Teaching a People's History of Abolition and the Civil War is a collection of 10 classroom-tested lessons on one of the most transformative periods in U.S. history. These lessons encourage students to take a critical look at the popular narrative that centers Abraham Lincoln as the Great Emancipator and ignores the resistance of abolitionists and enslaved people. The collection aims to help students understand how ordinary citizens -- with ideas that seem radical and idealistic -- can challenge unjust laws, take action together, pressure politicians to act, and fundamentally change society.

Introduction : why we need a people's history of abolition and the Civil War /Adam Sanchez -- Frederick Douglass fights for freedom / Bill Bigelow -- Poetry of defiance : how the enslaved resisted / Adam Sanchez -- "If there is no struggle . . . " teaching a people's history of the abolition movement / Bill Bigelow -- Who fought the end slavery? Meet the abolitionists / Adam Sanchez, Brandy Bennon, Deb Delman, and Jessica Lovaas -- Raising the voices of abolitionists through art / Adam Sanchez -- Mapping the slave economy / Bill Bigelow and Adam Sanchez -- The election of 1860 role play / Bill Bigelow -- A war to free the slaves? / Bill Bigelow -- "Who freed the slaves?" Civil War jigsaw / Adam Sanchez -- Arguing abolition : essay with an attitude / Adam Sanchez -- Afterword : from the Civil War to Reconstruction / Adam Sanchez -- A lesson on the aftermath of the Civil War : reconstructing the South : a role play / Bill Bigelow.