Civics in America

All Teaching with Historic Places lesson plans have activities that promote civic action by getting students involved in their own community. Many lessons take public service, participation in the political process, commitment to social issues, civil discourse, and other activities as their focus. Here we have selected just a sampling of lessons demonstrating some of the different ways in which citizens have taken individual or collective action--from serving in elected office to engaging in philanthropic efforts, from volunteering in a citizens' militia to fighting for basic rights. TwHP lessons are based on sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Fortieth Anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act lesson, rather than focusing on a specific place, asks students to identify and research a variety of historic places in their communities. All of the lessons are free and ready for immediate classroom use by teachers and students in history and social studies classes.

• The Battle of Bennington: An American Victory
Learn how residents of New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York volunteered to serve in a militia that helped determine whether the American colonies would become an independent nation.

• Clara Barton's House: Home of the American Red Cross
Follow Barton's remarkable career as a leader of charitable causes, from caring for the wounded on Civil War battlefields to founding the American Red Cross.

• First Lady of the World: Eleanor Roosevelt at Val-Kill
Examine how Roosevelt's activities at home reflected her interest in humanitarianism, as epitomized by her leadership in the creation of the UN's Declaration of Human Rights.

• Fortieth Anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act
Learn how the National Historic Preservation Act has affected your community in this lesson, prepared for the History Channel's Save Our History initiative.

• "The Great Chief Justice" at Home
Meet Supreme Court Justice John Marshall, whose public service led the court to prominence and power in the early 19th century. His opinions, formed during his early years as an attorney participating in social debates about federalism, helped shape the way the U.S. Constitution is interpreted today.

• Growing into Public Service: William Howard Taft's Boyhood Home
Visit the home of the only man to serve the country both as president and chief justice, and meet the rest of his public service-oriented family.

• Herbert Hoover: Iowa Farm Boy and World Humanitarian
Consider the impact of Hoover's boyhood years on his desire to help starving children as the administrator of the Belgian Relief Commission during World War I.

• Independence Hall: International Symbol of Freedom
Learn about Independence Hall and about how the international influence of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution led to the designation of the building in which they were adopted as a World Heritage Site.

• Lafayette Park: First Amendment Rights on the President's Doorstep
Learn how a group of determined women selected Lafayette Park, across from the White House, to demonstrate for their right to vote, providing a First Amendment model for many others.

• The Liberty Bell: From Obscurity to Icon
Analyze the influences that shaped the symbolic meaning of the bell and understand how different movements used the bell to promote their cause and fight for rights.

• The Mary McLeod Bethune Council House: African American Women Unite for Change
Learn about Mary McLeod Bethune and how she and the organization she founded promoted political and social change for African American women.

• The M'Clintock House: A Home to the Women's Rights Movement
Learn how a family of social activists helped obtain equality for women in their efforts to improve society.

• New Kent School and the George W. Watkins School:
From Freedom of Choice to Integration
Learn about the U.S. Supreme Court case that forced the integration of public schools and meet the individuals who experienced segregation, fought to dismantle the institution, and integrated the public school system of New Kent County, Virginia.

• North Carolina State Capitol: Pride of the State
Discover how Raleigh became the capital of North Carolina and how the design of the capitol building reflected state pride as well as democratic ideals.

• The Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March: Shaking the Conscience of the Nation
Learn how people in Selma, Alabama, and national civil rights organizations worked together to end the unconstitutional denial of voting rights to African Americans in the South.

• Thomas Jefferson's Plan for the University of Virginia:
Lessons from the Lawn
Learn about the multifaceted intellect of Thomas Jefferson and how he fused his abilities as an architect, educational and political theorist, and politician to create a revolutionary new setting for higher education in the new American republic.

• Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site: Monument to the Gilded Age
Discover how the Vanderbilts became one of the wealthiest families in America and how philanthropic efforts still affect us today.

 
To learn more about TwHP's other lessons, visit the Lesson Plan Descriptions page.