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"America is not like a blanket: one piece of unbroken cloth, the same color, the same texture, the same size. America is more like a quilt: many patches, many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven and held together by a common thread." Jesse Jackson |
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American Immigration Overview
From American Epic
From National Heritage Academies: “This site provides an overview of U.S. immigration using pictures, timelines, and voice-over narration. Topics include the Irish Potato Famine, Asian Immigration, Immigration in Cities and Town, as well as a discussion of the ‘melting pot.’ Personal Histories provide an opportunity at the end to stop and review what has been read and heard.” |
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Stories of Yesterday and Today
From Scholastic
Scholastic offers a multitude of information about immigration of the past and what it is like today. You can meet young immigrants and hear their stories. You can also take an interactive tour of Ellis Island! |
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The Statue of Liberty: Bringing the 'New Colossus' to America
From Edsitement
This lesson plan asks the question, "How was a skeptical American public persuaded to support bringing the Statue of Liberty to the United States?" |
What is History?
Timelines and Oral Histories
This lesson plan asks, "What is the past, and why is it important? How do we learn about events in the past? How are historical accounts influenced by the biases of eyewitnesses?" |
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Where I Come From
From Edsitement
"What parts of the world has your family come from? What is life like there today? What are your feelings about these places your family once called home?" |
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Sodbusters!
What is a soddie?
Examine photographs of sod houses, build a model sod house, and picture yourself living in a "soddie" to gain a firsthand perspective on this important period of American history. |
At Home - Mapping Change in Your Neighborhood
From Edsitement
"In this activity, you will trace the changes that have transformed your neighborhood over the past 25 years."
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Coming to America: Immigration Builds America
From Education World
Students are introduced to "the two major waves of immigration that brought 34 million people to our nation's shores and spurred the greatest period of national change and growth. The first major wave of immigration after 1824 consisted primarily of northern Europeans from Ireland, Great Britain, Germany, and Scandinavia. The second wave of immigrants - mainly from southern and eastern Europe - arrived between 1890 and 1924." |
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Making a Choice
From Education World
Use documents to answer this question: "Should Chinese laborers who were hoping to make it rich in America have stayed in the U.S. despite growing anti-Chinese sentiment or should they have returned to their families in China?" |
Immigrant Journeys of Chinese Americans
Oral History
An oral history of Chinese immigrant detainees. |
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The Bracero Program
From the Farmworkers Website
“The Mexican migrant worker has been the foundation for the development of the rich American agricultural industry, and the El Paso-Ciudad Juárez border region has played a key role in this historic movement. One of the most significant contributions to the growth of the agricultural economy was the creation of the Bracero Program in which more than 4 million Mexican farm laborers came to work the fields of this nation. The braceros converted the agricultural fields of America into the most productive in the planet.” |
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