In this activity students perform a role play of a talk show between Lowell workers and factory owners. To research their characters, students analyze primary sources. This activity is used to teach with the film Daughters of Free Men, but can be completed without the film.

To prove that truth is stranger than fiction, John Wilkes Booth's father, Julius Booth, wrote a letter to Andrew Jackson, threatening his life. This story shows that the letter that has been sitting in the Andrew Jackson Papers Project at the University of Tennessee for 175 years is authentic. The next story to look for in this vein is the one in which John Wilkes Booth's brother (Edwin), once saved the life of Lincoln's son (Robert).

Article describing the unsuccessful assassination attempt of Andrew Jackson. Perhaps the conspiracy theories which look behind the insanity defense of the would-be assassin and suggest that Senator George Poindexter or John C Calhoun were behind the attempt could be used as a lesson plan. Students could try to prove the conspiracy and in the process investigate the major political fights of the day.

In January of 2014, the last native speaker of the Chickasaw language died. When we teach the Trail of Tears, we should include mention of this and perhaps explore the issues raised by this article.

This is the official White House biography of Andrew Jackson.  Notice that there is no mention of Native Americans.

Unit 4 primarily cover topics dealing with westward expansion during the nineteenth century. The exceptions are the lessons on Nat Turner and Irish immigration. These are included for chronological reasons, and to show students how historical trends can occur simultaneously. Both themes (slavery and immigration) are revisited in Units 5 and 6. This unit features several elaborate lesson structures: a Structured Academic Controversy (SAC) and and Inquiry. In the SAC on Lewis and Clark, students debate whether or not Lewis and Clark were respectful to the Native Americans they encountered on their journey, while the Inquiry asks students to investigate what motivated Texans to declare their independence. Several lessons, especially on Manifest Destiny and Indian Removal, ask students to consider the perspectives of historical actors whose world views may seem foreign or even incomprehensible.

from Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States"

from Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States"

from Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States"

After the War of 1812, the economy grew at rapid pace, as the nation overcame obstacles that stood in the way of sustained economic growth. Improved transportation and communication, technological innovation, the rise of the factory system, and mass immigration transformed the United States into an industrial leader.

This chapter examines the social, intellectual, and religious roots of early 19th century reform movements, and the efforts of reformers in the areas of education, criminal justice, the treatment of the mentally ill; and the abolitionist and women’s rights movements.

Before the Civil War, American literature began to employ native scenes and characters; the Transcendentalists popularized a philosophy that emphasized each person’s potentialities and glorified nature as a creative force; and a popular commercial culture emerged, including the penny press, the minstrel show, and the western adventure novel.

Students act as journalists reporting on the Indian Removal Act. They visit designated web sites and write factual articles about the developments. From Digital History

This lesson requires students to use period pricing lists to purchase Europeans goods, accounting for tariff duties and taxes. Can be embellished with more economic variables and their social implications

is lesson plan examines the efforts of early American manufacturers to implement the factory system on a large-scale in the town of Lowell, Massachusetts. It can be used when teaching about the economic revolution of the post-War of 1812-period or the development of industry in the Antebellum North.

This lesson looks at the process whereby a policy of assimilation gave way to one of overt removal under President Jackson.

What research tools can help students judge the nature of change during the First Industrial Revolution? Can answers be found in census data? This lesson provides students with the opportunity to form, revise, and research questions for an investigation of the First Industrial Revolution, using resources available on EDSITEment-reviewed websites and links.

The contest between Martin Van Buren and William Henry Harrison marked the first truly modern presidential campaign, with methods today's students are sure to recognize.

In this lesson, students analyze changes in voter participation and regional power, and review archival campaign documents reflecting the dawn of politics as we know it during the critical years from 1824 to 1832.

This page from web site for Jackson's home, describes his family, which included a Creek boy he adopted after the battle of Talledega in 1813

In four groups, students read statements from Jackon's removal message, congressmen supporting, congressmen opposing and some Cherokees themselves. They then debate Cherokee Removal from these perspectives. The resources make this lesson adaptable in the classroom or in an online discussion. "Trail of Tears" lesson almost always ignore acknowledging the fact that the federal government agreed to relocate Native Americans out of Georgia as part of the agreement by which Georgia gave up western land claims to the federal government

The Cherokee Phoenix was the official newspaper of the Cherokee nation. This site offers copies of newspapers published between 1928 and 1931