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THE CIVIL WAR
St udy Guide
DEAR TEACHER:
We have created the following study guide to help make your students’ theatre experience with The Civil War musical as
meaningful as possible. For many, it will be their first time viewing a live theatrical production. We’ve learned that when
teachers discuss the play with their students before and after the production the experience is more significant and long
lasting. Our study guide provides pre- and post-production discussion topics, as well as individual and class activities.
These are just suggestions; feel free to create your own activities and areas of discussion. We hope that you and your class
enjoy the show!
THE STORY:
The American Civil War (1861-1865) was a defining event in our history, one that, in the big picture, tore apart the country
and one that also, too often, pitted brother against brother. The losses on both sides were staggering, greater than all other
American wars combined; the ultimate gain was also great and made the United States a stronger and wiser nation.
Our musical The Civil War has a cast of five talented actors playing multiple roles. The show delivers the key elements of
this epic war: its causes, conflicts, major battles and leaders, and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.
Through the lives of a few “ordinary” people, representing both Union and Confederate sides, we have a sense of the war as
a whole. Our main focus is on five individuals: the high-spirited white girl Jackie, from Mississippi; two Georgian boys –
Will, who is white, and Zak, who is a slave in Will’s household; and a young couple from Ireland, Johnny and Kathleen,
whose loyalties are with the North. Inevitably, these lives will cross.
The magic of The Civil War is that, despite its deeply serious underpinnings, the show is full of humor, wit, inventive
staging, and delightful dances and songs (many of which are from the 1860s). We believe that you and your students will
often laugh, be surprised, and ultimately moved. AND: you will all have so much to think and talk about afterwards. The
American Civil War was a transformative part of our history; and whether your students are from the north or the south,
come from other countries or were born here, having knowledge and understanding about that event remains an essential
piece of our collective “now.”
SETTING:
The time moves from 1861 to 1865; the place progresses from a Mississippi town and New York City, to various battle
sites: Manassas, Virginia; Antietem (“Bull Run”), Maryland; Fredericksburg, Virginia; Chancellorsville, Virginia, and
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
CAST OF CHARACTERS (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE):
Abe, a narrator
Jackie, a girl from Mississippi
Will, a white boy
Zak, a young slave in Will’s house
Johnny Malone, an Irish Union soldier
Kathleen, Johnny’s wife
“Sarge”, a Union sergeant
Cyrus, Jackie’s brother
Abraham Lincoln
Will’s Father
Two “Women”
Cap, a Confederate captain
Gus, a Confederate soldier
Pat, an Irish Union soldier
Mike, an Irish Union soldier
General McDowell
Recruiter for the Union
General McClellan
General Burnside
General Hooker
Cook for the Union
General Meade
A VARIETY OF SUGGESTIONS FOLLOWS FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION,
DEPENDING ON THE GRADE LEVEL OF YOUR STUDENTS
BEFORE SEEING THE MUSICAL:
Lea rni ng abo ut La ng ua ge:
We always include a vocabulary section in our Study Guides; in the case of The Civil War, we’ve created four
related categories: the “Civil War”; “Military”; “Unusual” (slang, idiom, old, regional); and “Common.”
These vocabulary words and phrases –which either occur in The Civil War musical or are pertinent to the subject
matter – range from basic to challenging, depending on the grade that you teach. In short, this vocabulary section
is designed to enhance the students’ enjoyment of the show, to enrich their vocabulary base, and to foster cooperative learning in your classroom. (This vocabulary study also can be a chance to teach or review parts of
speech.)
Civil War:
Abolition
Antebellum
Archive, Archival
To Assassinate
Carpetbagger
Confederate
Dixie
To Emancipate
To Evacuate
“Father Abraham”
Founding Fathers
To Inaugurate
Inflation
“Massa”
To Proclaim
Reconstruction (era)
To Secede, Secession
Stars and Stripes
Union
Unusual:
To be on the heels of
someone
To corner someone
To cut a swath
To finish off
Fork in the road
Goober peas
Guardian Angel
“Paddy” (derogative)
To pin down someone
To pull the wool over
the eyes of someone
To rally round
something
To reckon something
To skedaddle
Snuck
To Stonewall someone
To sweep down on
someone
Twixt, betwixt
To whoop someone
Military:
To amputate
Bayonet
Brig
Bugle
Cavalry
To Charge
Comrade
Flank
Foe
Fray
Infantry
Militia
Musket
Picket
Reb
Recruit
Regiment
Reveille
To rout
To salute
Sharpshooter
Siege
Standard (flag)
To surrender
Traitor, to betray
Yankee
_____ ___ ____ ___ ____ ___ ____ ___ ____ ___ ____ __ _____ ___
Lea rni ng abo ut T hea tre
Discuss with your students:
1. Some important terms to know about a play or a musical:
• Se tti ng (where and when does the story take place?)
• Chara cte rs (who are the people?)
• Plo t (what happens?)
• Th eme (what is the Big Idea?)
• St ruc tu re: Acts and Scenes (how is the play “built”?)
• Styl e (“ how ” ag ain ): realistic? fantasy? satiric? – etc.
General:
To bicker
Blithe
To brawl
Calamity
To collide, collision
Descendant
To endure
Feeble
Frail
Gallant
Grim
Horizon
To linger
Motto
To murmer
Patriot
To perish
Reckoning
To restore
Setback (noun)
Sideburns
“Sod” (pejorative)
Spire
Steadfast
To submit
To toil
To torment
To utter, utterance
Widow
Wits
2. Some important people who make a play or a musical happen:
• Good playw rig ht
• Creative dir ect or
• Believable acto rs
• Imaginative desig ne rs
o set
o costu mes
o lighti ng
o soun d
o pro ps
A musical also needs special creators: a “book” w rite r (the spoken words); a compose r (the music); a
lyricist (the words that are sung); and a choreog ra ph er (the dances).
3. Great audiences can make good shows even better. Here’s how:
• Listen, really listen!
• Laugh if it’s funny; cry if it’s sad – but please don’t talk (actors hear you)!
• Exercise your memory (Hey! That’s the tiger they talked about in Act One!)
• Turn off cell phones and pagers! No photos!
• Eat your candy bar before or after. Scientific studies prove that it is impossible to unwrap it quietly!!
Lea rni ng abo ut Li fe (Issues to think about and discuss in small groups or as a class)
1. Much of this musical’s plot is about con flict: between states, between armies, between families,
between individuals. In your own lives, what do you know about “conflict”? What does conflict feel like,
and how do you usually handle it? (You might have more than one strategy.) How do your methods usually
succeed?
2. Explore, write about, and perhaps share personal experiences:
• What have been some typical areas of conflict in your life?
• Think about a few examples: What was your strategy? What did you learn from these experiences?
• What are some ways by which grownups handle conflict, and are they different from your own
methods? What do you learn from them? Or could they sometimes learn from you?
• Basically, the American Civil War conflict was about rig hts: in your own life, what happens when your
“right” collides with someone else’s “right?”
Lea rni ng abo ut t he Civil W ar
The Civil War musical may require more background data from the teacher than in most musicals. You may or may
not already have studied this event with your students to some degree. What do your students already know? Pool
their knowledge through small group and/or full class discussion. What more do they need to know before
watching The Civil War? Have students, in small groups, create a list of “need-to know” to begin this process; use
this data and your own expertise to know what to supplement and how to organize discussion. Consider some of
the following items for instruction or review:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Revolutionary War
Declaration of Independence (“that all men are created equal”)
Constitution: differences among Founding Fathers regarding slavery
Economics of slavery
Key conflicts: slavery v. freedom; states v. federal government; black v. white
(return to these conflicts in post-performance discussion)
Northern and Southern perspectives
Secession - and two capitals: Washington and Richmond
The Military: key battles and generals; conditions and losses
Side note: Symbols play an important role in any war. Explain and give examples to your students of familiar
symbols; give students a heads-up to watch for any “symbols” in the show.; e.g., the marble, the hats.
AFTER SEEING THE MUSICAL:
Being Dr ama Cri tics
While it’s still fresh in your minds, consider the following:
1. Perhaps you’ve had some class discussions about the American Civil War and its causes and concepts. How has The
Civil War musical developed your prior knowledge? How has it introduced new knowledge and ideas? Did anything
surprise you? Was anything unclear? If so, help out each other.
2. Discuss the main characters – Jackie, Will, Zack, the Johnny and Kathleen Malone - and the actors who
portrayed them. What specific lines or actions did actors use to help you understand these characters as
individuals? To what extent did they resemble people – or types of people – whom you know? What is the
effect of having actors play multiple roles? If you were directing the musical, would you add or change anything
about the characters?
3. How did the musical numbers change or add to your understanding of the characters or the Big Ideas? Which
songs and dances did you particularly enjoy -and why? What were your favorite scenes and why? Some
humorous moments? Some moving moments?
4. What seems to be the Big Idea, the theme, of The Civil War musical? What is your “take-away” thought after
seeing this show?
Being Y ou
A play is like a mirror. What do you see of yourself (or someone you know) when you look into the “mirror” of The
Civil War? How does seeing yourself through this musical make you feel connected to other people? To your state?
To your country? Write a paragraph about your thoughts and share the paragraph in a small group.
For Yo u nger Stu de nts
Discussion (and perhaps writing) might center around the following ideas:
•
•
•
Who is your favorite character from the show and why? Which character is most like you and why?
(Maybe it’s the same character!)
What do you see as strengths among the people on both the North and the South? What are some of
their weaknesses? What are your best qualities, and how do you use them? And – let’s be fair – what
are qualities that you need to improve?
Growing up, it’s sometimes hard to stand up for yourself and resolve conflicts. Who are important
adults in your life, and how do they help you to handle both of these goal?
ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES
(ITEMS THAT MAY BE ESPECIALLY SUITABLE FOR YOUNGER STUDENTS ARE NOTED IN BLUE)
Cr eative Dra mati cs
Original Scene
Ask your students to collaborate on a short scene between two or more characters; rehearse and perform.*
Consider the following ideas:
• Keeping in mind the strong scenes between Will and Zak, ask students to work in pairs writing a scene in
which the two encounter each other twenty years later.
• Write a scene between Jackie and her granddaughter, who has her own questions and opinions.
Living Tableaux
Dividing students into small groups, assign each group to create a “living tableaux” that interprets a word,
phrase, or sentence from the Vocabulary list or the following Key Lines list (several are from the show):*
• “A fork in the road”
• “A house divided cannot stand”
• “We are a band of brothers”
• “guardian angel”
• “Ain’t fighting to free nobody; we’re fighting to save the Union”
• “For the first time in my life I felt as if I belonged”
• “…shall be then, and henceforward, and forever free”
• “…but it’s different when you look ‘em in the eye”
• “…the beginning of the end”
• “…united at last”
Charades
Yes – another kind of “performance.” As teacher, you will likely have to teach the students how to play; provide
slips of paper with quotations from the Vocabulary list, Key Lines list, or your own choices.
Cr eative Writi ng
Informal
Ask your students to think about (perhaps discuss) and write –
• A “What-If . . .?” short story about life where you now live if the South had won the war.
• A poem about an related event, one of the characters, or about yourself – recite it to the class.*
• Your Inaugural Address, now that you’ve been elected President – deliver it!*
• Letter writing held enormous importance during the war. Write a letter (or more): soldier to a loved one,
family member, or friend, or the other way around; try to enter the mind of the letter writer. Share.*
Formal
Assign an essay • “A fork in the road.” Ask your students to reflect on their own lives: what important choices have you
made and why? What has resulted from those choices? What do you see in hind-sight?*
• Tradition, Heritage, Descendant, Patriot, Duty: what do these words mean to you?
• First do some dictionary research on one or two of the above words. Write about how your chosen words
and their original meanings have had positive and/or negative power; used or misused; and their
significance for you personally.
Readi ng
1. Walt Whitman: the great Civil War era poet, who also helped nurse the wounded in the Union hospitals.
Introduce your students to him and one or more of his shorter Civil War poems:
• “Cavalry Crossing a Field”
• “A March in the Ranks Hard-prest, and the Road Unknown”
• “A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak Gray and Dim”
• “The Wound-dresser”
2. Lincoln the writer: Analyze a Lincoln speech as literature, make notes, outline the speech, and write a
précis.
Ar tistic Ex pressi on
1. Design and make a flag that depicts your view of the United States today.*
2. For a class performance, create a song, a dance, or both, inspired by the show and focusing on one of the
main conflicts or themes.
3. Individually or as a group, think of “symbols” that reflect our society today and create them for display.
Use materials such as clay, wood, paper, and cloth. The symbols might reflect something negative or
positive; funny or serious .*
4. Create a map of the United States; identify the slave states. Then create your own labels, descriptors, and
symbols for many – or all - of the states (consider the usual data: state motto, bird, flower, state
nickname – but add your own, based on a little research.
5. Remember those letters? Design a Civil War stamp. Make an envelope, address it and perhaps decorate it
(that was often done). Perhaps the teacher can provide samples of old penmanship!*
6. Make and illustrate a Family Tree back to the Civil War era. You’ll need help from relatives. Try to learn
on which side your forebears stood and note that on your “tree.”
7. Draw, paint, sculpt, etc., a work to illustrate your interpretation of a word or phrase from the Vocabulary or
Key Lines list. You also might explore Bartlett’s Quotations for effective quotations to illustrate; e.g.,
“victory,” “history,” or freedom.”*
Music
Get musical in the classroom! (General Robert E. Lee said “You cannot have an army without music.”)
1. The Civil War musical is full of songs from that era. Here’s the list; these songs are accessible on the
Internet. Choose one or more, learn and perform:*
• “Pick a Bale of Cotton” (slave work song)
• “Lincoln and Liberty Too” (campaign song)
• “Bonnie Blue Flag”
• “Dixie” ((thought to have been written for a Minstrel Show)
• “Free at Last” (spiritual)
• “The Fighting 69th” (about the Irish Brigade)
• “We Are Coming Father Abraham” (Gibbons and Emerson)
• “Marching on to Richmond” (E. W. Locke)
• “Just Before the Battle, Mother” (George Root)
• “Paddy’s Lamentation” (Irish)
• “The Battle Cry of Freedom” (George Root)
• “When Johnny Comes Marching Home”
2. You’ve now heard quite a lot about drummers and drumming (the drum calls in the show are simplified
versions of actual drum calls). If possible, try to “drum up” a few drums for the classroom; it’s even likely
that there’s a student who can teach others some of the basics. (Choose your time and place well, so that
other classes are not disturbed!)
Speaki ng
Ask your students to design a series of short speeches, or even a panel presentation:
1. You’re running for President of the United States: create a campaign “motto” and develop that theme
while speaking on a Presidential candidate panel (you may use your notes).
2. Divide into small groups, each group researching one of the major battles of the war. Organize a
presentation to the class, each group member speaking about a specific area of your research.
3. Choose one of Lincoln’s great speeches; memorize and recite your favorite portion (the Gettysburg Address
is short enough to be memorized in its entirety). Choose from the Second Inaugural Address, the
Gettysburg Address, the Letter to Mrs. Bixby, or the Emancipation Proclamation.
Discussio n
Ask your students to reflect on (at home) and to come to class prepared to discuss:
1. How about the word “belonging”? In how many ways can we feel that we “belong”?
What are examples of moments when we feel that way – and why? (This also could serve as an
essay topic.)
2. “We the People of the United States of America”: in the musical, a character questions, “But who is ‘we’
anyhow and how ‘united’ are we?” Try to answer his question.
3. Which conflicts from the Civil War do you see still existing? What? Who? Where? Why? Consider home,
school, neighborhood, town, state, country, other countries – and global.
4. Nuts and bolts: the Constitutional debate? States rights or Federal?
Resear ch Proje cts
A great number of these can also lead to stimulating class discussion, once the research and/or the teacher’s
instructional material have been introduced.
Academic Research
Students can learn more about the concepts presented in the show by doing some research, exploring the
library or the Internet for information. Students can work individually or in groups to create presentations
displaying their finds. Here are some subjects to consider:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
The Slave States (including the Missouri Compromise and the Mason-Dixon Line)
Plantation Life (including “a slave’s day”)
Civilian Life: evacuations, overcrowding, lack of food and clothing, inflation, looting, etc.
Women in the American Civil War; e.g., the “average” woman, Daisy Turner, Mary Chestnut, Hariett
Beecher Stowe, Clara Barton, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman
The Abolition Movement
Boys in the War
Individual Lives: Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Frederick Douglass, Generals, etc.
Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Regiment (black troops)
“Freedom Fighters” – 200,00 African-American enlistees – segregated – in the Union Army
“Outsiders”: The Fighting 69th (Irish); Jewish slave-holders; relationships between indentured servants
and black slaves
The Underground Railroad
Naval Involvement
Ironclads
Blockades
Weaponry
Spies
Prisoner of War Camps
The Medical War (especially the work of Dr. Jonathan Letterman in the field hospitals)
Casualty Statistics
Army Support Personnel: food and drink, wagons, draft animals to move supplies, etc.
Mathew Brady (official Union photographer)
Lincoln’s Assassination and John Wilkes Booth
Postbellum Era: Reconstruction, carpetbaggers, etc.
Archival Material (photos, letters, objects); e.g., weapons and ammunition, uniforms, leg irons, medals,
medical equipment
Survey
Create a list of meaningful questions and ask at least a half-dozen adults about their views regarding the Civil
War. After collecting your data, write them up and report your finds to the class.
RELATED BOOKS, VIDEOS, AND WEBSITES:
Books:
• The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara – Pulitzer Prize winning novel about Gettysburg; the book’s chapters
alternate between North and South – terrific!
• The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane (novel; written in 1894; advanced readers)
• “Three Miraculous Soldiers,” “A Mystery of Heroism”; Stephen Crane (short stories)
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe (novel, 1852)
• The Army of the Potomac trilogy, Bruce Catton (non-fiction, advanced readers)
• The Centennial History of the Civil War trilogy, Bruce Catton (non-fiction, advanced)
• The Ulysses S. Grant trilogy, Bruce Catton (non-fiction, advanced)
• The Whipping Man, by Matthew Lopez (play; available through samuelfrench.com): the war has ended; the play
explores the conflict among a Jewish Confederate soldier and two of his family’s former slaves – now free men.
Civil W ar boo ks sp ecifi cally aim ed at Mid dle Schoo l ag e st ud ents
(culled from Amazon.com; suggested age range, when available, is noted):
• Fields of Fury: the American Civil War (9 and up), J. McPherson
• Eyewitness: Civil War (8 and up), J. Stanchak
• Hardtack and Coffee or the Unwritten Story of Army Life (8 and up), J. Billings
• The Boys’ War: Confederate and Union Soldiers Talk about the Civil War (8 and up), C. Murphy (first-hand
accounts)
• Black, Blue and Gray: African-Americans in the Civil War (7 and up), J. Haskins
• Undying Glory: The Story of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment (9 and up), C. Cox
• Civil War Doctor (Working Life), M. Uschan
• Lincoln: a Photobiography (9 and up), R. Freedman
• Robert E. Lee: First Soldier of the Confederacy (11 and up), E. Rice
• Rifles for Watie (12 and up), H. Keith
• Co. Aytch: a Confederate Memoir of the Civil War, S. Watkins (first-hand account)
• Bull Run (10 and up), P. Fleischman
Films/V ide os:
• Ken Burns’ Civil War (award winning television documentary series, nine episodes)
• Gettysburg (highly praised film based on The Killer Angels, 1993)
• Gone with the Wind (epic, classic film about the war, 1939)
Int er net:
• Of course, numerous Internet sites exist about the American Civil War; however, a stand-out for its range,
depth, and accessibility is the Ken Burns’ Civil War site: pbs.org/civilwar/classroom/ - think of it as “one-stop
shopping” for research.
“THE CIVIL WAR WAS THE GREATEST EVENT IN AMERICAN HISTORY…
WHERE, PARADOXICALLY, IN ORDER TO BECOME ONE,
WE HAD TO TEAR OURSELVES IN TWO”
- Ken Burns