Individuals in US History

Unsung Heroes: Encouraging Students to Appreciate Those Who Fought for Social Justice

Teaching Activity PDF. Essay by Howard Zinn and lesson by Bill Bigelow. 11 pages.
Students research and share stories about unsung heroes in US history.

Civil Rights Movements, Individuals in US History, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements, Women's History

Whitewashing Our Past: A Proposal for a National Campaign to Rethink Textbooks

Background Reading for Teachers PDF. By Bob Peterson. 4 pages.
A critique of social studies textbooks and the rationale for a campaign to rethink them.

Education, Individuals in US History, Racism & Racial Identity

Promoting Social Imagination Through Interior Monologues

Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow and Linda Christensen. 3 pages.
Empathy, or “social imagination,” allows students to connect to “the other” with whom, on the surface, they may appear to have little in common.

Individuals in US History, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements, Women's History

The People vs. Columbus, et al.

Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 8 pages.
Role play in the form of a trial to determine who is responsible for the death of millions of Tainos on the island of Hispaniola in the late 15th century.

Imperialism, Individuals in US History, Native American

Discovering Columbus: Re-reading the Past

Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 6 pages.
How to engage students in a critical analysis of the textbook version of “discovery.”

Education, Imperialism, Individuals in US History, Native American

Re-examining the Revolution

Background Reading PDF. By Ray Raphael. 7 pages.
Based on his book Founding Myths, Raphael critiques the textbook portrayal of the American Revolution. The textbooks say that “a few special people forged American freedom” which “misrepresents, and even contradicts, the spirit of the American Revolution.”

Democracy & Citizenship, Education, Individuals in US History, Laws & Citizen Rights

Constitution Role Play: Whose “More Perfect Union”? and The Constitutional Convention: Who Really Won?

Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 23 pages.
A role play on the issues involved with the framing of the Constitution.

Democracy & Citizenship, Individuals in US History, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery, Social Class

Presidents and Slaves: Helping Students Find the Truth

Teaching Activity PDF. By Bob Peterson. 7 pages.
How a 5th grade teacher and his students conducted research to answer the question: “Which presidents owned people?”

African American, Education, Individuals in US History, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery

Andrew Jackson and the “Children of the Forest”

Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 5 pages.
A lesson in which students develop critical literacy skills by responding to Andrew Jackson’s speech on “Indian Removal.”

Individuals in US History, Native American, Racism & Racial Identity

U.S. Mexico War Tea Party: “We Take Nothing by Conquest, Thank God”

Teaching Activity PDF. Lesson by Bill Bigelow and student reading by Howard Zinn. 21 pages.
Interactive activity in the form of a tea party introduces students to the history of the U.S. Mexico War.

Imperialism, Individuals in US History, Latino, Slavery, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements