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This source set examines the experiences of immigrants at Angel Island and Ellis Island through photographs and first-hand accounts, and considers the impact of immigration policy on these hopeful immigrants.

This 8th grade lesson is about citizenship from the perspective of African Americans after the Civil War. The purpose of this lesson is for students to consider the challenges that African Americans faced in achieving full citizenship rights, and actions they took to address this inequality. Students will closely examine the Fourteenth Amendment and a report from an African-American state convention committee in order to answer the lesson focus question, What were the challenges to African American citizenship after the Civil War?

The following lesson plans will break down the events of the civil war. 

One of the major themes of eighth-grade American history is the expansion of the nation, both geographically and economically. Population growth, a desire for new land for farmers along with markets for their agriculture, and a belief that God intended Americans to occupy the land between the Atlantic and the Pacific combined to drive American expansion. As early as 1811, John Quincy Adams wrote to his father:

This 8thgrade lesson is designed to support student understandingof the key reasons why the Patriots decided to break their ties to Great Britain. Through the examination of primary sources, Common Senseand the Declaration of Independence, students will identify the meaningful passages of texts that warrant the Americans’desire for political freedom. They will particularly concentrate on the Patriots’ grievances against the monarchy.