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
The Civil War, Part 1: The Places - In Focus - The Atlantic
These pictures have been seen before, though these are fairly detailed versions
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
The Avalon Project : First Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln
Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln
The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln represented the first major scholarly effort to collect and publish the complete writings of Abraham Lincoln, and the edition has remained an invaluable resource to Lincoln scholars.
The Civil War - Themed Resources
Examine different points of view from both the Union and the Confederacy through poetry, music, images, letters, maps and other primary documents. Hear former slaves tell their stories, and read first-hand accounts by Civil War women. From Library of Congress
Civil War and Reconstruction Documents:
Primary Documents of American History (Virtual Programs & Services, Library of Congress)
“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.
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.
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.
Poet at Work: Recovered Notebooks from the Thomas Biggs Harned Walt Whitman Collection
Facsimiles of four of Walt Whitman's original notebooks—ranging in length from 24 to 210 pages. The notebooks contain both prose and poetry, and include ideas for prospective journal articles, early versions of poems that were used in Leaves of Grass, and notes taken during hospital visits to wounded Civil War soldiers. Students can comb through the what Whitman writes about Civil War soldiers as real historians - what can they learn of the soldier's experience?
Letter by Abraham Lincoln to Erastus Corning
Students should be required to struggle with the balance of liberty and security during the Civil War. Lincoln suspended basic civil rights of citizens in his prosecution of the war to save the Union based on the protection of those same civil rights. This is his best defense of his actions.
This important public letter is probably the most famous defense by President Abraham Lincoln of his civil liberties position in a time of domestic insurrection. He not only allowed but encouraged it to be printed and distributed; estimates of readership ran as high as 10 million, or about one in three Americans, and the response to it was widely favorable.
Must I shoot a
simple-minded soldier boy who deserts, while I must not touch a hair of
a wiley agitator who induces him to desert? T
Virginia Governor Letcher's response to Lincoln's Call for Troops in 1861
After Fort Sumter, President Lincoln requested 75,000 militiamen, including 2,340 officers and men from Virginia, to put down the Southern rebellion. This is a reprint of the response of the Virginia Governor. Students could be tasked with the interpretation of this document and synthesizing it with other common understandings of the causes of the Civil War.
General McClellan to President Lincoln - July 8 1862
In this letter, McClellan tells president Lincoln how he thinks the war should be waged. It is in direct contrast to how the war was won. This could be used in connection with any lesson concerning the Emancipation Proclamation or the concept of total war. In a way, this letter could mark the end of "romantic" warfare and the beginning of modern, "total war." Quotes from this letter could fit into a lesson on the decision to drop the atomic bomb as well
This rebellion has assumed the character of a War: as such it should be regarded; and it should be conducted upon the highest principles known to Christian Civilization. It should not be a War looking to the subjugation of the people of any state, in any event. It should not be, at all, a War upon population; but against armed forces and political organizations. Neither confiscation of property, political executions of persons, territorial organization of states or forcible abolition of slavery should be contemplated for a moment. In prosecuting the War, all private property and unarmed persons should be strictly protected; subject only to the necessities of military operations. All private property taken for military use should be paid for or receipted for; pillage and waste should be treated as high crimes; all unnecessary trespass sternly prohibited; and offensive demeanor by the military towards citizens promptly rebuked. Military arrests should not be tolerated, except in places where active hostilities exist; and oaths not required by enactments -- Constitutionally made -- should be neither demanded nor received. Military government should be confined to the preservation of public order and the protection of political rights.
This quote here is perfect for a DBQ
President Lincoln's Proclamation Overruling Hunter's Emancipation, May 19, 1862
Union General Hunter declared martial law in regions of Georgia, Florida and South Carolina that he occupied with his army. The text of that order is here - as well as Lincoln's message rescinding that order. Students look closely at the text of Lincoln's message can see hints of the Emancipation that would follow later than same year.
The War of the Rebellion: Original Records of the Civil War | eHISTORY
No serious study of the American Civil War is complete without consulting the Official Records. Affectionately known as the "OR", the 128 volumes of the Official Records provide the most comprehensive, authoritative, and voluminous reference on Civil War operations. The reports contained in the Official Records are those of the principal leaders who fought the battles and then wrote their assessments days, weeks, and sometimes months later. The Official Records are thus the eyewitness accounts of the veterans themselves. As such they are "often flawed sources – poorly written in some cases, lacking perspective in others, frequently contradictory and occasionally even self-serving." Nevertheless, they were compiled before the publication of other literature on the subject that, in several cases, caused some veterans to alter their memory and perception of events later in life.
Of Methods and Madness - A Spatial History Approach to the Civil War's Guerrilla Violence
Maps of the Civil War's conventional battlefields often impose order where there was chaos. Conversely, because we have few good maps of the war's guerrilla conflict, we often think of the border conflict as anarchic and without pattern. The "Of Methods and Madness" Project utilizes digital map-making technologies to find order in the apparent chaos of the guerrilla theater and to see Civil War guerrillas as they were -- organized, opportunistic, and bent on destroying the Union army and its resources.
Avalon Project - Confederate States of America - Message to Congress April 29, 1861 (Ratification of the Constitution)
More evidence that the Confederacy was formed to protect slavery. Period. In the third paragraph, Davis constructs an interesting conspiracy theory that may engage students in his myth. Did the north intentionally sell its slaves to the south to reduce the number of blacks in the north - thereby making it easy for the north to abolish slavery? Then, when the north had sold its population of blacks to the south, it would end slavery?
Declaration of Causes of Secession
Excerpts from the declarations of secession of South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi and Texas. Teachers can ask students to quickly search (ctrl+f) the word "slavery " and skim through the documents. How would the argument that the Civil War was based on something other than slavery stand up against this historical record?
The State of New Jersey, at an early day, passed a law in conformity with her constitutional obligation; but the current of anti-slavery feeling has led her more recently to enact laws which render inoperative the remedies provided by her own law and by the laws of Congress.
DeBow's Review full, searchable, text (University of Michigan Making of America)
This collection of articles from one of the most widely read weekly newspapers of the south is a treasure-trove for antebellum primary documents. Teachers and students cal search through the issues or even look through them during significant events to see southern opinion on the Mexican War, Wilmot Proviso, the election of 1860, secession, etc.
Abraham Lincoln SAC | Stanford History Education Group
President Abraham Lincoln is usually remembered as a staunch abolitionist who ended slavery. However, historians have debated whether or not Lincoln truly believed in racial equality. In this structured academic controversy, students examine selections from the Lincoln-Douglas debates, Lincoln's letter to a friend, and a contemporaneous, theoretical view of slavery to explore Lincoln’s multifaceted views on race.
Jefferson Davis' Speech at Jackson, Miss.December 1862
21st century readers may be surprised to hear Jeff Davis's language when he talks about the north a year and a half into the Civil War.
ble and clearly defined in the spirit of that declaration which rests the right to govern on the consent of the governed, but because I foresaw that the wickedness of the North would precipitate a war upon us. Those who supposed that the exercise of this right of separation could not produce war, have had cause to be convinced that they had credited their recent associates of the North with a moderation, a sagacity, a morality they did not possess. You have been involved in a war waged for the gratification of the lust of power and of aggrandizement, for your conquest and your subjugation, with a malignant ferocity and with a disregard and a contempt of the usages of civilization, entirely unequalled in history. Such, I have ever warned you, were the characteristics of the Northern people--of those with whom our ancestors entered into a Union of consent, and with whom they formed a constitutional compact. And yet, such was the attachment of our people for that Union, such their devotion to it, that those who desired preparation to be made for the inevitable conflict, were denounced as men who only wished to destroy the Union. After what has happened during the last two years, my only wonder is that we consented to live for so long a time in association with such miscreants, and have loved so much a government rotten to the core. Were it ever to be proposed again to enter into a Union with such a people, I could no more consent to do it than to trust myself in a den of thieves.
The issue then being: will you be slaves; will you consent to be robbed of your property; to be reduced to provincial dependence; will you renounce the exercise of those rights with which you were born and which were transmitted to you by your fathers?
How strange is it that Jeff Davis uses the term "slaves" in reference to white southerners under northern oppression. Just what do they think a slave is?