Approaching the topic of slavery can be difficult, especially at the elementary school level when these issues might be discussed for the first time. Posted by the National Endowment for the Humanities, “Slave Narratives: Constructing U.S. History Through Analyzing Primary Sources” offers a helpful classroom solution. Students from third to fifth grade read and explore a selection of narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project, after which they evaluate and respond to those sources.

The lesson plan gives several strategies for teachers and the class to review and summarize the narratives in accordance to their needs. In addition, “Slave Narratives” introduces primary sources in the context of a story, before asking students to assess the veracity of the testimony.  In a very real sense the students are “doing” history and hopefully fostering an interest at the same time.

While one can always visit Vicksburg National Military Park, they also have a great exhibit online. Even those who have already been to the park should take a look. The site offers short essays on different aspects of the Vicksburg Siege as well as related images. In addition, the exhibit uses the U.S.S. Cairo as a way to teach visitors about river warfare. One can take a virtual tour of the U.S.S. Cairo as well as learn more about life aboard the ship. Teachers may want to check out the National Park Service’s “Teaching with Museum Collections” for several lesson plans that incorporate material in the Vicksburg exhibit.

The University of Virginia Library has an old exhibit on Southern women in the Civil War that is still accessible online.  This exhibit is very well organized into categories that represent major concerns that occupied women on the home front before, during, and after the war.  Under each category, the narrative is presented using a variety of primary sources.  Most of the sources are letters and diaries, which are summarized using important excerpts.   Some sections also make use of photographs or popular cards of the time.  The originals of all of the primary sources are  available as a scanned image on the website.  The format of the exhibit is straight-forward and easy to understand, and it tells the story of women during this time period in a concise and very effective way.  It would be easy for teachers to present one or more of these topics to a classroom using the primary documents selected here as a resource.

“The Matthew Brady Bunch: Civil War Newspapers” is a series of lesson activities that ultimately has students produce their own newspaper articles on different aspects of the Civil War as a larger class project. Created by Amy Donnelly and Elizabeth Ridgway for American Memory, the project is intended for students in the seventh grade, though it can easily be adapted. The activities require students to use a selection of the Library of Congress’ collection of Civil War photographs, first to analyze the primary sources before choosing one for their article. Eventually the goal is for students to produce a website, or an online archive, for their “newspaper”.

Meant to take place over several days (possibly a week), the project can be modified to suit individual class needs. One example of such a modification would make the project interdisciplinary, in conjunction with English class. The “Matthew Brady Bunch” project acts as a good way to end a unit on the Civil War, allowing a class to cover a wide range of events, people, or places. In addition, the project requires students to work with primary sources, develop research skills, and improve writing skills.

Marines deployed by the Union Army during the Civil War played an intricate role in battles and skirmishes that took place along rivers and coastlines. The library at Augustana College has compiled and transcribed the diary of Basil H. Messler, a soldier in the Union’s amphibious Mississippi Marine Brigade, which outlines his exploits as a soldier and commissary during the final years of the War.  This resource tool is great for anyone looking to get a personal view of how marines operated during the Civil War.

The site also has the diary of Illinois volunteer G.D. Molineaux, as well as a detailed outline of the troop deployments of his 8th Illinois Volunteer Infantry from 1861-1865.

The University of California’s Calisphere has several “themed collections” on a number of subjects, including the Gold Rush, that are designed to help educators “quickly find compelling primary sources.” One can use this site to explore how California “changed…dramatically” as a result of the “sudden influx” of people after 1848. The collection is sub-divided into several topics, such as “Environmental Impact” and “Everyday Life and People.” Each one provides a short overview and lots of relevant primary sources. In addition, the collection has links to primary sources related to the Gold Rush – Frontier and pioneer life, western expansion, and more. Also check out the teacher resources, which offer ideas for using primary sources in the classroom.

The history department at the University of Nebraska has a number of lectures on digital history projects available, including Edward Ayers’ “Civil War and Emancipation: Visualizing American History.” Ayers, who developed the Valley of the Shadow, discusses that project as well as the Emancipation Project and the Southern History Database. While a transcript is not available, Ayers also presents his ideas in a short essay, “Mapping Freedom.” Digital history projects like the Valley of the Shadow allow historians to “bore down to the stories of individual people and families and, as Ayers explains, in this case “see how people held in bondage created new lives for themselves.” Also be sure to check out the interviews with other historians who share their thoughts on digital history.

Most students are unfamiliar with the Filibuster of the 1850s. If anything, one associates it with attempts to prevent a vote on bills in the US Senate. T. J. Stiles’ essay in the Gilder Lehrman’s online journal History Now provides a nice overview of the subject and profiles the infamous “Filibuster King” William Walker. “Filibusters were independent adventurers who launched freelance invasions of foreign countries” and most planned “to annex them to the United States,” as Stiles explains. Walker’s actions violated the US Neutrality Act, but he always believed that he was “destined to create a central American empire.” One of Walker’s targets was Nicaragua, which he invaded in 1855 and was later forced out by May 1857. While Stiles discusses this invasion, another short essay provides images from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. House Divided also has material on this topic, including more primary sources related to Walker and other filibusters like John A. Quitman.

The Library of Congress’ American Memory has constructed an interactive database containing over 3,000 maps from the Civil War era. The collection offers detailed descriptions of a variety of topics such as Union General William Tecumseh Sherman’s successful Atlanta Campaign to an outline of 23 forts defending the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. Another great tool within the database is the fact that each map contains a list of subject links that help to expand upon your research. The collection contains map collections originally owned by both Union and Confederate military authorities.

American Memory has other databases that can prove useful in your research. Civil War railroad maps show an intricate description of the development of railroads through 1900.  There is also a collection of over 1,000 photographs from the Civil War era that have been specifically selected due to their innate detail.

The University of Richmond Digital Scholarship Lab’s “Voting America” is great resource on US Presidential elections. The site provides a series of maps on each election between 1840 and 2004  that show a variety of different information. For example, the 1860 election map includes layers that breakdown the popular vote by county and counties with small margins of victories (when a second place candidate lost by less than 10 percent of the vote). The site also organizes the maps by topic, such as turnout and third party voting. In addition, this interactive map allows you to select the election data that appears. Also, be sure to check out all of the videos – including this one with Professor Edward Ayers who discusses the elections before the Civil War.