Download teacher`s guide teacher`s guide teacher`s guide the civil war

TEACHER’S GUIDE
• Ask students to develop a comprehensive Civil War time line that
includes the major battles such as Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and
Gettysburg and the roles of prominent military leaders, such as Stonewall
Jackson, George Pickett and William Tecumseh Sherman.As a follow-up,
students may write analyses of the events associated with particular
battles, appraise leaders’ actions and assess the effects the battles had on
the outcome of the war.An extensive list of Civil War battlefields may be
found at this Web site: www.cr.nps.gov/history/categrs/mili2.htm
• Read with your class the Emancipation Proclamation and ask students to
write journal entries speculating about the reasons for its issuance.Ask
students to explore the Abraham Lincoln Papers to learn what was happening in the war in 1862 that prompted President Lincoln’s decision to
issue this decree. Based on their findings, ask students to construct arguments and compare them to their initial perceptions about why the
Proclamation was issued.The Abraham Lincoln Papers may be found at
this Web site: memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/malhome.html
• Photography was a new medium in the mid-19th century and the Civil
War was the first to be extensively chronicled in this way. Matthew
Brady was the most famous photographer during this time period.Ask
students to analyze pictures he and others took of the Civil War and to
speculate about how these images affected people of the North and
South. Students may also read and assess poems by Walt Whitman and
Emily Dickinson that reflect on images of the war’s devastation. Many
still photographs of the Civil War may be found at this Web site:
memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/cwphome.html
• The movie Glory tells the story of the 54th Regiment of the Massachusetts
Volunteer Infantry, the first unit of African-American soldiers to join the
Union war effort. Share the film with your class and ask students to
conduct research on the lives of men from the 54th Regiment.The film
is rated R, but a version edited for educational use is also available. More
information on the role of black soldiers in the Civil War may be found
at this Web site: www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons/blacks_
in_civil_war/blacks_in_civil_war.html
Suggested Internet Resources
Periodically, Internet Resources are updated on our Web site at
www.LibraryVideo.com
• scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/women/cwdocs.html
Duke University’s “Civil War Women” site offers numerous primary
sources documenting women’s experiences in the Civil War.
• jeffersondavis.rice.edu/
Rice University presents “The Papers of Jefferson Davis,” which contains
extensive biographical information, important speeches and letters.
• miley.wlu.edu/LeePapers/
Washington and Lee University provides the “Robert E. Lee Papers,” a
substantial record of the Confederate General’s life.
5
TEACHER’S GUIDE
TEACHER’S GUIDE
Suggested Print Resources
• Banfield, Susan. The Andersonville Prison Civil War Crimes Trial: A
Headline Court Case. Enslow Publishers, Berkeley Heights, NJ; 2000.
• Trudeau, Noah Andre. A Testing of Courage. HarperCollins, New York, NY;
2002.
• Winik, Jay. April 1865: The Month That Saved America. HarperCollins,
New York, NY; 2001.
TM
THE CIVIL WAR
Grades 5–12
TEACHER’S GUIDE
Jeffrey W. Litzke, M.Ed.
Curriculum Specialist, Schlessinger Media
Rudolph Lea
Historian
COMPLETE LIST OF TITLES
• Three Worlds Meet (Origins–1620)
• The Era of Colonization (1585–1763)
• Slavery & Freedom
• The American Revolution
• A New Nation (1776–1815)
• Expansionism
• Democracy & Reform
• Causes of the Civil War
• The Civil War
• Reconstruction & Segregation (1865–1910)
• Industrialization & Urbanization
(1870–1910)
• Immigration & Cultural Change
• A Nation in Turmoil
Teacher’s Guides Included
and Available Online at:
• The Progressive Movement
• U.S. & The World (1865–1917)
• The Great War
• The Roaring Twenties
• The Great Depression
& The New Deal
• World War II
• Post-War U.S.A.
• The Cold War
• Civil Rights
• The Vietnam War
• The Middle East
• U.S. Politics (1960–1980)
• U.S. Politics (1980–2000)
800-843-3620
Teacher’s Guide Copyright 2003 by Schlessinger Media,
a division of Library Video Company
D6769
P.O. Box 580,Wynnewood, PA 19096 • 800-843-3620
V7009
Program Copyright 1996, 2003 by Schlessinger Media
Executive Producer:Andrew Schlessinger
Original production produced and directed by Invision Communications, Inc.
All rights reserved.
T
his guide is a supplement designed for teachers
to use when presenting programs in the United
States History series.
Before Viewing: Give students an introduction
to the topic by relaying aspects of the program
summary to them. Select pre-viewing discussion
questions and vocabulary to provide a focus for
students when they view the program.
After Viewing: Review the program and vocabulary, and use the follow-up activities to inspire
continued discussion. Encourage students to
research the topic further with the Internet and
print resources provided.
This program correlates to the following
Prentice Hall textbooks:
The American Nation: Chapter 17
America: Pathways to the Present: Chapter 2
Program Summary
The Civil War began on April 12,1861 with the first shots fired by Confederate
troops on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. The attack
followed decades of regional unrest over slavery, states’ rights, social values
and western expansion. Shortly after President Lincoln was elected 1860,
some southern states seceded from the Union, elected their own president
(Jefferson Davis) and wrote their own constitution — the United States
essentially became two countries. President Lincoln’s primary goal was to
restore the Union.While both sides believed the war would end quickly, it
evolved into a long and bloody conflict in which more than 600,000 men died.
Both sides had their advantages: the North had a much larger population and
a more developed industrial base and transportation network, while the
South was fighting for their homeland and way of life. Slavery was a main
issue in the conflict, with the future of millions of enslaved Africans and
America’s experiment in democracy at stake. President Lincoln’s war plan
evolved into a battle not just to save the Union, but also to establish a nation
where all people would be free.
After some key victories early on, Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s forces
were defeated at Gettysburg in 1863, the deadliest battle ever fought in
North America.The Union victory changed the course of the war. In 1864
Union General Ulysses S. Grant moved his army southward, inflicting heavy
casualties, and General William Tecumseh Sherman tore his way through the
South, capturing and burning the city of Atlanta. By early 1865, the last
Confederate strongholds began to fall, and on April 9, 1865 Lee surrendered
to Grant at Appomatox, Virginia. Shortly afterwards, President Lincoln was
assassinated by southern sympathizer, John Wilkes Booth.
After four years of fighting, the Civil War was finally over, marking a major
turning point in United States history.The American South was devastated, its
economy shattered, its towns and cities in ruins. Major questions remained
about readmitting the southern states to the Union — and about how to
ensure liberty to over three million African Americans freed from slavery.
1864 — President Lincoln is reelected.
1865 — General Robert E. Lee surrenders to General Grant at Appomattox.
1865 — President Lincoln is assassinated.
1865 — The 13th Amendment ending slavery is ratified.
Vocabulary
1861 — The Civil War begins with a Confederate attack on Fort Sumter.
1861 — The First Battle of Bull Run is fought.
1862 — The Battle of Antietam Creek is waged.
1863 — The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect.
1863 — Many people are killed in the New York City Draft Riots.
1863 — The Battle of Gettysburg takes place.
1863 — The city of Vicksburg is taken by Union troops.
1863 — President Lincoln delivers his Gettysburg Address.
1864 — Many Cheyenne are killed in a massacre in Sand Creek, Colorado.
1864 — General Sherman captures and burns Atlanta.
(Continued)
The Civil War — A major war in the United States between 1861 and 1865
in which northern states battled southern states that were attempting to
leave the Union.
Fort Sumter — A fort in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina that Confederate
forces bombed in 1861 in the first battle of the Civil War.
First Battle of Bull Run — The first major battle of the Civil War, in which
Confederate troops defeated Union troops in 1861.A second Battle of Bull
Run was fought in 1862.
railroad artillery — A type of mobile weaponry that was mounted on rail
cars and was first used during the Civil War.
Spencer repeating carbine — A type of deadly repeating rifle first used
during the Civil War.
Emancipation Proclamation — An executive order by President Lincoln
that slaves in the states that had left the Union were to be considered forever
free.
border states — States located between North and South with internal
divisions over the issue of slavery: Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri.
Port Royal Experiment — A program sponsored by philanthropic northerners that sought to prepare freed slaves to be part of American society.
Bread Riots — Violent actions by mobs of people in the South to protest
the shortage or high price of bread during the Civil War.
Draft Riots — Nationwide violent actions, most notably in New York in
1863, to protest the drafting of men into the armed forces.
Gettysburg — A location in Pennsylvania where the Union won a major
victory over the Confederacy in the Civil War. After the battle, President
Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg Address.
Sand Creek massacre — An 1864 attack by Union forces that killed
approximately two hundred Cheyenne living on a remote reservation in
Colorado.
Wilderness campaign — The first Civil War confrontation between
Generals U.S. Grant and Robert E. Lee; the battle took place in Virginia in May
1864.
total war — Warfare in modern times that involves entire populations and that
regards all of the people and all of the territory of an enemy as subject to attack.
Appomattox — A location in Virginia where Confederate forces led by
Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union forces on April 9, 1865.
Ford’s Theater — The Washington, D.C. playhouse where President Lincoln
was assassinated on April 14, 1865.
(Continued)
2
3
Time Line
industrialization — The changeover from hand labor to the use of
machinery and the factory system for the manufacture of goods.
Pre-viewing Discussion
• When was the Civil War fought? Ask students to explain the significance
of the Civil War in American history.Who are some famous leaders and
personalities associated with the war?
• In fighting the Civil War, President Lincoln’s main goal was to preserve
the United States.Ask students to speculate about why Lincoln wanted
to keep the nation together.
• Ask students to explain in their own words the concept of a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
Follow-up Discussion
• Considering the major social and political differences between the
North and the South, ask students to discuss whether the Civil War was
unavoidable.
• Ask students to explain why the Civil War is called the first modern war.
What role did new technologies play in the conflict? How did they make
the war more destructive?
• How did the Civil War affect the lives of women? Describe women’s
wartime roles both at home and on the battlefield.
Follow-up Activities
• Shortly after Robert E. Lee’s surrender to General Grant at Appamattox
in 1865, President Lincoln was assassinated. Ask students to review
primary source materials associated with the trial of those allegedly
involved in the assassination plot. Students may read and write their
own historical narratives based on short biographies on the conspirators, actual newspaper accounts of the Lincoln assassination and
excerpts from the trial transcripts.As a follow-up, students may conduct
a mock trial of those accused of participating in the plot to kill President
Lincoln. Were all eight conspirators guilty? Excellent primary source
material on the Lincoln assassination trial may be found at this Web site:
www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lincolnconspiracy/
lincolnconspiracy.html
• Several universities and organizations have compiled oral histories of people
who were personally impacted by the Civil War. Distribute to students
selected letters, diaries and accounts of Civil War officers, soldiers and
nurses.Ask students to develop profiles of their subjects, and share their
findings with the class.A number of primary source materials related to
the Civil War can be found at this Web site: www.cwc.lsu.edu/cwc/
links/links6.htm#Stories
4