection of NEH-supported websites and EDSITEment-developed lessons that tell the four-hundred-year old story of African Americans from slavery through freedom and citizenship to the presidency.

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.

The goal of this module is to provide USII students with background knowledge in the Civil War as they begin the Reconstruction curriculum. Each day begins with a Hook for the day’s content. This hook is designed to engage students in the day’s content through a whole class or small group discussion. Students will independently review the provided Learning Resources for each Learning Intention.  They should review all of the available resources to get a full understanding of this topic. Students will independently complete the Success Check for all Learning Intentions to receive credit for the module. There are optional Extension activities associated with each day. This extension is designed to connect USII Geography content with the Civil War content.  Google Drive Folder with all resources (must make a copy of each resource to modify): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1jG7DTzswj3bsZM7xKHfMgJhVM07evQfN?usp=sharing Google Docs Lesson plan: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ErmsDxexiKYJNbqz49QqIGAxuDHZ00O2NJ6B5X3caww/copy

 Throughout the four centuries of history covered in Determined, access to education was at the heart of the African American struggle for equality. While slavery was legal, enslaved Americans were prohibited by law from being taught to read and write, and had no access to formal education. Following emancipation and the 13th Amendment, Black Americans temporarily enjoyed increased access to education, but those rights quickly evaporated under new Jim Crow laws.  Under those provisions, Virginia and other southern states established “separate but equal” schools that segregated students by race, which resulted in unequal conditions for Black and White children. Despite these setbacks, African Americans continued to aggressively pursue their right to an education.

Authors: John Marshall Center for Constitutional History & CivicsSarah Waltman King, Richmond Public Schools In 1865, the ratification of the 13th Amendment officially ended slavery in the United States. After fighting for their liberty before and during the Civil War, enslaved African Americans saw their dreams of emancipation realized. In the years that followed the end of the war, Virginia and other southern states had to reconfigure their social, economic, and political systems during a period called Reconstruction. During this era, newly freed Black Virginians experienced advancements but also encountered barriers to achieving true equality. This lesson explores  whether African Americans truly “free” following the passage of the 13th Amendment.Key Hook/QuestionWere African Americans truly free following the passage of the 13th Amendment?

Students will use their knowledge and understanding of the lives and contributions of Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and Abraham Lincoln with focus on the Civil War era by reconstructing key aspects of their lives that connect them to the Civil War.

Students will select a person, persons, or event from the Pre-war to Civil War era that had a significant impact on African American and United States history. They will design a monument or a memorial and create a proposal for it.

In this lesson, created in partnership with the Association for Cultural Equity, students discover how the banjo and music making more generally among slaves contributed to debates on the ethics of slavery. They listen to slave narratives, examine statistics, and read primary sources to better understand how slavery was conceptualized and lived through in the 18th and 19th centuries. Throughout the lesson, students return to videos created by Alan Lomax of pre-blues banjo player Dink Roberts as a way to imagine what music among slaves in the United States may have sounded like.

Fifth grade students in Michigan begin their study of American history with American Indian peoples before the arrival of European explorers and conclude with the adoption of the Bill of Rights in 1791.

Students will examine the impact of the Emancipation Proclamation on the lives of formerly enslaved people in Virginia. Students will analyze primary and secondary sources to gain context and knowledge about how the Emancipation Proclamation impacted individuals lives directly. Students will develop inquiries and questions about the experiences and history that they learn about through these learning activities.