SETTING UP THE UNIT: THE CIVIL WAR
Use the two maps to complete the Geography Challenge linked below
|
KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT AND "BLEEDING KANSAS"
Kansas-Nebraska Act causes great division because of the fear of spreading slavery. The Battle of Slavery begins in Kansas.
|
Dred Scott V. Sandford
1. Which laws were the Scott's using to claim their freedom? 2. What effects did this case have on the country and how did it lead the nation closer to the Civil War? |
Resources of the North and South
breaking_down_the_war_pp_outline_to_take_notes.docx | |
File Size: | 20 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Activity 1: Off to War
"Traitors and Patriots" Watch the above video starting at 53:18 min and stop at the end of "Gun Men" at 113:05.
This portion of the videodescribes the signing on of volunteers for the Union and Confederate armies during the opening
months of the war. Ask students as they watch it to pay special attention to any quotations from
letter (or diary) writers.
After viewing the segment answer the following:
• Did the men who signed on envision a long or short war?
• What important choices did men have to make in these early days of the war? Why do you think men
from each side enlisted?
• Why did Lee reject the offer to be general of the Union forces, and instead choose the Confederacy?
What did this decision portend for the future of the Civil War?
• Were African Americans at first allowed to fight? What happened to fugitive slaves who fled to the
North?
• The program describes what Grant, Lee, Sherman (and other soon-to-be important players in the
Civil War) did in these early days. But the program also quotes men like Elisha Hunt Rhodes from
Rhode Island, and Sam Watkins from Tennessee, men whose names were never destined to be remembered
in textbooks. What of importance can we learn about the war based on what these men may
have written?
• If you were a man living during 1861, would you have enlisted? If you were a woman, would you
have wanted your brothers, husbands and fathers to sign up?
Activity 2: Reading Letters from the Civil War
Now show the very last segment of the video, “Honorable Manhood” from 132:05 to 132:23.
This is a beautiful reading of the “Sullivan Ballou” letter, since made famous by the program itself.
The letter is also worth downloading and distributing to students for discussion.
*Sullivan Ballou Letter (http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/23.htm)
• At first just ask students how this letter made them feel. Then proceed with the following questions:
• Why do you think Sullivan Ballou wrote this letter?
If you were Sullivan’s wife or children, would you plead with him not to enlist in the Union army?
Why or why not?
• In how many ways does Sullivan comfort his wife by what he writes to her?
• Does he have regrets for himself, or only for his wife and children?
• Sullivan writes that he is “communing with God, my country, and thee.” What is his relationship to
the claims that each of these make upon his life?
• Images of “wind” and “breath” appear and reappear in the letter. How are these images related at different
times to “God, my country, and thee”?
• Sullivan says that he is perfectly willing to die to pay the debt owed to those who fell in the American
Revolution. What debt, if any, do students feel we owe to Sullivan Ballou and other men like him?
*Further information about the Sullivan Ballou letter:
Sullivan Ballou grew up in Rhode Island. His own father died when Sullivan was 14; thus he
understood in a most poignant way what it would mean for his own sons to lose their father.
While growing up Sullivan had to work at various times to support his family, but he fought hard
to acquire an education. After attending public schools, he went to Phillips Academy in Andover,
Massachusetts and attended Brown University for two years. He was admitted to the Rhode
Island Bar in 1853. A passionate Republican, and ardent supporter of Lincoln, Sullivan naturally
gravitated to politics. (The second paragraph of the letter in many ways foreshadows the
Gettysburg Address.) He was elected as clerk of the Rhode Island House of Representatives. By
1857 he was so well respected that he was chosen Speaker of the House. While his further forays
into politics were for the moment stymied, his law practice flourished. He married Sarah Hart
Shumway in 1855. He died after his leg was amputated following the battle of Bull Run.
His wife never remarried. As Sullivan predicted, Sarah was able to successfully raise their two
sons; one graduated from Brown University and became a lawyer like his father.
While Sullivan mailed other letters to his wife, this one was found in his trunk. It was probably
intended for her eyes only upon his death, and may explain why he allowed himself to give into
his forebodings. Another interesting fact about the letter is that it has never been found in
Sullivan’s own handwriting. Perhaps he dictated it in the hospital, or perhaps his wife would
never part with the original copy. Sullivan Ballou has no surviving heirs.
Step 2
There are letters written by southerners and northerners, including letters from a free
African American family(the Demus letters).While most of the authors are men, there is a letter
by Mary Jane Demus, two letters by E. and Fannie Hunt, and another set by Mary Lincoln. (You
may wish to ask students if it is likely that more men’s letters than women’s have been preserved
from the Civil War period; if so why and to what effect.) Materials at the Websites give a varying
amount of information about the letters and/or letter writers.
Civil War Letters Analysis Worksheet
1. What can we infer about the letter writer at the time the Civil War started, his or her home,
family members, work, level of education? How do you know?
2. Can we tell which side the author of this letter supported, the Union or Confederacy? If so,
how do we know? Give specifics.
3. What is happening during the Civil War at the time the letters were written? (Students can
check their texts and/or internet sources)
4. If the author is a man, why do you think he has enlisted? Does he say anything about the
views or attitudes he holds that have led him to make the commitment to fight, or can we
infer them in any way?
5. If the author is a woman, does she say anything that enables us to know which side of the
conflict she supports and why?
6. If either the author or recipient is a woman, what can we learn about the lives of women during
the Civil War from the letters? How did women make sacrifices for or contributions to
the war effort, even though they themselves could not fight or hold political power?
7. What personal concerns does the author express? Is the Civil War the only threat to his or
her well being and happiness?
8. How important does it appear to be for the author to receive letters and/or to write letters at
this time? Why?
9. By searching the Internet site where the letters appear, or any other sources, what can you discover
about the letter writer?
The following letters are from the Valley of the Shadow Web site:
(http://www.iath.virginia.edu/vshadow2/).
"Traitors and Patriots" Watch the above video starting at 53:18 min and stop at the end of "Gun Men" at 113:05.
This portion of the videodescribes the signing on of volunteers for the Union and Confederate armies during the opening
months of the war. Ask students as they watch it to pay special attention to any quotations from
letter (or diary) writers.
After viewing the segment answer the following:
• Did the men who signed on envision a long or short war?
• What important choices did men have to make in these early days of the war? Why do you think men
from each side enlisted?
• Why did Lee reject the offer to be general of the Union forces, and instead choose the Confederacy?
What did this decision portend for the future of the Civil War?
• Were African Americans at first allowed to fight? What happened to fugitive slaves who fled to the
North?
• The program describes what Grant, Lee, Sherman (and other soon-to-be important players in the
Civil War) did in these early days. But the program also quotes men like Elisha Hunt Rhodes from
Rhode Island, and Sam Watkins from Tennessee, men whose names were never destined to be remembered
in textbooks. What of importance can we learn about the war based on what these men may
have written?
• If you were a man living during 1861, would you have enlisted? If you were a woman, would you
have wanted your brothers, husbands and fathers to sign up?
Activity 2: Reading Letters from the Civil War
Now show the very last segment of the video, “Honorable Manhood” from 132:05 to 132:23.
This is a beautiful reading of the “Sullivan Ballou” letter, since made famous by the program itself.
The letter is also worth downloading and distributing to students for discussion.
*Sullivan Ballou Letter (http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/23.htm)
• At first just ask students how this letter made them feel. Then proceed with the following questions:
• Why do you think Sullivan Ballou wrote this letter?
If you were Sullivan’s wife or children, would you plead with him not to enlist in the Union army?
Why or why not?
• In how many ways does Sullivan comfort his wife by what he writes to her?
• Does he have regrets for himself, or only for his wife and children?
• Sullivan writes that he is “communing with God, my country, and thee.” What is his relationship to
the claims that each of these make upon his life?
• Images of “wind” and “breath” appear and reappear in the letter. How are these images related at different
times to “God, my country, and thee”?
• Sullivan says that he is perfectly willing to die to pay the debt owed to those who fell in the American
Revolution. What debt, if any, do students feel we owe to Sullivan Ballou and other men like him?
*Further information about the Sullivan Ballou letter:
Sullivan Ballou grew up in Rhode Island. His own father died when Sullivan was 14; thus he
understood in a most poignant way what it would mean for his own sons to lose their father.
While growing up Sullivan had to work at various times to support his family, but he fought hard
to acquire an education. After attending public schools, he went to Phillips Academy in Andover,
Massachusetts and attended Brown University for two years. He was admitted to the Rhode
Island Bar in 1853. A passionate Republican, and ardent supporter of Lincoln, Sullivan naturally
gravitated to politics. (The second paragraph of the letter in many ways foreshadows the
Gettysburg Address.) He was elected as clerk of the Rhode Island House of Representatives. By
1857 he was so well respected that he was chosen Speaker of the House. While his further forays
into politics were for the moment stymied, his law practice flourished. He married Sarah Hart
Shumway in 1855. He died after his leg was amputated following the battle of Bull Run.
His wife never remarried. As Sullivan predicted, Sarah was able to successfully raise their two
sons; one graduated from Brown University and became a lawyer like his father.
While Sullivan mailed other letters to his wife, this one was found in his trunk. It was probably
intended for her eyes only upon his death, and may explain why he allowed himself to give into
his forebodings. Another interesting fact about the letter is that it has never been found in
Sullivan’s own handwriting. Perhaps he dictated it in the hospital, or perhaps his wife would
never part with the original copy. Sullivan Ballou has no surviving heirs.
Step 2
There are letters written by southerners and northerners, including letters from a free
African American family(the Demus letters).While most of the authors are men, there is a letter
by Mary Jane Demus, two letters by E. and Fannie Hunt, and another set by Mary Lincoln. (You
may wish to ask students if it is likely that more men’s letters than women’s have been preserved
from the Civil War period; if so why and to what effect.) Materials at the Websites give a varying
amount of information about the letters and/or letter writers.
Civil War Letters Analysis Worksheet
1. What can we infer about the letter writer at the time the Civil War started, his or her home,
family members, work, level of education? How do you know?
2. Can we tell which side the author of this letter supported, the Union or Confederacy? If so,
how do we know? Give specifics.
3. What is happening during the Civil War at the time the letters were written? (Students can
check their texts and/or internet sources)
4. If the author is a man, why do you think he has enlisted? Does he say anything about the
views or attitudes he holds that have led him to make the commitment to fight, or can we
infer them in any way?
5. If the author is a woman, does she say anything that enables us to know which side of the
conflict she supports and why?
6. If either the author or recipient is a woman, what can we learn about the lives of women during
the Civil War from the letters? How did women make sacrifices for or contributions to
the war effort, even though they themselves could not fight or hold political power?
7. What personal concerns does the author express? Is the Civil War the only threat to his or
her well being and happiness?
8. How important does it appear to be for the author to receive letters and/or to write letters at
this time? Why?
9. By searching the Internet site where the letters appear, or any other sources, what can you discover
about the letter writer?
The following letters are from the Valley of the Shadow Web site:
(http://www.iath.virginia.edu/vshadow2/).
Activity 3: Women and the Civil War
All the men in the primary source documents students read enlisted to fight in the Civil War, as
do the men that students are role-playing. What were the choices open to women who wanted to
contribute to the war effort, and therefore, how might the letter-writing roles play out for
women? Ask students to brainstorm a potential list and write their ideas on the blackboard.
In order to understand gender roles in the 19th century, read the following essay
about “The Cult of Domesticity and True Womanhood”
(http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/386/truewoman.html). It describes the
19th century ideal of white middle and upper class womanhood as having four characteristics:
piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity.
Now answer the following questions:
• How were women expected to behave at this time in history?
• What can you infer about the way men were expected to treat women?
• What were women not expected to do, and what were some of the negative consequences they faced if
they broke with convention?
• To help in the war effort, what activities could be done in the home?
• What difficulties did women face if they ventured from their homes in order to work?
Show the video segment “She Ranks Me” from Episode 5 of The Civil War, beginning at 53:31-
56:34. Now introduce the following list of women who actually did contribute to the war effort in
some unusual ways:
Do preliminary research about these women, then answer in what ways these women had to break gender stereotypes in order to perform the roles they did in the
Civil War.
Useful Websites about women in the Civil War:
Women’s Activities During the Civil War: A Select List of Photographs, Library of Congress
(http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/107_civw.html)
Biography of Charlotte Forten (http://www.pbs.org/onlyateacher/charlotte.html), a freeborn
African American who went South during the war to educated freed slaves.
Rose O’Neal Greenhow Papers, Duke University
(http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/greenhow/). Born in Maryland, O’Neal became a most
effective spy for the Confederacy.
Biographies of Harriet Beecher Stowe and Lydia Maria Child
(http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/lincolns/wworld/index.html) (author and anti-slavery
activist), and an essay about medical care during the Civil War.
Lydia Maria Child’s letters to the Governor of Virginia, 1860 in American Memory.
(http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/
query/r?ammem/murray:@field(FLD001+07016677+):@@@$REF$)
Hearts at Home: Southern Women in the Civil War Era, University of Virginia.
(http://www.lib.virginia.edu/speccol/exhibits/hearts/)
Women Soldiers of the Civil War,National Archives
(http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/spring_1993_women_in_the_civil_war_1.html)
• Louis May Alcott – author and army nurse
• Clara Barton – founder of the American
Red Cross
• Mary Ann Bickerdyke –
hospital administrator
• Belle Boyd – spy
• Kady Brownell – “daughter” of a regiment
• Lydia Maria Child – abolitionist and author
• Dorothea Dix –Union superintendent
of nurses
• Rose O’Neal Greenhow - spy
• Sarah Edmonds – fought disguised as a man
• Charlotte Forten – taught in the Freedman’s
schools
• Angelina Grimke – antislavery activist
• Susie Taylor King – escaped slave, teacher
and nurse
• Mary Livermore – hospital administrator
• Harriet Beecher Stowe – author and antislavery
activist
• Sojourner Truth – abolitionist
• Harriet Tubman – abolitionist
• Loreta Velazquez – recruited her own
battalion as a man
All the men in the primary source documents students read enlisted to fight in the Civil War, as
do the men that students are role-playing. What were the choices open to women who wanted to
contribute to the war effort, and therefore, how might the letter-writing roles play out for
women? Ask students to brainstorm a potential list and write their ideas on the blackboard.
In order to understand gender roles in the 19th century, read the following essay
about “The Cult of Domesticity and True Womanhood”
(http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/386/truewoman.html). It describes the
19th century ideal of white middle and upper class womanhood as having four characteristics:
piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity.
Now answer the following questions:
• How were women expected to behave at this time in history?
• What can you infer about the way men were expected to treat women?
• What were women not expected to do, and what were some of the negative consequences they faced if
they broke with convention?
• To help in the war effort, what activities could be done in the home?
• What difficulties did women face if they ventured from their homes in order to work?
Show the video segment “She Ranks Me” from Episode 5 of The Civil War, beginning at 53:31-
56:34. Now introduce the following list of women who actually did contribute to the war effort in
some unusual ways:
Do preliminary research about these women, then answer in what ways these women had to break gender stereotypes in order to perform the roles they did in the
Civil War.
Useful Websites about women in the Civil War:
Women’s Activities During the Civil War: A Select List of Photographs, Library of Congress
(http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/107_civw.html)
Biography of Charlotte Forten (http://www.pbs.org/onlyateacher/charlotte.html), a freeborn
African American who went South during the war to educated freed slaves.
Rose O’Neal Greenhow Papers, Duke University
(http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/greenhow/). Born in Maryland, O’Neal became a most
effective spy for the Confederacy.
Biographies of Harriet Beecher Stowe and Lydia Maria Child
(http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/lincolns/wworld/index.html) (author and anti-slavery
activist), and an essay about medical care during the Civil War.
Lydia Maria Child’s letters to the Governor of Virginia, 1860 in American Memory.
(http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/
query/r?ammem/murray:@field(FLD001+07016677+):@@@$REF$)
Hearts at Home: Southern Women in the Civil War Era, University of Virginia.
(http://www.lib.virginia.edu/speccol/exhibits/hearts/)
Women Soldiers of the Civil War,National Archives
(http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/spring_1993_women_in_the_civil_war_1.html)
• Louis May Alcott – author and army nurse
• Clara Barton – founder of the American
Red Cross
• Mary Ann Bickerdyke –
hospital administrator
• Belle Boyd – spy
• Kady Brownell – “daughter” of a regiment
• Lydia Maria Child – abolitionist and author
• Dorothea Dix –Union superintendent
of nurses
• Rose O’Neal Greenhow - spy
• Sarah Edmonds – fought disguised as a man
• Charlotte Forten – taught in the Freedman’s
schools
• Angelina Grimke – antislavery activist
• Susie Taylor King – escaped slave, teacher
and nurse
• Mary Livermore – hospital administrator
• Harriet Beecher Stowe – author and antislavery
activist
• Sojourner Truth – abolitionist
• Harriet Tubman – abolitionist
• Loreta Velazquez – recruited her own
battalion as a man
Explain how the Gettysburg Address summarized what the whole Civil War is about and why the Union continued to fight the war.
Watch this amazing presentation by PBS on Death and the Civil War (Press the Button "Death and The Civil War" above. The war changes life in America. Many lose their loved ones.
1) How does war change a country?
2) What types of changes come from the horrors of war?
1) How does war change a country?
2) What types of changes come from the horrors of war?