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The Official Web Site of the State of South Carolina

For Teachers

For Teachers

South Carolina’s historic places are tangible records of the state’s history. Each historic place is unique and can supplement classroom lectures, readings, and exams. The following collection of lesson plans and teaching documents, divided into the time periods as written in the South Carolina Social Studies Standards, are available online for educational use:

General/Multiple Time Periods

A Teacher’s Guide to African American Historic Places in South Carolina 
Two Centuries of Innovation: Mount Dearborn Military Reservation (4th Grade)
Two Centuries of Innovation: Mount Dearborn Military Reservation (8th Grade)

Colonial (Pre-Contact to 1763)

The Role of African Slaves on South Carolina Rice Plantations (4th Grade)
Stono Rebellion (4th Grade)
Digging Into the Colonial Past: Archaeology and the 16th Century Spanish Settlements at Charlesfort-Santa Elena (6th through 8th Grade)
Life on Two Colonial Plantations in South Carolina (8th Grade)
Lowcountry Rice Planting and Cooking (8th Grade)
The Trading Post with the Most: Colonial Dorchester’s Settlement and Economy (8th Grade)

American Revolution (1764-1783)

Kate Fowler: Tory Spy (3rd Grade) 
The Old Folks Will Bless You and the Girls Kiss You (4th Grade)
The Battle of Fort Moultrie (8th Grade)
South Carolina: Loyalist or Patriot? (8th Grade)
The Battle of Huck’s Defeat (8th Grade)

Constitution (1784-1791)

Benjamin Mazyck, The Mystery Man of Goose Creek: A Curriculum for the Study of 18th Century South Carolina Low Country Huguenots, Rice Plantations, and Slavery (PDF)

Antebellum (1792-1860)

Between the Rivers (2nd Grade)
African American Life in the Pee Dee Before the Civil War (3rd Grade)
Oktoberfest: Celebration Honoring the Founding Settlers of Walhalla (3rd Grade)
End of the Line: What Happened to the Blue Ridge Railroad? (5th Grade)
Too Large to be a Lunatic Asylum: South Carolina’s Mental Health (8th Grade)
Buying, Selling, and Trading in Antebellum South Carolina (High School)
Examining Slave Auction Documents (High School)
When Rice was King
Silent Cities: Cemeteries and Classrooms
Revolutionary Women of South Carolina (8th Grade) (PDF)

Civil War (1861-1865)

Robert Smalls: Warrior and Peacemaker (3rd, 4th, 5th Grades)
Comfortable Camps: Archaeology of the Confederate Guard Camp at the Florence Stockade
Those Honored Dead: The Battle of Rivers Bridge and Civil War Combat Casualties

Reconstruction (1866-1876)

Being There: Understanding Reconstruction in South Carolina (8th Grade)

Second Half of Nineteenth Century (1877-1899)

Goin’ On Strike (5th Grade)
Images from South Carolina Cotton Mills (5th Grade)
Kensington Mansion: Plantation, Sharecroppers, Tenants (11th Grade)
Walking Down Main Street: The Changing Times of a Railroad Town (8th Grade)

1900-1940

Memories of a Mill Town (3rd Grade)
Work and Play in South Carolina (3rd and 5th Grades)
The 1920s—Not Roaring in South Carolina (5th Grade)
Civil Rights Through Photographs (5th and 8th Grades)
The Historical and Economic Impact of the Civilian Conservation Corps in South Carolina (8th Grade)
The Historical and Economic Impact of Military Bases in South Carolina (8th Grade)
Turn of the Century Immigration (High School)
What a Kind Santa Claus You Are (High School)
Northern Money, Southern Schools: The Rosenwald School Program (PDF)

World War II and the Twentieth Century

“Bus”ting Down the Doors of Segregation (3rd Grade)
Separate but Equal?: A Lesson on the Briggs v. Elliott Case in Clarendon County, South Carolina (3rd Grade)
Separate But Equal? South Carolina's Fight Over School Desegregation (8th Grade)
Social Effects of World War II in South Carolina (5th Grade)
From Cotton to Baseball: How Greenville Grew (8th Grade)
The Enemy in Our Own Backyard! (High School)
The Rosenwald Schools: Progressive Era Philanthropy in the Segregated South
Brown v. Board: Five Communities that Changed America
South Carolina’s Equalization School Program

Traveling Through South Carolina History

These handouts, organized by time period, match the SC Social Studies Standards with historic sites across South Carolina. The applicable standards are listed in the main Historic Sites and Standards handout (PDF).

Settlement 1670-1775
Native Americans
American Revolution & Constitution 1770-1785
Slavery 1670-1865
Civil War & Reconstruction 1860-1895
African Americans After Emancipation 1865-1954
Late 19th & Early 20th Century 1895-1941
World War II 1941-1945

Additional Information

Search these websites for more lesson plans and educational information on South Carolina’s historic places:

National History Day in South Carolina
South Carolina Archaeology Public Outreach Division (SCAPOD)
South Carolina Civil Rights Lesson Plans
SC ETV's KnowItAll.org
South Carolina Heritage Trust Lesson Plans
South Carolina State Parks—Discover History
Study SC
Teaching American History in South Carolina