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In this lesson, students view a film segment about the early United States and the first Bank of the United States. They work in groups to examine quotations from Hamilton’s and Jefferson’s letters to President Washington and summarize the arguments.

A shortage of money was a problem for the American colonies. The early settlers brought coins from Europe but they went quickly back there to pay for supplies. Without enough money, the colonists had to barter for goods or use primitive currency.

Learn about the history of redlining and its impact on wealth and health inequalities using historical maps and other primary sources. This three-module lesson plan includes handouts, video links, and a podcast to examine the connection between homeownership and disparities in wealth and health.

Read about the Federal Reserve’s structure and key responsibilities as the citizens on Planet Novus work to develop their own central bank.

Learn about the life and work of Dr. Sadie T.M. Alexander and how to think like an economist. Explore Dr. Alexander’s research on Black families during the Great Migration, practice asking BIG QUESTIONS and find the answers!

Learn about the life and work of Dr. Sadie T.M. Alexander and how to think like an economist. Explore Dr. Alexander’s research on Black families during the Great Migration, practice asking BIG QUESTIONS and find the answers!

It is widely accepted within the study of history that cotton played a crucial role in the United States in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Students learn the concepts of money and inflation in the context of world history. They first participate in a role play to learn how debasement increased the Roman money supply and caused inflation in the Roman Empire. They receive a soldier’s wages in coins (candy) and participate in an auction, and then receive higher wages in debased coins (candy) and participate in a second auction. They compare the outcomes of the auctions and learn that inflation occurs when “too much money is chasing too few goods” and that this outcome characterized the economy during the last centuries of the Roman Empire. Finally, students analyze historical data and read historical quotes that show how people in the Roman Empire responded to inflation.

Historians are experts at assessing and analyzing documents to build a narrative but may be stymied by numbers. Charts (tables, graphs, maps, diagrams, and so on) provide a graphical view of information and can be a powerful way to display evidence. This toolkit provides a series of resources for students to read, interpret, and think critically about charts in textbooks and historical documents. It has three main parts: (i) the Glossary of Charts Terms, (ii) the Glossary of Chart Types, and (iii) Historical Inquiry Questions for Charts. It also includes a suggested procedure for how to use the Toolkit. Keep the Toolkit resources bookmarked to use each time you come across a chart for study.

Students learn that economic forces have an impact beyond the financial world. First, they learn that Progressive Era public health reforms inspired a commercial response to the growing demand for sanitation through the rapid increase in bathroom-fixture production. Students then use FRED, economic data from Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, to analyze how bathroom-fixture production changed throughout the 1920s. They examine primary documents—1920s advertising—to see how companies fused the Progressive Era with the new consumer culture. Finally, students complete the lesson by responding to AP U.S. History-style short-answer questions.