Lesson Plans for “The Show Must Go On: American Culture in Times of Crisis”
- Professors Christopher Smith and Michael Borshuk on Josephine Baker and the Harlem Renaissance (the 1920s)
- Professor Katherine Rye Jewell on FDR’s “Banking Crisis” Fireside Chat (1933)
- Professor Karen L. Cox, “Protesting Black Stereotypes at the Movies: The Case of Gone with the Wind” (1939)
- Professor Danielle Fosler-Lussier on Marian Anderson’s Lincoln Memorial Performance (1939)
- Kim Nalley, Ph.D. Candidate and world-renowned Jazz vocalist, on Nina Simone’s “Mississippi Goddamn” and “Why (The King of Love Is Dead)” (1964)
- Professor Jack Hamilton on Jimi Hendrix’s “Star-Spangled Banner” during the Vietnam War (1969)
- Professor Daniel Immerwahr on Star Wars and the Vietnam War (1980)
Primary Sources to Use in the Classroom:
18th Century
- Louisiana’s Code Noir (1724)
- Declaration of Independence (1776)
- Articles of Confederation (1777)
- Treaty of Alliance with France (1778)
- Treaty of Paris (1783)
- Constitution of the United States (1787)
- Northwest Ordinance (1787)
- Federalist Papers, No. 10 (1787)
- Virginia Plan (1787)
- Federalist Papers, No. 51 (1788)
- Federal Judiciary Act (1789)
- President George Washington’s First Inaugural Speech (1789)
- President George Washington’s Farewell Address (1796)
19th Century
- Ohio Black Code of 1804
- Synopsis From Illinois Black Code Of 1819
- Synopsis Of The Illinois Black Code Of 1829
- Compromise of 1850
- Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
- Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)
- Telegram Announcing the Surrender of Fort Sumter (1861)
- Homestead Act (1862)
- Morrill Act (1862)
- Pacific Railway Act (1862)
- War Department General Order 143: Creation of the U.S. Colored Troops (1863)
- Emancipation Proclamation (1863)
- Gettysburg Address (1863)
- Wade-Davis Bill (1864)
- Articles of Agreement Relating to the Surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia (1865)
- President Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address (1865)
- Excerpts from Florida State Constitution [Florida’s “Black Codes”] (1865)
- Excerpts From The South Carolina Black Codes (1865)
- Excerpts From Maryland’s Black Codes (1865)
- Excerpts From Virginia Black Codes (1866)
- Check for the Purchase of Alaska (1868)
- Act Establishing Yellowstone National Park (1872)
- Thomas Edison’s Patent Application for the Light Bulb (1880)
- Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)
- Pendleton Act (1883)
- Interstate Commerce Act (1887)
- Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890)
- Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
- De Lôme Letter (1898)
- Joint Resolution to Provide for Annexing the Hawaiian Islands to the United States (1898)
20th Century
- Platt Amendment (1903)
- Theodore Roosevelt’s Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (1905)
- Keating-Owen Child Labor Act (1916)
- Joint Address to Congress Leading to a Declaration of War Against Germany (1917)
- President Woodrow Wilson’s 14 Points (1918)
- Boulder Canyon Project Act (1928)
- National Industrial Recovery Act (1933)
- Tennessee Valley Authority Act (1933)
- National Labor Relations Act (1935)
- Social Security Act (1935)
- President Franklin Roosevelt’s Radio Address unveiling the second half of the New Deal (1936)
- Executive Order 8802: Prohibition of Discrimination in the Defense Industry (1941)
- Lend-Lease Act (1941)
- President Franklin Roosevelt’s Annual Message (Four Freedoms) to Congress (1941)
- Manhattan Project Notebook (1942)
- Surrender of Japan (1945)
- Truman Doctrine (1947)
- Executive Order 9981: Desegregation of the Armed Forces (1948)
- Press Release Announcing U.S. Recognition of Israel (1948)
- Armistice Agreement for the Restoration of the South Korean State (1953)
- Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
- Senate Resolution 301: Censure of Senator Joseph McCarthy (1954)
- Executive Order 10730: Desegregation of Central High School (1957)
- President John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address (1961)
- Executive Order 10924: Establishment of the Peace Corps. (1961)
- Transcript of John Glenn’s Official Communication with the Command Center (1962)
- Test Ban Treaty (1963)
- Civil Rights Act (1964)
- Tonkin Gulf Resolution (1964)
- Social Security Act Amendments (1965)
- Voting Rights Act (1965)
Constitutional Amendments
- Bill of Rights (1791)
- 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Abolition of Slavery (1865)
- 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Civil Rights (1868)
- 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Voting Rights (1870)
- 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Federal Income Tax (1913)
- 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Direct Election of U.S. Senators (1913)
- 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Women’s Right to Vote (1920)