Web Resources

The American Revolution, Early National Period, and U.S. Government

The American Revolution
These lesson plans provide resources for teachers to use primary source materials that help connect your learners with our nation's stories of independence and freedom. This resource is also known as Honored Places: The National Park Service Teacher's Guide to the American Revolution.

Teaching with Museum Collections
These lesson plans bring park museum collections into the classroom to engage learners of all ages. The American Revolution lesson plan draws on extraordinary museum collections featured in the online museum exhibits from four National Park Service sites.

National Constitution Center
The National Constitution Center, located on Independence Mall in Philadelphia, offers cutting edge civic learning resources both onsite and online.

Ben's Guide to the U.S. Government for Kids
This U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) site provides learning tools for K-12 students, parents, and teachers. These resources will teach how our government works, how to use the primary source materials of GPO Access, and how one can use GPO Access to carry out their civic responsibilities.

 

Archeology

Archeology at Independence National Historical Park
Archeologists have been digging at Independence National Historical park since the 1950's. Find out more on this section of our website.

National Park Service Archeology Program
Look into the many archeology investigations taking place in national parks across our country.

Project Archaeology
This site provides educational resources, professional development, and additional information for the teaching of archeology.

 

Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary
This website offers lesson plans and interactive exhibits created for the 300th birthday of this famous American.

Benjamin Franklin. An Extraordinary Life. An Electric Mind.
Find a range of activities featuring Benjamin Franklin and a teacher's guide on this PBS website.

The Silence Dogood Letters
The movie National Treasure created much interest in these letters. Read transcripts of the letters originally published in the New England Courant.

Benjamin Franklin...In His Own Words
Use this Library of Congress online exhibit to examine Franklin's achievements as a printer and writer, an inventor and scientist, and particularly, as a politician and statesman.

 

Underground Railroad

Aboard the Underground Railroad
This website introduces travelers, researchers, historians, preservationists, and anyone interested in African American history to the fascinating people and places associated with the Underground Railroad. The website provides descriptions and photographs of 60 historic places that are listed in the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places. It also includes a map of the most common directions of escape taken on the Underground Railroad as well as map of individual states that mark the location of the historic properties.

Africans in America
This website is a companions to the six-hour public television series, Africans in America. The website chronicles the history of racial slavery in the United States - from the start of the Atlantic slave trade in the 16th century to the end of the American Civil War in 1865. Explore the central paradox that is at the heart of the American story: a democracy that declared all men equal but enslaved and oppressed one people to provide independence and prosperity to another.

Crafting Freedom
This website provides educators with a user friendly resource on the African-American experience during the era of slavery. The site includes lesson plans, videos, PDF slide shows, teacher tools, and student handouts.

 

Lesson Plans and Primary Sources

Independence National Historical Park Lesson Plans
Bring the park stories into your classroom with these lesson plans about Benjamin Franklin, the Liberty Bell, archeology, and more.

National Park Service - For Teachers
Search lesson plans, distance learning, field trip information, and professional development opportunities from parks across America.

Historical Documents
Looking for the Declaration of Independence? This portion of the park's website has links to source documents on the American Revolution and the founding of the United States.

Library of Congress
The Library of Congress offers primary source materials, lesson plans, and professional development to help teachers effectively use primary sources from the Library's vast digital collections.

NPS Collections
Take a glimpse into the vast collections of the National Park Service and introduce some material culture into your classroom.

Research Learning Centers
This is where science and education come together!

Independence Hall in American Memory
Dr. Charlene Mires' book, Independence Hall in American Memory, tells the story of a building, a city, and the nation from the 1720's to the 1990's. This companion website includes teacher and student resources.

Teaching with Historic Places
Use properties listed in the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places to enliven history, social studies, geography, civics, and other subjects.

National Register Travel Itineraries
The Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary Series makes it easy to explore America's extraordinary historic places. Each itinerary is a self-guided tour to historic places listed in the National Register.

Federal Resources for Educational Excellence
The Federal Registry for Educational Excellence (FREE) makes it easier to find digital teaching and learning resources created and maintained by the federal government and public and private organizations.

Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
This nonprofit organization is devoted to the improvement of history education. The website features more than 60,000 historical documents, lesson plans, and resources for teachers.

The US History Site
Find lesson plans, primary source documents, games, timeline, quotes, and other resources for teachers and students.

American Philosophical Society
A scholarly organization of international reputation, the American Philosophical Society promotes useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities. Founded by Benjamin Franklin, early members included George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Rush, John Adams, Thomas Paine, Alexander Hamilton and many others. Resources include scholarly research, professional meetings, support of young scholars, publications, library resources, a museum and community outreach.

Historical Society of Pennsylvania
This website offers primary sources, lesson plans, and a wide range of teacher resources.