A More Perfect Union
Teaching the American Revolution and Beyond
National History Day is partnering with various partners to commemorate the semiquincentennial of the United States. Together, NEH and NHD will create classroom materials that highlight different perspectives on the American Revolution, early American republic, and the continued efforts to create a more perfect union throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These classroom resources will help teachers engage students with unique primary sources and themes of democracy and citizenship throughout United States history.
Click the orange buttons below to access information about NHD's new 2022 summer teacher institute, Revolutionary Ideals, lesson plans and essays from the Building a More Perfect Union teacher source book, and taped professional development opportunities from past National Contests.
NHD's 250th programming is sponsored by Tom Lauer and the National Endowment for the Humanities.




Revolutionary Ideals provides a unique opportunity for 30 teachers to study the American Revolution and Founding Era in Providence, Rhode Island, during summer 2022. National History Day is working with the Rhode Island Historical Society, which will be celebrating its 200th anniversary in 2022, on programming, events, and site visits. Revolutionary Ideals is generously funded by Tom Lauer.
Program and travel fees are paid by National History Day.
Teachers must meet these requirements:
• Teacher applicants of any subject from grades 6-12 may apply. School librarians are also eligible for this program.
• Teacher applicants must be employed or serve as public, private, parochial, charter, independent, or home school educators.
• All accepted participants will be required to submit proof that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Teachers selected will work over the course of six months to learn about and research the context of the ideals behind the American Revolution and Early Republic. After the institute, teachers will work in pairs to create lesson plans relating to the founding ideals of the revolutionary era.
Teachers need to be available for travel from July 10 to July 17, 2022. The program will begin in February 2022 with required online course work and continue after summer travel with the completion of the lesson plans for an upcoming NHD publication.
The application window has closed for 2022.
Applications must include the following components:
•Teacher resume (two pages maximum).
•Teacher introduction: In this introduction, please include your philosophy of teaching, how this program will reach your students, and an explanation of the three most common active learning strategies you use in your classroom (three pages, double-spaced maximum).
•A lesson plan designed by the teacher that demonstrates one of the active learning strategies discussed in your introduction (five pages maximum). The lesson plan does not need to cover content from the Founding Era, but needs to show primary source use and active learning strategies.
•Letter of recommendation from the teacher's supervisor.
**Note: please scan all documents into one PDF file. You will be prompted to upload this single PDF in the application form. You can create a single PDF at smallPDF.com.
Application Notes:
National History Day is accepting applications for our 2022 Sacrifice for Freedom®: World War II in the Pacific Student & Teacher Institute through November 29, 2021. Teachers are welcome to apply to both programs, but accepted teachers for the Sacrifice for Freedom program will be removed from consideration from this program.
All completed applications submitted before the deadline will be considered, and all applicants will receive notification of the decision no later than Friday, January 28, 2022.
Questions? Contact Ashley Dabbraccio (Ashley@nhd.org; 301-405-0535).
Building a More Perfect Union
National History Day is partnering with the National Endowment for the Humanities to commemorate the semiquincentennial of the United States. Together, NEH and NHD created classroom materials that highlight different perspectives on the American Revolution, early American republic, and the continued efforts to create a more perfect union throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These classroom resources will help teachers engage students with unique primary sources and themes of democracy and citizenship throughout United States history.
The programs on this page are sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Created by Kyle Johnson, Seaman Middle School
Quelling the Whiskey Rebellion: Taking a Stand for Our Future
Created by Josh Elders, Peters Township Middle School
The Monroe Doctrine: Debating America’s Defense of Independence Abroad
Created by Katherine Corrado, Woodgrove High School
A More Perfect Union: Women and the Abolition Movement
Created by Erik M. Peterson, Santiago Elementary School
African American Suffragists and the Nineteenth Amendment
Created by Jeffrey Allen Hinton, Advanced Technologies Academy
Challenging School Segregation: The Fight of Chinese Americans
Created by Amie Dryer, Calvert High School
The Seattle General Strike of 1919: Labor Unions Uniting for Change
Created by Kristin Rentschler, Columbia City High School
The NAACP’s Mission to Forge a More Perfect Union
Created by Marian Cronin-Connolly, St. Peter’s School
The Indian Citizenship Act and the Meaning of American Citizenship
Created by Westley Green, Gautier High School
Exclusion or Inclusion? The Japanese Struggle to Own Land in California
Created by Robbie See, William Mendenhall Middle School
You’re Invited! A Dinner Party with Heroines of the Civil Rights Movement
Created by Emily Lewellen, Brown County High School
The 1968 Indian Civil Rights Act: From Termination to Self-Determination
Created by Chris Stewart, North Lakes Academy Charter School
Rising Tides of U.S. Immigration during the Cold War
Created by Sharon Gillette, Asia American International Academy
The Equal Rights Amendment: Debating A More Perfect Union
Created by Deanna McDaniel, Genoa Middle School
The Americans with Disabilities Act: Taking Action for Access
Created by Suzan Turner, Nashua-Plainfield High School
Toward a More Perfect Union Article
Serena Zabin, Professor of History, Carleton College
The American Revolution in Four Questions: Digging Deeper for Unfamiliar Stories Article
Adrienne G. Whaley, Director of Education and Community Engagement, Museum of the American Revolution
Click here to download a complete copy of the lesson plan book!
PLEASE NOTE:
All lesson plan activities have been made into fillable PDFs. For students to save their work, they must complete and save in a PDF reader app (not the web browser). Please instruct students to download a copy of the activity from the web browser and open in their PDF reader. For those working with "The NAACP’s Mission to Forge a More Perfect Union" lesson plan, please note that the student worksheet's page orientation needs to be flipped from portrait to landscape in a PDF reader. Please note that some lessons contain answer keys.
Visit NHD's 2021 Virtual Programs Page to learn with NHD and our partners!.
A Historian's Perspective: Serena Zabin
American Revolution and a More Perfect Union Through Debate and Diplomacy
Museum of the American Revolution
Objects, Centered: A Museum Educator's Look at Debate and Diplomacy in America
National Endowment for the Humanities
Building a More Perfect Union
The Papers of the War Department
National Museum of African American History & Culture
Debate & Diplomacy in History: A Professional Development Experience for NHD with NMAAHC
National Museum of American Diplomacy
What is Diplomacy?
Teacher Coffee Break
Debate and Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, Consequences
National History Day and the National Endowment for the Humanities have developed the Ask an NEH Expert series, which explores skills crucial to all NHD students.