Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation Lesson Plans

Students will create a school wide activity to commemorate the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, create a timeline documenting significant historical events and learn about the specifics that were detailed within the Proclamation.

View the video Anniversary of Emancipation Proclamation by MSNBC

Discussion Guide

Lesson Plan 1- Commemorating the Emancipation Proclamation

Objective: Students will create a school wide activity to commemorate the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Lesson Plan 2- Timelines for History

Objective: Students will conduct research to create a timeline of significant historical events focusing on the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation.

Lesson Plan 3- The Emancipation Proclamation

Objective:  Students will explore the Emancipation Proclamation using a provided online resource

21^st Century Core Content
History
Government and Civics
Geography

21^st Century Themes
Civic Literacy

21^st Century Skills
Think Creatively
Make Judgments and Decisions
Access and Evaluate Information
Use and Manage Information
Analyze Media
Work Independently
Be Self-directed Learners
Produce Results

Additional Resources:
Archives.gov; Emancipation Proclamation
PBS.org; Emancipation Proclamation
The Lincoln Papers by Library of Congress
Our Documents.gov; The Emancipation Proclamation
Slavery and the Making of America by PBS

Additional Resources from U.S. History in Context:

• Emancipation Proclamation
• Sports and Racism
• Hate Crimes
• Indigenous Peoples’ Rights
• Human Trafficking

World’s Fair 1939 -1940

World's Fair 1939-1940 stamp

Enter the World of Tomorrow through one of the richest and most heavily used archival collections of the New York Public Library: the official corporate records of the 1939–40 New York World’s Fair. The Fair — like the Library — has something for everyone, from technological innovation and classical music, to pop culture and a world dealing with the crises of war and economic hardship. This website and the free Biblion iPad app take you all but literally into the Library’s legendary stacks, opening up hidden parts of the collections and the myriad storylines they hold and preserve. Experience documents, images, films, audio, and essays directly from the collections — and explore not only what the Fair teaches us about the past, but also the future…

Want to know more about the 1939-40 World’s Fair?

Experience and read more about the New York World’s Fair in:

• The New York Times 1851-2007. (tip: use “New York World’s Fair” for the search)
• U.S. History in Context
• American Decades

New Features for “In Context” Databases

Databases in which the new features are available in are:

Opposing Viewpoints in Context
Science in Context
Student Resources in Context
U.S. History in Context
World History in Context

A Fateful Year

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, and with the sesquicentennial has come renewed debate about the factors that drove the nation to war. In 1861: The Civil War Awakening, author Adam Goodheart offers a fresh perspective on the war’s beginnings and portrays some of the little-known figures who played important roles during that fateful year. Among those profiled are an acrobatic militia colonel, an explorer’s wife, a regiment of New York City firemen, a close-knit band of German immigrants and a young college professor, James J. Garfield, who would later become president. Goodheart’s vivid writing and unique approach gives readers new insight on the beginnings of the long struggle that nearly destroyed the Union.

To learn more about the Civil War look at these online resources:

• The Civil War Digital Archive
• Slavery in America Digital Archive
• U.S. History in Context

Civil War Battle Fields

Image via Wikipedia

“Can you tell me why so many famous Civil War battles were fought on National Park sites?”

Joan Bogun
Belhaven Public Library
Belhaven, NC

The distinctive American pattern of preserving battlefields as parks owned and administered by the federal government is largely a consequence of the efforts of Civil War veterans.

Actual battlefield preservation by the federal government began in 1890, following a reunion at the site of the battle of Chickamauga, when veterans conceived the idea of obtaining federal aid to preserve the battlefield there as a memorial to the valor of both armies and as an aid to reconciliation between the North and the South, according to Encyclopedia of the Veteran in America (ABC-CLIO). You can learn more about the Civil War and our National Parks in these resources available from the Virtual Library:

• Civil War Digital Archives
• Gale Virtual Reference Library
• U.S. History in Context
• ABC-Clio eBook Collection