Civil+War

**Civil War** = = toc = = ="A House Divided": Lead-up to the Civil War= [contributed by Kay Thompson]

Background
Introduction: //Unit Title:// “A House Divided:” Rising Tensions in the New Nation, 1800-1860 //Essential Questions:// //Length:// 4 weeks (19 class days) //Grade:// 7th and 8th //Student population:// Inclusion class of 22 students each, 20% with IEPs, several ELL students //Guiding Massachusetts Frameworks:// US History I 29, 35-41 //Major topics//: Slavery as experience, as economic institution, as embedded institution; differences between North and South; early anti-slavery agitation; political fractures and compromises1820-1860
 * By 1860, who was “in” and who was “out” in American society?
 * Was the Civil War inevitable?
 * How can we as historians make one story out of many primary and secondary documents?

Resources
1) 1776. (1972). Musical film. “Molasses to Rum to Slaves.” Can be accessed online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXCVG1UNj5Y


 * 2 hour musical about the writing of the Declaration of Independence; the 3 minute excerpt that is relevant to the Civil War is the song about the pragmatism of the slave trade for New Englanders—powerfully performed by Edward Rutledge of South Carolina. Other excerpts show the way that the southern colonies forced Jefferson to delete the passage of the declaration that condemns slavery.
 * Especially useful for visual learners, but printed lyrics might also be useful for students who have difficulty with English.
 * This is a montage of all the scenes in 1776 dealing with slavery: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk5NAeIRY4k

2) “19th Century Racism.” Accessible at http://www.geocities.com/ru00ru00/racismhistory/19thcent.html


 * Timeline of racism in the 19th century as developed by thinkers like Lamarck and Hegel. Could be used as one of the jigsaw pieces in the lesson on racism and slavery, as a way to get students to think more broadly about racism.
 * This secondary source shows how historians bring together primary sources and analyze them—in this case, chronologically.

3) African American Museum and Black Heritage Trail. Website accessible at http://www.afroammuseum.org/index.htm


 * This museum and the Heritage Trail would make an exciting field trip for the end of this unit, which pays much more attention to slavery than it does to blacks in the north in the antebellum era. It would be a great connection for students to be able to walk in familiar areas and recognize the history connected with them.
 * The field trip would probably take a day (and fundraising) that as yet I have not planned for—but might be willing to do if I thought it would be very beneficial and if the students were interested enough.

4) Becker, Eddie. “A Chronology on the History of Slavery 1619-1789.” Accessible at http://www.innercity.org/holt/slavechron.html.


 * A long document but useful for teachers in showing how slavery and racism developed hand in hand. Could be excerpted for use in class—some of the information is particularly useful and interesting.
 * A higher reading level—the teacher would need to be available to answer questions, and ideally students would read it in mixed groups.
 * Again, a secondary document that demonstrates how to use primary sources to construct something bigger.

5) Burns, Ken, dir. (1990). The Civil War. Documentary film.


 * 9-volume, 11-hour documentary of the war; a canonical piece that integrates period music and famous actors and personalities providing voices for quotes. Utilizes the “Ken Burns effect” of panning across photographs and visuals from the period, while the narrator (David McCullough) outlines the events of the war, focusing on a few characters.
 * Too lengthy and dry to use the whole film in class, but clips could be valuable introductions to each unit or for use as “hooks.” Even if the narration is dry, it is thoughtfully written and at times thought-provoking.
 * Activities to accompany are suggested on the PBS website:  (accessed 4 Dec. 2008)
 * The soundtrack also has a great sample of period music, even though the film’s opening theme, which has become famous, is the only piece not written during the period (according to the PBS website).
 * Visual learners might benefit in particular from using the film/its summaries outside of class, especially if a textbook summary is difficult for them to process.
 * Opening clip can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyzW2cAl0gQ

6) Chomsky, Marvin J. et al., dirs. Roots. (1977). Television miniseries. ABC network. Accessible at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQGJwA0vCwo (This is at the end of the first episode)


 * A dramatic representation of the slave trade and slavery, based on Alex Haley’s novel Roots. Easy to understand, great for visual learners, compelling story. Clips would make a great hook to begin a class on the slave trade. The film is a great example of how historians can imagine the past and bring it to life—although what they show on screen is not necessarily true to life.
 * Some parts may be inappropriate for middle school audiences, especially at the beginning when Mandingo women are represented as topless.
 * Students who were once Reading Rainbow fans will appreciate seeing LeVar Burton.

7) CSPAN network. Lincoln 200 Years. Accessible at http://www.c-span.org/lincoln200years/


 * Provides numerous resources for teaching about Lincoln, including re-enactments of the 1858 debates with Stephen Douglas. Transcripts are also provided.
 * Although the debates are somewhat dry, watching a short clip could be a good hook for when we talk about the debates in class and what people were thinking on the eve of the 1860 election as slavery became a more significant issue.

8) Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano. In Jordan, Winthrop. (1968). “The Simultaneous Invention of Slavery and Racism,” from White Over Black. Accessible online at http://www.sammustafa.com/Resources/slavery.pdf


 * This is a first person narrative from a slave who escaped and was able to go back to Africa. I would use it with the lesson on slave narratives in general.
 * It is a dense 4 pages—highlighting and excerpting would be helpful to those students who have difficulty reading, but if it is a group activity, other group members may also be able to help.
 * Great primary source that, if used in conjunction with others, could help students develop a general picture of the Middle Passage/enslavement experience.

9) Fontaine, Peter. “A Defense of Slavery in Virginia.” (1757). Published on PBS’s Africans in America website. Accessible at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2h6t.html · A primary source text that justifies slavery; could either be used on the day we talk about how southerners viewed slavery or when we talk about racism and slavery.

10) Ford, Lacy. (2008). “Reconfiguring the Old South: ‘Solving’ the Problem of Slavery, 1787-1838.” In Teaching the Journal of American History: June 2008 (Vol. 95, no. 1). Accessible online at http://www.journalofamericanhistory.org/teaching/2008_06/ · The article itself is available from the website and would be useful background to teachers—it discusses how white southerners rationalized slavery, with special attention to Madison and Jefferson, among others. · It is 28 pages long and somewhat dense. Some of the important material could be cut out for use in a lesson on how slavery endured in the South. · There are resources for teachers on the website, including lesson ideas and primary sources that are used in the article.

11) Hakim, Joy. (1999). A History of Us: Liberty for All? New York: Oxford University Press.


 * A middle school level textbook.
 * Text is dense, lots of quotations and visuals; a narrative history, but without typical textbook features like key terms or section headings.
 * A couple of the chapters deal with slavery, and there is one related to political compromises and Daniel Webster.

12) Hakim, Joy. (1999). A History of Us: War, Terrible War, 1860-1865. New York: Oxford University Press.


 * A middle school level textbook.
 * Again, text is dense, lots of quotations and visuals; a narrative history, but without typical textbook features like key terms or section headings. Only the preface deals with the lead-up to war.
 * Contains questionable claims like, “Slaves were valuable, so most owners didn’t abuse them. But some did.”
 * There is an interesting chapter on Harriet Beecher Stowe which could be used in conjunction with excerpts from Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

13) “John Brown’s Raid, 1859.” Published on Eyewitness to History website. Accessible at http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/johnbrown.htm


 * This page gives a short explanation of what happened during the raid on Harper’s Ferry, partnered with an eyewitness account by Robert E. Lee.
 * The reading is fairly short, but in 19th century language. I would probably use it in a packet of sources when we talk about John Brown.

14) Library of Congress. Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers Project, 1936-1938. Accessible at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html


 * This database contains thousands of scans of slave narratives as heard by (white?) writers. Interestingly, the narratives have been interpreted and are NOT direct transcripts of what the narrators said. They seem to be 5-10 pages, double-spaced, in length.
 * Would be very interesting for advanced students on our slave narrative day—these are difficult because of the alternative spelling used to denote African American speech.
 * The website is fairly easy to browse through by name—a worksheet could easily be created to help students see some of the patterns of the narratives.

15) Lyons, Mary E. (1992). Letters from a Slave Girl: The Story of Harriet Jacobs. New York: Scribner.


 * 146 pp.; middle school reading level. This is a fictional account based on the autobiography of Harriet Jacobs.
 * The first part of the book would be very useful for the slave narrative lesson, but we would not have time to read the whole book as a class. Other parts of the book deal with Harriet’s escape from slavery and her life in the north.

16) National Geographic Society. (2001). “Civil War.” Geokit: American History Series. Teacher’s Guide.


 * Useful resource with ideas for lesson plans for middle school; also comes with primary source handouts, slides, and transparencies. Teachers can cut and paste ideas from the relatively short plans provided.
 * Lesson 1 contains several ideas for introducing the rising tension between north and south, including a dramatic re-enactment, using a primary source to think about slavery as an institution (I will borrow this), and interpreting art.

17) Teachers Curriculum Institute. (1997). History Alive! The Civil War and Reconstruction. Teachers Guide.


 * This teachers’ guide provides a variety of useful activity ideas, along with lesson plans, placards, and slides, for middle school and high school.
 * Activity 1.2, a role play exercise on compromises between the north and south, would be useful in a lesson on the growing tensions between the two regions.

18) Turner, Nat. (1831). Confessions of Nat Turner. Published on the Documenting the American South website. Accessible at http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/turner/turner.html


 * This dramatic but long document tells of the life of Nat Turner, who led a slave rebellion.
 * I would excerpt it and use it in the lesson on black advocates of freedom as another example of a primary document.

19) Walker, David. “Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World.” PBS “Africans in America” website. Accessible at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h2931t.html


 * This piece is already excerpted from the original, but is still difficult—to have students read it would require some guidance.
 * A good primary source document to use in talking about black advocates who spoke out against slavery as rotation or jigsaw.