This complete, classroom-ready lesson bundle centers Ida B. Wells-Barnett’s Lynch Law in America to help students critically examine the history of racial terror, the failures of American legal institutions, and the power of investigative journalism and organized resistance.
Designed for high school U.S. History classrooms, this lesson guides students through a carefully structured close reading of Wells’s arguments, paired with primary source analysis and guided discussion. Students engage with curated excerpts from Wells’s writing, analyze historical documents and images, and reflect on the enduring significance of her work in the struggle for justice.
The bundle includes everything teachers need to teach this lesson with confidence: a detailed Teacher Packet with facilitation guidance and an answer key, a student-facing packet with structured writing and analysis tasks, a separate Guided Reading document with curated excerpts, a Primary Source Pack for small-group investigation, and a clean, classroom-ready slide deck that aligns with the lesson flow.
This resource supports critical thinking, historical reasoning, and meaningful discussion about race, power, and democracy in American history — while centering Black intellectual leadership and resistance.
What’s Included
Teacher Packet + Answer Key
Student Packet
Guided Reading (Curated Excerpts from Lynch Law in America)
Primary Source Pack
Classroom Slide Deck