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A much-abbreviated history of American Indians and Pilgrims.
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A story about the Ohlone Indians, the original inhabitants of the San Francisco Bay Area.
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Slave ships brought the first slaves to the US. This is a good first Black History story.
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LIFE ON A PLANTATION |
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Life on a Plantation is a survey of the lives of slaves and poor white people / sharecroppers on plantations. Also details the slave owning status of Washington and Jefferson, the latter of whom kept his 6 children and half brother (!) as slaves.
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Abolitionist John Brown arguably did more than any other American to end slavery. He was also arguably a terrorist.
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A world-famous scholar and anti-slavery advocate after escaping slavery himself.
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A bio of Harriet Tubman. Know she was the first woman military leader in the US? She freed 700+ slaves in one Union raid in South Carolina. Find out more!..
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13TH-15TH AMENDMENTS |
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The 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments ended slavery and were supposed to ensure equality; so how did segregation take root after the Civil War?
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Chinese workers on the transcontinental railroad went on strike to protest dangerous work at low pay. Lots of photos, including the famous one of placing the last spike. Notice what's missing?
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CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT |
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The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first immigration law to specifically exclude one ethnic group. From Sara Shourd.
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The Haymarket Riots and the fight for the 8 hour workday, with many photos. Includes comprehension questions, vocab quiz and succinct two-sentence definition of anarchist.
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The Oxnard Strike of 1903 was started by the first interracial farm workers' union in the US, composed of Mexican and Japanese farmworkers.
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1906 SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE |
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The worst natural disaster to hit the US to date - and the first so extensively photographed.
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a way for Chinese immigrants to come to the US after the 1906 SF Earthquake. A good lesson on American-style hustling.
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A short history of the Wobblies, the first multi-racial union in America. The Wobblies, or Industrial Workers of the World, used direct action to fight for workers' rights.
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WOBBLIES AND FREE SPEECH |
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Cops arrested IWW organizers when they talked to workers in Spokane back in 1909. So 500 workers took turns speaking and getting arrested until Spokane changed its laws.
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The 1912 Bread and Roses strike was the first strike led by women and immigrants. Has the line, "One police officer could control 10 men, but you needed 10 police officers to control one woman." In two parts.
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The Highlander school, which taught Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., may be the most important adult education school in US history. Part one is about its accomplishments, part two is about its methods (student-centered popular education). Includes a page of questions for each part.
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Houdini came here a poor immigrant, reinvented himself, got rich risking his life, and died unnecessarily because he wouldn't stop working. The ultimate immigrant story.
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Migrant Mother is among the most iconic photos from American history. This lesson plan uses that photo to explore the Great Depression.
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