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Reading Historical Fiction: The Journal of Sean Sullivan: A Transcontinental Railroad Worker
In this activity, students are guided through a close reading of The Journal of Sean Sullivan: A Transcontinental Railroad Worker, a fictional book for young readers based on historical sources. Students will read a short excerpt from the beginning [...]
"Troubles in the South-West": Ideology and the U.S.-Mexican War
In this lesson students read a series of documents about the American and Mexican reasons for and against the 1846 U.S.-Mexico War. As they read the documents students identify when the authors employ various foreign policy ideologies such as [...]
Debate: Should the U.S. Annex the Philippines?
In this activity students investigate various perspectives on the debate over the annexation of the Philippines by the United States after the Spanish-American War. Students read a variety of primary sources on the annexation question and the [...]
Savage Acts excerpt
This short excerpt is from ASHP/CML's 30-minute documentary Savage Acts: Wars, Fairs, and Empire 1898-1904. Savage Acts links the pageantry of world's fairs to the story of the Philippine War, America’s first attempt to claim an overseas colony [...]
Mass Extermination of Buffalo (1892)
This image, taken in Rougeville, Michigan, depicts one man standing on top of thousands of buffalo skills, with another standing in front of the pile with his foot on one skull. White settlers exterminated buffalo near the end of the 19th century [...]
A Native Hawaiian Expresses Love for Her Island Home (2020)
On July 7, 1898, the Hawaiian Islands were annexed by the United States after a long struggle between native Hawaiians and non-native American businessmen. Because of their location in the Pacific, the Hawaiian islands have provided a strategic [...]
Critical Discussion of Thanksgiving
This activity is designed to help students to reflect on their own perceptions of Thanksgiving, learn how the holiday originated, and how it has changed overtime. They will also engage with what the holiday means from Indigenous perspectives. [...]
Seneca Chiefs Address George Washington (1790)
In 1790, Cornplanter, the chief of the Seneca nation (a nation within the Haudenosaunee Confederacy) and two other chiefs sought redress from the supreme executive council of Pennsylvania for wrongs committed by British colonists. The chiefs [...]
Background Essay on Iron Horses and American Indians
This essay discusses the impact of the transcontinental railroad on Native American life. It focuses on the role of buffalo hunters in the federal government's policy of Indian removal. This essay, and the related Iron Horse vs. the Buffalo [...]
Background Essay on Building the Railroads
This essay explains how railroads transformed late-nineteenth century America and shows how their impact was felt differently across class and racial lines.