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The American Civil War: A “Terrible Swift Sword”
—Curriculum Unit Overview—
Introduction
Whether it be called the Civil War, the War between the States, the War of the Rebellion, or the War for Southern Independence, the events of the years 1861-1865 were the most traumatic in the nation's history. The secession of the southern states, and President Lincoln's decision to prevent them forcibly from leaving the Union, triggered a conflict that would see fighting on battlefields as far apart as Pennsylvania and Texas, Missouri and Florida, and would leave nearly a million Americans on both sides dead or wounded. Indeed, casualties in the Civil War exceeded those of every other war in which the United States has ever participated, combined.
But the sheer costs of the war were matched by its importance. It was fought over two basic questions-whether it was legal under the U.S. Constitution for a state to leave the constitution, and whether the practice of chattel slavery was consistent with the nation's founding principles. The Union victory established that the answer to both questions was no.
This curriculum unit will introduce students to several important questions pertaining to the war. In the first, they will examine original documents and statistics in an attempt to determine the strengths and weaknesses of each side at the start of the conflict. The second addresses the two turning points of the war-the concurrent battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg-as well as the morality of the Union's use of "total war" tactics against the population of the South. Finally, in the third lesson students will examine a series of case studies in Abraham Lincoln's wartime leadership; by using primary sources they will be asked to assess whether, based on his performance during his first term of office, he deserved a second.
Guiding Questions
- Which side possessed the overall advantage at the start of the Civil War?
- How did the Union win the war?
- Did Lincoln's performance as a wartime president during his first term of office justify his reelection in 1864?
Learning Objectives
Upon completing all of the lessons in this unit, students will be able to:
- Compare and contrast the strengths and weaknesses of the North and South using various primary source documents.
- Analyze the economic advantages possessed by both sides on the eve of the Civil War.
- Compare and contrast each side's strategic objectives for the war.
- Explain Great Britain's interests in the Civil War, and how they might have affected the balance of forces between the two sides.
- Explain why the battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg were the turning points of the war.
- Evaluate the role of Sherman's "total war" tactics in bringing about a Union victory.
- Argue whether it was necessary for Abraham Lincoln to suspend habeas corpus.
- Assess whether the Emancipation Proclamation was sound wartime policy.
- Explain why the decision to arm slaves was so controversial in the North.
- Evaluate Lincoln's refusal to conclude a compromise peace with the Confederacy.
- Identify the major issues in the 1864 presidential election, and make an overall judgment as to whether Lincoln deserved a second term.
Preparing to Teach this Curriculum Unit
Review each lesson plan. Locate and bookmark suggested materials and links from EDSITEment-reviewed websites. Download and print out selected documents and duplicate copies as necessary for student viewing. Alternatively, excerpted versions of these documents are available as part of the downloadable PDF file, such as this one for Lesson Plan One (see sidebar under "Additional Student/Teacher Resources" for full list of files).
Download the Text Documents for each lesson, available as PDF files, such as this one for Lesson Plan One. This file contains excerpted versions of the documents used in the first and second activities, as well as questions for students to answer. Print out and make an appropriate number of copies of the handouts you plan to use in class.
Working with Primary Sources
If your students lack experience in dealing with primary sources, you might use one or more preliminary exercises to help them develop these skills. The Learning Page at the American Memory Project of the Library of Congress includes a set of such activities. Another useful resource is the Digital Classroom of the National Archives, which features a set of Document Analysis Worksheets. Finally, History Matters offers pages on "Making Sense of Maps" and "Making Sense of Oral History" which give helpful advice to teachers in getting their students to use such sources effectively.
Unit Lesson Plans
Each lesson plan is designed to stand alone, occupying three to four class periods. Within each lesson, suggestions are provided on prioritizing activities for teachers who have less time available for this unit. The first lesson compares strengths and weaknesses of the two combatants on the eve of the war, while lessons two and three focus on the military and political aspects of the conflict, respectively.
Selected EDSITEment Web Sites
- American Memory
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/amhome.html
- Avalon Project at Yale
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon
- Crisis at Fort Sumter
http://www.tulane.edu/~sumter/
- Digital Classroom (National
Archives and Records Administration)
http://www.archives.gov/digital classroom
- Documenting the American South
http://docsouth.unc.edu
- Gilder Lehrman Institute of American
History
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/
- HarpWeek
http://www.harpweek.com
- History Matters
http://historymatters.gmu.edu
- Ohio Memory
http://www.ohiomemory.org/index.html
- Clement
Vallandigam Portrait
http://omp.ohiolink.edu/OMP/Previews?oid=
2756422&count=2&results=10&fieldname=creator&sort=
title&searchstatus=1&hits=2&searchmark=
1&searchstring=Vallandigham%2C++Clement+L.%2C+
1820-1871&format=list&searchtype=kw
- Oyez Project
http://www.oyez.org/
- Lincoln/Net
http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/
- National Geographic
Xpeditions
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/
- United
States Blank Map
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/
atlas/index.html?Parent=usofam&Rootmap
=&Mode=b&SubMode=w
- National Park Service, Links to the Past
http://www.cr.nps.gov/
- Naval Historical Center
http://www.history.navy.mil/index.html
- Dictionary of
American Naval Fighting Ships
http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/index.html
- Online Library
of Selected Images
http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/org11-2.htm
- Selected
Documents of the Civil War
http://www.history.navy.mil/docs/civilwar/cwdocs.htm
- Report
of Lieutenant Greene, U.S. Navy, March 12, 1862
http://www.history.navy.mil/docs/civilwar/
hamptonroads.htm#monitor1
- Letter
from Chief Engineer Stimers to Captain John Ericsson, March 9, 1862
http://www.history.navy.mil/docs/civilwar/
hamptonroads.htm#monitor2
- Report
of Lieutenant Jones, C.S. Navy, March 8, 1862
http://www.history.navy.mil/docs/civilwar/
hamptonroads.htm#virginia1
- Report
of Flag-Officer Buchanan, Commander of CSS Virginia, March 27, 1862
http://www.history.navy.mil/docs/civilwar/
hamptonroads.htm#virginia2
- Report
of Lieutenant Higginson, U.S. Navy, February 18, 1864
http://www.history.navy.mil/docs/civilwar/hunley.htm#6
- Report
of Rear-Admiral Dahlgren, U.S. Navy, February 19, 1864
http://www.history.navy.mil/docs/civilwar/hunley.htm#7
- Information
on the Hunley obtained by the U.S. Navy from the interrogation of
Confederate deserters, January 7, 1864
http://www.history.navy.mil/docs/civilwar/hunley.htm#2
- U.S.
Navy Interrogation of George L. Shipp, Confederate deserter, regarding
the Hunley, January 8, 1864
http://www.history.navy.mil/docs/civilwar/hunley.htm#3
- Notes
from papers of First Engineer Tomb, C.S. Navy, January 1865
http://www.history.navy.mil/docs/civilwar/hunley.htm#10
- Letter
from Captain Gray, C.S. Army, April 29, 1864
http://www.history.navy.mil/docs/civilwar/hunley.htm#13
- Supplementary
report of Captain Winslow, U. S. Navy, July 30, 1864
http://www.history.navy.mil/docs/civilwar/
64-6-19.htm#anchor90115
- Report
of Captain Semmes, C.S. Navy, June 21, 1864
http://www.history.navy.mil/docs/civilwar/
64-6-19.htm#anchor489831
- Report
of Commander Napoleon Collins, U.S. Navy, October 31, 1864
http://www.history.navy.mil/docs/civilwar/64-10-7.htm
- Report
of Lieutenant Morris, C.S. Navy, October 13, 1864
http://www.history.navy.mil/docs/civilwar/64-10-7a.htm
- Teaching American History
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org
- Interactive
Map 1
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/neh/
interactives/civilwar/lesson1/
Interactive
Map 2
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/neh/interactives/civilwar/lesson2
- Meet
the Army Commanders!
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/
neh/interactives/cmdrs/
- Speech
by Sen. James Henry Hammond (Democrat-South Carolina) before the United
States Senate, March 4, 1858
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/
index.asp?document=1722
- Letter
to James C. Calhoun (from W.T. Sherman), September 12, 1864
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library
/index.asp?document=1725
- Party Platforms of 1864
Republican
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/
index.asp?document=1472
Democratic
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/
index.asp?document=1489
- "A
Negotiated Peace with the Confederacy Is Possible," Illinois State Register,
September 9, 1864
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/
index.asp?document=1476
- "An
Armistice: How it Would Ruin Us," New York Tribune, September 27, 1864
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/
index.asp?document=1478
- "The
Momentous Day," New York Times, November 8, 1864
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/
index.asp?document=1480
- "Last
Words," New York World, November 8, 1864
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/
index.asp?document=1490
- Clement
Vallandigham, "On the War and its Conduct," January 14, 1863
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/
index.asp?document=1479
- Ex
Parte Merryman
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/
index.asp?document=442
- Editorial
from the Richmond Examiner, August 2, 1864
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/
index.asp?document=1483
- Editorial
from the Charleston Mercury, 1865
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/
index.asp?document=1485
- Editorial
from the Richmond Enquirer, January 28, 1865
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/
index.asp?document=1486
- Emancipation
and its results-Is Ohio to be Africanized? Samuel Cox, June 3, 1862
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/
index.asp?document=1461
- The
President's Proclamation, New York Times, January 3, 1863
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/
index.asp?document=1477
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