A Guide to Primary Resources for U.S. History : Executive Order 9981 Truman Presidential Museum and Library: "Multimedia Digital Archives" On July 26, 1948, President Truman issued Executive Order 9981 establishing equality of treatment and opportunity in the Armed Services. This project website, produced for the 50th anniversary of the Executive Order, presents the historic document as well as interesting background materials organized in an interactive format. This resource enables students to explore an important outcome of African American military service in World War II. The students can read the order and jot down ideas about how people might have responded to Truman's words (for example, from the perspective of an African-American WWII veteran, an American general, a NAACP lawyer, a white farmer, and a Soviet leader). This could be the beginning of a discussion on how the ideologies of the Cold War played out in the daily lives of Americans. Students can write a reactionary historical journal entry from the perspective of a former WWII African-American soldier (perhaps a Tuskegee Airman) to Truman's order. The teacher can prompt students to think about the emotions of an African-American who fought for a country in which his place is marginalized in society, especially when he was supposedly fighting to promote democracy. In the context of the increasingly threatening Cold War, what might such a person question about his country? The teacher should be sure to return to this document when the class begins to discuss the roots of the Civil Rights Movement.

(a) identifying the major events and the roles of key leaders of the Civil War Era, with emphasis on Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, and Frederick Douglass;

Speech of Frederick Douglass
Fordham University: Modern History Sourcebook

Description: In this speech Frederick Douglass highlights the hypocrisy of celebrating the Declaration of Independence and the Fourth of July while slavery is permitted within the United States. Also in this discourse, Douglass discusses what the Fourth of July means to a slave. Douglass describes some main arguments for the abolition of slavery. He also suggests that the country needed a moral earthquake to uproot the establishment of slavery, nine years before the Civil War began.

Teaching Tips:

"Do Now" Suggestions

Use this speech as an introduction to the abolitionist perspective.
Discuss what Douglass meant from a historical perspective when he asked if the question of slavery should be up to Republicans.
Use this as an example of Frederick Douglass’ role during the Civil War Era.

Suggestions for Using this Resource as Part of a Lesson

Compare this speech’s thesis to the Battle Hymn of the Republic. Discuss the religious and moral overtones that abolitionists and the Union used during the Civil War Era.
Discuss the meaning of the quote “all men are created equal” by the following activity. Write the phrase on the board and have all students stand. Then, ask women and minority groups to sit one group at a time. The remaining students, Caucasian males, represent the people protected prior to the Civil War. Then, read what Douglass says about the meaning of the Declaration to slaves. Discuss with students the accuracy and fairness of the phrase and the hypocrisy of the Declaration of Independence.