Curriculum Writer’s Name: __Kate McConnell_____________________________________________
Grade Level: ___8th grade____________________________
Background on the Unit: In this unit students will be examining how perspective can lead
to small conflicts that can build to large conflicts with lasting impacts. Students will learn
about the causes and effects of the Civil War, looking at how differing opinions led to the
tension that built between the North and South and the long-lasting effects the Civil War
had on race relations in the United States. Students will also examine how the causes of the
Civil War compare to the causes of the American Revolution and analyze how perspective
can impact people’s understanding of historical events. Students will continuously reflect
on these questions:
1. How do can small conflicts escalate to major conflicts?
2. What are the legacies of conflicts?
3. How does perspective influence our understanding of history?
Students will compare the causes of the US Civil War to civil wars in the news today to
identify common causes of conflict. They will also examine current racial tensions in the US
and how recent racial events connect to effects of the Civil War.
Conceptual Lens
Macro-concept: Perspective
Micro-concepts: Conflict, change, populations
Understandings (Which may include
principles, generalizations, theories):
Phrase these as students will understand
that…)
1. Students will understand that
differing perspectives can lead to
conflict.
2. Students will understand that
conflict can start small and build.
3. Students will understand that
conflict can cause long-lasting
impacts.
4. Students will understand that
perspective can impact how history
is told.
5. Students will understand that
conflict can lead to both positive
and negative change.
6. Students will understand that as
populations change so do their
perspectives and their connections
to other populations.
Essential Questions:
1. How can differing perspectives
cause conflict?
2. What minor conflicts led to the Civil
War?
3. How has the United States been
shaped by the Civil War?
4. Who decides how a historical event
is remembered and retold?
5. How can the recall of history be
influenced by perspective?
6. How are populations changed by
conflict?
7. How can distance and separation
cause differences in perspective?
Students will know…
1. Events that led to the Civil War
(Westward Expansion, Missouri
Compromise, Nat Turner’s
Rebellion, Compromise of 1850,
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Dred Scott
Decision, John Brown, Lincoln’s
election, Emancipation
Proclamation)
2. Battles of the Civil War (Fort
Sumter, Bull Run, Antietam,
Fredericksburg, Shiloh,
Chancellorsville, Gettysburg,
Vicksburg, Fort Wagner, Atlanta,
Appomattox)
3. Reconstruction (Freedmen’s
Bureau, Black Codes, 14th
Amendment, Military
Reconstruction Act, Sharecropping,
15th Amendment, Enforcement Acts,
Amnesty Act of 1872, Compromise
of 1877, Voting Rights, Plessy vs.
Ferguson, Segregation, Civil Rights)
4. Key Figures (John Brown, Abraham
Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S.
Grant, Jefferson Davis, Frederick
Douglas, Stonewall Jackson, William
Sherman, Dred Scott, Harriet
Beecher Stowe, Andrew Johnson)
Students will be able to…(Skills)
1. Identify cause and effect
relationships of conflict.
2. Examine the causes of civil wars.
3. Explain why different regions of the
US had different perspectives.
4. Explain how differing perspectives
led to the Civil War.
5. Demonstrate understanding the
impact major battle had on the Civil
War.
6. Explain how the US changed as a
result of the Civil War.
7. Explain the impact of the Civil War
on today’s society.
8. Compare and contrast historical
events to current events.
9. Write an essay comparing and
contrasting the Civil War with the
American Revolution.
10. Form a judgment on whether or not
the Civil War was necessary.
11. Debate the necessity of the Civil
War.