View of The New Jersey Miscount - There were several dozen enslaved people in New Jersey in 1865
This shows how research persistence can uncover the past we do not teach and do not know.
Dear Diary: The Civil War Writings of Carrie Berry | Atlanta History Center
It's not uncommon to come across the assertion that it was not until WOrld War II that civilians became victims of war - this diary entries show something different
Letter from John Mosby - Encyclopedia Virginia
John Mosby was a confederate cavalry commander renowned for his raids and ability to elude capture. 30 years after the war he made it quite clear that to him, the war was only about slavery
Lincoln's Order of Retaliation - July 30 1863
It's like that most high school US History teachers wouldn't believe that Abraham Lincoln ordered the execution of Confederate prisoners of war on a one-to-one basis a couple of weeks after Gettysburg. It is even less likely that they could, when told it was true, could figure out why - because of the execution and enslavement of black soldiers of the United States
It is the duty of every government to give protection to its citizens, of whatever class, color, or condition, and especially to those who are duly organized as soldiers in the public service. The law of nations and the usages and customs of war as carried on by civilized powers, permit no distinction as to color in the treatment of prisoners of war as public enemies. To sell or enslave any captured person, on account of his color, and for no offence against the laws of war, is a relapse into barbarism and a crime against the civilization of the age.
The government of the United States will give the same protection to all its soldiers, and if the enemy shall sell or enslave anyone because of his color, the offense shall be punished by retaliation upon the enemy’s prisoners in our possession.
It is therefore ordered that for every soldier of the United States killed in violation of the laws of war, a rebel soldier shall be executed; and for every one enslaved by the enemy or sold into slavery, a rebel soldier shall be placed at hard labor on the public works and continued at such labor until the other shall be released and received the treatment due to a prisoner of war.
Abraham Lincoln
Civil War and Reconstruction Documents:
Primary Documents of American History (Virtual Programs & Services, Library of Congress)
Stone Mountain: Carving Fact from Fiction | Atlanta History Center
The Klan itself played a large role in this first effort to create the Confederate memorial at Stone Mountain. Inspired by <em>The Birth of a Nation</em>, Alabama native William J. Simmons held a ceremony atop Stone Mountain in 1915 to announce the re-founding of the Ku Klux Klan.
Battle Cry of Freedom (excerpts)
The single best one-volume history of the Civil War is James McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom. This pages include snippets and quotes from the entire book. Put the book on your "to-read" list over the summer and use this page to prepare yourself for teaching right now. If you have read the book before, skim through this as you prepare to teach that sectionalism unit.
Lincoln, Stowe, and the "Little Woman/Great War" Story: The Making, and Breaking, of a Great American Anecdote
If debunking the apocryphal from history is more fun that a curmudgeon's cry to "get off my lawn", then add this article to your reading list which shows how the famous Lincoln quote wasn't said in the first place. Maybe Stowe's family was better than Betsy Ross's in building a legacy where there was none.
Eastman Johnson, A Ride for Liberty—The Fugitive Slaves, c. 1862
Eastman Johnson's painting of fugitive slaves helps address ways to teach a pivotal question in U.S. history: Did Lincoln free the slaves—or did the slaves free themselves?
“Corner Stone” Speech - Alexander Stephens 1861
In this speech the vice president of the Confederate States of America establishes the foundation of the nation he was helping to create. That foundational truth is that "the negro is not equal to the white man" Teachers can cut a couple sentences from this speech or even a paragraph or two because is it easily accessible to high school students. It can also be used to refute any idea that the Civil War was fought over tariffs economic policy.
Scholars of slavery and the Civil War will find here that Stephens supports Lincoln's argument that the founding fathers anticipated the end of slavery.
Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner- stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.
History Doesn’t Follow Formulas. Why history can’t be reduced to static… | by Ed Ayers | New American History | Jul, 2020 | Medium
This is perhaps too long for high school students to read, though just the same it might be worth the effort. It might more easily be adapted by having teachers read it and present a short explanation of it to students. At the very least, this is a "must read" for teachers not only because it describes how the understanding of the Civil War has changed over time, but it shows that the teaching of "how the story is told" is much better for students than just teaching a story
The key element in the equation used to be tariffs, but tariffs were barely mentioned in the fullest debates by the largest slave state in 1861 over whether to secede. A digital transcription of those Virginia debates shows that the word “tariff” appeared only eight times in weeks of debates. Words with the root of “slavery” in them, by contrast, were invoked 1,434 times. Virginia did not secede because it was agrarian, but rather because its economy was based on the buying, selling, and laboring of enslaved people.
The formula that we have taught for nearly a century is wrong. And it is wrong precisely because it is a formula. Formulas violate what history teaches us. Formulas replace people and their acts with pseudo-scientific abstractions such as “industrial” and “agrarian,” or “modern” and “traditional.” Formulas replace context, contingency, and change with fixity and predictability.
Costs of Major US Wars
Who needs textbooks with materials like the Congressional Research Service report on the Costs of Major US Wars. Any part of this 8 page document can be used with students, or even just the chart that compares financial costs for every American War. Have students explore and investigate - let them find the questions
Whose Heritage - Southern Poverty Law Center Report on Confederate Monuments
44 page report of where the monuments are, who built them and when
Civil War Maps - Battles and Campaigns
Easy to read maps, battles, sections of battles and full campaigns
Homestead Act (1862)
Passed on May 20, 1862, the Homestead Act accelerated the settlement of the western territory by granting adult heads of families 160 acres of surveyed public land for a minimal filing fee and 5 years of continuous residence on that land.
Ex parte Merryman - 1861
Decision in famous Civil War case in which Justice Roger Taney argued that Habeus Corpus could not be suspended in war time, though Lincoln and the US Army ignored this ruling.
HABEAS CORPUSPOWER TO SUSPEND IN TIME OF WAR;
The Trial of the Lincoln Assassination Conspirators
Comprehensive collection of articles, artifacts and documents from the "Famous Trials" site at the University of Missouri - Kansas City
The Avalon Project : Second Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln
Full text from the The Avalon Project
One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it.
The 150-Year War - NYTimes.com
Great essay explaining the connections between the present and the era of the Civil War. Mostly, the author explains the many ways in which the Civil War is unique. This could be an excellent reading to start a Civil War unit.
Civil War Memory — Reflections of a Civil War Historian & High School History Teacher
Lincoln Assassination Eyewitness (Feb 9, 1956) - YouTube
1950s game show appearance of witness to Lincoln Assassination. Not many people would believe that one person can connect the mid 19th century and the age of television. This can also show students that there are different qualities to primary sources - some primary sources are more valuable than others. This is a primary source because he was a witness, but he is remembering something from 100 years ago. Is he still a primary source?
Civil War Cartoons
Scartoons - Racial Satire and the Civil War. Annotated collection of Civil War Cartoons. From the University of Virginia
The Battles of the Civil War | EDSITEment
Through the use of maps and original documents, this lesson will focus on the key battles of the war and how they contributed to its outcome. It will also examine the "total war" strategy of General Sherman, and the role of naval warfare in bringing about a Union victory.
The First Inaugural Address (1861)—Defending the American Union | EDSITEment
This lesson will examine Lincoln's First Inaugural Address to understand why he thought his duty as president required him to treat secession as an act of rebellion and not a legitimate legal or constitutional action by disgruntled states.
The Gettysburg Address (1863)—Defining the American Union | EDSITEment
This lesson will examine the most famous speech in American history to understand how Lincoln turned a perfunctory eulogy at a cemetery dedication into a concise and profound meditation on the meaning of the Civil War and American union.
Lincoln Goes to War | EDSITEment
This lesson plan explores the decision-making process that precipitated the Civil War, focusing on deliberations within the Lincoln administration that led to the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861.
The Role of Women in the Civil War
Working in collaborative teams, students use a variety of sources to prepare multimedia presentations about the different roles that women played in the Civil War. from Digital History
The Civil War: Digital History
This chapter examines the election of 1860, the secession crisis, the relative strengths and weaknesses of the Union and the Confederacy, the military history of the war, as well as the economic and social changes the war produced.
Life At War - from Civil War Preservation Trust
Students will be able to discuss the life of a Civil War soldier, analyzing his role within society and the military.
Women in the Civil War - (Library of Congress)
This lesson uses primary sources - diaries, letters, and photographs - to explore the experiences of women in the Civil War. By looking at a series of document galleries, the perspectives of slave women, plantation mistresses, female spies, and Union women emerge. Ultimately, students will understand the human consequences of this war for women.