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Anti-slavery poster form the 1850s
Courtesy of American Memory
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Subject Areas |
History and Social Studies
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U.S. History - Civil War and Reconstruction |
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U.S. History - Women's Rights/History |
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Time Required |
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Women's Lives Before the Civil War: 1 class period
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Skills |
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Interpreting and analyzing written and oral information
Making inferences and drawing conclusions
Vocabulary development
Research
Working collaboratively
Categorizing
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Additional Data |
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Date created: 6/22/03
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Women's Lives Before the Civil War
Introduction:
Students interested in researching the lives of women
before the Civil War might enjoy looking at the items in the following list.
Have students describe any documents they choose and decide what aspects of
the lives of women are reflected. How were the lives of women changing in the
1850s?
1848 |
Seneca
Falls Convention: In 1840, Elizabeth Cady Stanton traveled to London
to attend the World Anti-Slavery Convention. After the delegates voted
to exclude women, Stanton joined with Lucretia Mott to organize the first
women's rights convention in the United States. She also continued working
to abolish slavery. |
1849 |
Harriet
Tubman escapes slavery |
1850 |
Jenny
Lind becomes a pop star in the United States |
1851 |
Elizabeth
Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony begin working together |
1851 |
Elizabeth
Blackwell returns to the United States having finished her medical education
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1851 |
Letter,
Elizabeth Blackwell to Baroness Anne Isabella Milbanke Byron concerning
women's rights and the education of women physicians (March 4, 1851).
For background information, search American
Memory for "Letter, Elizabeth Blackwell to Baroness." |
1851 |
Unidentified
woman, half-length portrait, facing front, holding a copy of the book
"Sons of Temperance Offering" (March 4, 1851). For background information,
search American Memory.
Women were prominent in the temperance movement. |
1851-1852 |
Publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher
Stowe |
1853 (c.) |
Woman
working at a sewing machine
Background
information |
1856 |
Elizabeth
Cady Stanton and her daughter, Harriot, from a daguerreotype, 1856 |
1858
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Julia
Archibald Holmes Reaches Pike's Peak, August 5, 1858
Holmes became the first woman on record to reach the summit of Pike's Peak
-- and she wore bloomers (pants) while doing it. |
Students interested in finding out what popular attitudes
about both women and slavery were in the 1850s might be interested in the documents
in the following list:
- Music: Song sheets were the CDs of
the day. Middle class families aspired to have a piano in the parlor. For
entertainment, evenings would be spent around the piano, singing the latest
hits. What songs do your students listen to? What subjects do they cover?
Can students identify contemporary songs with themes similar the following?
(Note: Unless otherwise indicated, the following song sheets are available
through the EDSITEment resource American
Memory in the collection America
Singing: Nineteenth Century Song Sheets. To find individual song sheets,
use the search or browse functions to locate them by title. In many cases,
the cover of the song sheet will be sufficient for communicating its theme.)
- Images of Women:
- Theme: The ideal woman
I
Dream of Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair (Stephen Foster, 1854),
available through the EDSITEment-reviewed website U.S.
Women's History Workshop. The complete text of the song is available
by choosing "Electronic Classrooms" on the home page and then clicking
on the image link to "Popular Music."
- Theme: A light-hearted look at bloomers, the first
version of pants for women
The
Bloomer's Complaint (1851)
U.S. Women's
History Workshop features a brief history of bloomers, as told by
Elizabeth Smith Miller, who brought them to the attention of Amelia Bloomers,
after whom they were named. Choose "Electronic Classrooms" on the home
page and then "Fashion and Dress Reform."
- Love: (all from American
Memory)
- Anti-slavery
Assessment:
To culminate this unit, ask students to demonstrate their knowledge of the
lives of women before the Civil War, with an emphasis on differences between
the North and South (including the fact that African-American women were mostly
slaves). Here are some examples of activities that students may wish to undertake
to express what they have learned through this unit (specific project ideas
should always be pre-approved by the teacher):
- Set up a timeline display of the meaningful documents studied in the unit,
with appropriate captions.
- Create a piece of historical fiction set in the 1850s. For example, students
could write letters or journal entries in the voices of women living during
the period before the Civil War, describing key elements of their lifestyle.
- Write and perform skits based on some of the documents studied. A good example
would be a skit showing the social interactions between men and women of the
period.
Selected EDSITEment Websites
- American Memory
[http://memory.loc.gov/]
- Lewiston
Mill Rules
[http://www.si.edu/lemelson/centerpieces/whole_cloth/u2ei/u2images/
act9/Lew_rules.html]
- America
Singing: Nineteenth Century Song Sheets
[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amsshtml/amsshome.html]
- Ah!
Yes, I remember. An answer to 'Ben Bolt' Original
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=amss&fileName
=as1/as100110/amsspage.db&recNum=0]
- Do
you ever think of me?
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=amss&fileName
=sb1/sb10088b/amsspage.db&recNum=0]
- The
girl I loved best of all
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=amss&fileName
=sb1/sb10142a/amsspage.db&recNum=0]
- Slavery
is a Hard Foe to Battle
[http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu:80/sheetmusic/a/a86/a8636/
a8636-6-150dpi.html]
- The
fright of old Virginia. Being a condensed account of the
Harper's Ferry Insurrection
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=amss&fileName=cw1/
cw101850/amsspage.db&recNum=0]
- Seneca
Falls Convention
[http://www.americasstory.com/cgi-bin/page.cgi/jb/reform/seneca_1]
- Jenny
Lind becomes a pop star in the United States
[http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/jb/reform/lind_1]
- Elizabeth
Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony begin working together
[http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/stanton/friends_1]
- Elizabeth
Blackwell returns to the United States having finished
her medical education
[http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/jb/reform/blackwell_1]
- Letter,
Elizabeth Blackwell to Baroness Anne Isabella Milbanke Byron
concerning women's rights and the education of women physicians
[http://memory.loc.gov/mss/mcc/065/0001.jpg]
- Unidentified
woman, half-length portrait, facing front, holding a copy
of the book "Sons of Temperance Offering"
[http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/dag/3g/3g04000/3g04607v.jpg]
- Harriet
Tubman escapes slavery
[http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/tubman]
- Background
information on Tubman's youth
- Background
information on the Underground Railroad
- Wanted
Poster for Emily桼unaway Slave
[http://dbs.ohiohistory.org/africanam/page.cfm?ID=4418]
- Uncle
Tom's Cabin Appeared in Serial Form, June 5, 1851
[http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/jb/reform/beecher_1]
- Photograph
of Stowe
[http://dbs.ohiohistory.org/africanam/page.cfm?ID=5608]
- Background
information on Uncle Tom's Cabin
[http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/jb/reform/beecher_1]
- Woman
working at a sewing machine
[http://rs6.loc.gov/pnp/dag/3g/3g03000/3g03598r.jpg]
- Background
information
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/dag:@field (NUMBER%2B@band(cph%2B3g03598))]
- Elizabeth
Cady Stanton and her daughter, Harriot,
from a daguerreotype, 1856
[http://www.americaslibrary.gov/aa/stanton/aa_stanton_subj_e.html]
- Julia
Archibald Holmes Reaches Pike's Peak, August 5, 1858
[http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/jb/reform/holmes_1]
- At
Home in a House Divided
[http://museum.state.il.us/exhibits/athome/1850/index.html]
- Marbles
- Doll's
crutch
- Documents
of African-American Women
[http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/collections/african-american-women.html]
- U.S.
Women's History Workshop [http://www.assumption.edu/whw/]
- Valley
of the Shadow [http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/vshadow2/]
Other Information
Standards Alignment
- CIVICED (5-8) I
What are Civic Life, Politics, and Government?
- CIVICED (5-8) III
How Does the Government Established by the Constitution Embody the Purposes, Values, and Principles of American Democracy?
- CIVICED (5-8) V
What are the Roles of the Citizen in American Democracy?
- NCSS-1
Culture and cultural diversity. more
- NCSS-10
Civic ideals and practices. Citizenship in a democratic republic. more
- NCSS-2
Time, continuity, and change. The ways human beings view themselves in and over time. more
- NCSS-3
People, places, and environments. more
- NCTE/IRA-6
Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts. more
- NCTE/IRA-7
Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience. more
- NCTE/IRA-8
Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge. more
- NCTE/IRA-9
Students develop an understanding of and respect for diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and social roles.
- NGS-13
How the Forces of Cooperation and Conflict Among People Influence the Division and Control of Earth抯 Surface
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