HERB: Resources for Teachers

The United States Bars Chinese Immigrants (with text supports)

The Chinese Exclusion Act, passed on May 6, 1882, was the first major restriction placed on immigration in the U.S., and the only immigration law that explicitly barred a specific group from entering the country. The Exclusion Act forbade Chinese "skilled and unskilled laborers" from entering the U.S. for a period of ten years, required Chinese who…

Tags: Chinese Exclusion Act, Chinese Immigration, Constitution and Government, Immigration and Migration, Reading Supports
Item Type: Laws/Court Cases
Date: 1882

The Wall Street Journal Argues for Immigration "Distribution, Not Prevention" (Short Version, with text supports)

This Wall St. Journal article acknowledges some of the problems that accompanied early-twentieth-century immigration—urban overcrowding, the strain on local resources, threats posed by foreign anarchists—but argues that immigrants should be encouraged to settle outside of U.S. cities and provide needed labor for farms, factories, and…

Tags: Immigration and Migration, Reading Supports
Item Type: Newspaper/Magazine
Date: 1904

Theme Team Worksheets for The Journal of Sean Sullivan

This set of worksheets provides reading questions and writing tasks that cover five themes (work, corruption, tensions among immigrant groups, conflict with Indians, boomtowns) found in the historical fiction book, The Journal of Sean Sullivan.

Tags: American West, Common Core Reading, Common Core Writing, Expansion and Imperialism, Immigration and Migration, railroads, Technology
Item Type: Worksheet
Date: 2011

Themes in The Journal of Sean Sullivan

This is a list of the book’s themes along with the related journal entries.

Tags: American West, Expansion and Imperialism, Immigration and Migration, railroads, Technology
Item Type: Worksheet
Date: 2011

Timeline for Up South: African-American Migration in the Era of the Great War

This timeline tracks significant events in African American history between 1863 and 1960.

Tags: Immigration and Migration
Item Type: Timeline
Date: 1863

Timeline of Selected Federal Immigration Laws in the U.S., 1790-1986

This timeline traces federal immigration laws from the first Naturalization Act in 1790 through the 1986 law that addressed undocumented workers.

Tags: Constitution and Government, Immigration and Migration, Immigration Quota Laws
Item Type: Timeline
Date: 1790

Uncovering Five Points: Evidence from a NYC Immigrant Neighborhood

This database allows users to explore Five Points using data compiled from the 1855 New York State Census. Search census records from 1,333 individuals in the database to learn about the residents of New York City's legendary immigrant neighborhood.

Tags: Five Points, Immigration and Migration
Item Type: Website
Date: 2003

Understanding the 1855 Census Database

This activity helps students navigate and make sense of the information available in the Five Points census database. In the activity, students use the database to test hypotheses about life and residents in the Five Points. For this activity, students will need access to a computer with an internet connection. This activity can be followed up with…

Tags: Common Core Reading, Five Points, Immigration and Migration, TAH, Work
Item Type: Teaching Activity
Date: 2010

Vocabulary for The Journal of Sean Sullivan

This is a basic vocabulary list to use with this book. There are other words and terms that your students may want to add in the space provided at the end.

Tags: American West, Common Core Reading, Expansion and Imperialism, Immigration and Migration, railroads, Reading Supports, Technology
Item Type: Worksheet
Date: 2011

What's In a Phrase? Finding Historical Understandings in an Immigrant Guidebook

In this activity students analyze a Chinese-English phrasebook from the late nineteenth/early twentieth century. Students match phrases from the textbook to specific historical understandings, write their own historical understanding, and then generate possible phrases for immigrants to the United States today.

Tags: Common Core Reading, Immigration and Migration, TAH
Item Type: Teaching Activity
Date: 2010

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