The National Archives and Records Administration announces eight new units in the Digital Classroom section of its Web site. The units address various historical issues and events that occurred between 1850 and 1900, including the Civil War, the Dawes Act, the World's Columbian Exposition, the Chinese Boycott Case, and Child Labor. All of the units correlate to national academic standards, reflect constitutional issues, and encourage the analysis of primary source documents.

Historical documents from the holdings of the National Archives inspire document analysis activities that lead to classroom simulations, mapping activities, creative writing assignments, cooperative learning exercises, and technology-based research projects as described in the units. In addition to the activities, each unit includes an historical background section that provides valuable contextual information about the featured documents.

These are the second set of units created by members of The Constitution Community, a curriculum development team composed of classroom teachers from across the country and education specialists at the National Archives. The first units, also available online, address issues and events from the period prior to the Civil War. The project is dedicated to educating the public about the foundations of democracy and Constitutional issues and is being funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education and the Government Information Technology Services Board (GITSB) Innovation Fund, administered by the General Services Administration.

Additional units created by The Constitution Community will be made available in the coming months. They will address issues and events that occurred during the twentieth century.