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.

(b) analyzing the significance of the Emancipation Proclamation and the principles outlined in Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address;

Transcript of the Gettysburg Address
Library of Congress

President Lincoln’s Invitation to Gettysburg
Library of Congress

Description: President Lincoln was invited to give a speech at the dedication ceremony for the Union cemetery at Gettysburg five months after the great battle. President Lincoln gave a simple, but poignant speech filled with the sentiment of the cause the Union was fighting for.

Teaching Tips:

"Do Now" Suggestions

Discuss what historical event Lincoln is referring to in the first paragraph and the implications the Declaration of Independence had onto the Civil War.
Discuss how Lincoln uses this opportunity to harden resolve for victory.
Lincoln refers to preventing the failure of democracy. Discuss what may have happened to the Union government if the Confederacy won the war.

Suggestion for Using this Resource as Part of a Lesson

Break the speech into thematic sections and have students in groups paraphrase Lincoln’s words. Then come together as a class and create an interpretation of Lincoln’s main ideas.