Antebellum CrisisAll 5 grade bands · K-2 through APFree download
1856
Lesson plan.
James Buchanan vs John C. Frémont — Democrat James Buchanan won over the new Republican Party's first presidential candidate, John C. Frémont. The American (Know-Nothing) Party ran former president Millard Fillmore, who won Maryland but drew significant votes nationally. The Republicans ran on the anti-slavery-expansion slogan 'Free soil, free speech, free men, Frémont' and showed impressive strength in the North despite losing. Buchanan's failure to resolve the slavery crisis would push the nation toward civil war.
What is in each packet
Cover
Cycle metadata + band eyebrow
Lesson plan
Instructor — timing, materials, standards
Reading
Sized to grade band (K-2: ~250 words → AP: ~650)
Background
Curated cycles — 5-7 vocab terms + primary-source excerpt
Student worksheet
K-2: 3 questions → AP: 8, mixed format
Answer key
Instructor — rationale on every item
Discussion prompts
3 prompts tied to era
DBQ (AP only)
Long-essay + 5-point rubric + second source