The history of the USA, with its epic battles and struggles for freedom, is vivid and right here, under our feet. Putting your students into the very heart of history is a way to connect them with the past and teach them the lessons it has for them, both today and for the future.
Here, we talk about 5 places that will bring your history class to life, confronting your students with the living lessons of a vibrant history.
- Williamsburg, Virginia.
This colonial city invites your students into the very heart of the American colonial experience. With an interactive learning experience embodied in a faithfully reconstructed village, they’ll walk into the world of their forefathers.
Only miles away is Jamestown, where the Virginia Company of London sent an expedition to establish a settlement in the area – the first in the USA. In 1607 this became the state of Virginia’s first capital.
- New Orleans, Louisiana.
The vibrant history of the Crescent City is full of secrets and intrigue. Its place on the banks of the Mississippi River made it an early trading hub for the southern states, encompassing the slave trade.
It’s also here in New Orleans that the Civil Rights movement effectively began when Homer Plessy attempted to board a “whites only” streetcar, provoking a landmark case considered pivotal in the history of the Civil Rights movement – Plessy vs. Ferguson.
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The city of brotherly love is where the dream of America was well and truly established, when the Founding Fathers set their hands to the seminal Declaration of Independence.
Here students can see the famous handiwork of Betsy Ross’s flag and the Liberty Bell, which first rang out the good news of America’s birth and freedom to its sons and daughters. This rich site of American history will inspire your students and fill them with pride.
- Washington, DC.
Nexus of the tremendous international power of the USA, Washington, DC is the seat of our nation’s government. It’s here that Abraham Lincoln is memorialized in the eponymous monument and the nation’s business is done in the halls of the House of Congress, Senate and the White House.
The capital’s Smithsonian Museum preserves the legacy of the USA, from the gowns of the First Ladies of the USA, to the cultural treasures of our diverse nation.
- Atlanta, Georgia.
In beautiful Atlanta, Georgia students can walk in the footsteps of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., experiencing him as a child growing up with the realities of Jim Crow and becoming a Civil Rights figure who would shake America to its foundations, transforming it forever.
See his childhood home and the Ebenezer Baptist Church, from where he launched his long and arduous battle for equality, with non-violent mass protests and marches.
Bring history to life with Junior Tours.
This list of 5 places that will bring your history class to life is just a sample of where Junior Tours can take you. Contact us and let us lead your students through American history.