Name _______________________________________ Antietam Video - 10 Days that Unexpectedly Changed American History
DAY 1 - Background to Antietam (0:00)
1. What happened in Lincoln’s personal life that is weighing on him emotionally?
2. Before Antietam (September 17, 1862), who is seemingly winning the war – Union or Confederate?
3. Opinion. Why was Lee’s decision to invade the North risky?
4. The Union has to institute a draft: how does this fact support the idea that the war was becoming unpopular?
5. Robert E. Lee invaded the North in part to show northern people that their armies were not successful. Lee hoped
after his army invaded the North that northerners would think the war wasn’t __________________________.
6. According to the documentary, the U.S. would not have won the American Revolution without the help of France.
Similarly, Lee and the Confederates hoped for foreign aid from the _____________________________, which would
help them establish their own government and break away from the Union.
7. Why are the British “threatened” by the American Civil War?
8. How did the issue of slavery make the British hesitate in supporting the South?
9. Abraham Lincoln did not wage war to end slavery, but as the war drug on, Lincoln realized slavery and the Union
both could not survive. Where did the Emancipation Proclamation sit all summer, waiting for a Union victory?
The Battle (9:23)
10. Describe the “focal point” of the Battle of Antietam.
11. The men of Union & Confederacy both march into the “jaw of the dragon” & as one man falls, they “shoulder up”
and keep marching into the fire; how does Richard Croker propose this was possible? (How were men able to march
into their deaths?)
12. A. What is Special Order 191?
B. Why has Special Order 191 become so famous?
13. What aspect of Union General George McClellan’s personality does he become known for?
14. Why is Abraham Lincoln willing to put up with George McClellan?
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15. After the first hour of fighting, what do the 30 acres of corn at Antietam look like?
16. Why is the analogy of troops coming in “like ocean waves” an appropriate description of Antietam?
17. Why is the analogy of two fighters taking turns hitting each other another apt description of the style of fighting?
18. Why do the Federals eventually gain control of the corn field?
19. How many men are dead & wounded after the first three hours of the battle?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------DAY 2 - Lee’s Motivation (20:02)
20. A. How did the South view Maryland?
B. What did Lee & others in the South think would happen when Lee’s army went into Maryland?
21. Why did young men in Maryland (who thought about signing up for the Confederate army) decide not to?
22. The people of Maryland saw Lee and his army as ___________________________ .
23. After the 1st phase of the battle, the fighting moves to The Sunken Road. Describe the Sunken Road and how the
Confederates positioned themselves in it.
24. Why is the description of Dante’s Inferno applied to Antietam?
25. What happens when the Union gets to the side of The Sunken Road? (Outflanking the Confederates!)
26. What would have happened if McClellan pursued Lee’s army?
27. What is the last reason given for McClellan not pursuing Lee’s army? (Essentially, why doesn’t he want to crush the
Confederates?)
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Final Phase & The Rebirth of a Nation
28. When Burnside’s Union troops come across the bridge and approach Lee, the future of the Confederacy seems
______________________________.
29. General Lee’s troops see a regiment approaching and Lee says something along the lines of, “Is that Federals or
Confederates? If it’s Federals, the cause is lost.”
Are the troops approaching General Lee Federal troops (Union) or Confederate troops?
30. As the firing calms down with the setting of the sun, what new sound arises from the field?
31. A. Who was Mathew Brady?
B. What did he post inside his store?
32. A. After the fighting, Lee is waiting/expecting McClellan to follow; what happens?
B. Why is Lincoln frustrated with McClellan?
33. Lincoln has his victory, and five days after Antietam, what does Abraham Lincoln issue?
34. A. The war starts as a war to ___________________________________________________.
B. Lincoln has now made this a war about _______________________ because if Lincoln/Union wins,
_____________________ is dead.
35. Why does the Emancipation Proclamation put an end to the question of foreign intervention?
36. Lincoln urges McClellan to pursue Lee, but when he refuses, Lincoln __________________________ McClellan.
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