Content: The Civil War
U.S. I Learning Standards:
1861-1865
Chapter 11 Beginning
USI.37 On a map of North America, identify Union and Confederate States at the outbreak of the war. (H, G)
The Civil War Begins
USI.38 Analyze Abraham Lincoln’s presidency, the Emancipation Proclamation (1863), his views on slavery,
and the political obstacles he encountered. (H, C)
Advantages and Disadvantages
The Early Battles
Technology and Weapons of War
Seminal Primary Documents to Read: Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (1863) and Lincoln’s second inaugural address (1865)
Seminal Primary Documents to Consider: Lincoln’s “House Divided” speech (1858)
USI.39 Analyze the roles and policies of various Civil War leaders and describe the important Civil War battles and
events. (H)
Leaders
Jefferson Davis
Ulysses S. Grant
Robert E. Lee
Battles
the Massachusetts 54th Regiment and the Battle at Fort Wagner
Antietam
Vicksburg
Gettysburg
Key Questions:
Why was the loyalty of the
border states important, and
how did Lincoln obtain it?
What was the chain of events
put in motion due to the fall of
Fort Sumter?
What were Union and
Confederate goals for the war?
Pacing Guide: 3/25-4/3 (8 days)
Skills and Outcomes: When students have finished
studying this topic, they will know and be able to:
Formative/Summative Assessments:
LINK Activity – What do you think you know about the
Civil War? They will be looking at a picture of a battle
during the Civil War. This will be used as a point of
reference and starting point to explore the battles and
politics of the Civil War.
Write a comparative essay that discusses the strategies of
the North and South.
Do you think the Civil War was unavoidable or not?
Explain your answer.
Students
will complete the following products/other assessments to
demonstrate the skills and understandings they have
acquired.
Have each student write a speech for President Lincoln in
which he tries to explain and justify to the nation what
happened at both the Second battle of Bull Run and
Antietam. The speech should try to ease citizens fears and
create support for the Union Army.
How did technology affect the
way the war was fought?
Who was more successful in
the first 2 years of the war,
Union or Confederacy? Why?
How did people in both the
North and South deal with the
hardships and challenges of the
war?
Preview Preparing for War using the PIC method
 Cause and Effect Chart Cause on the crisis at Fort
Sumter and the effect of that battle.
 Two Column Notes on The Border States
 Compare and Contrast the strategies of the North
and South
o Predict which side do you think has the better
strategy at the beginning of the war.
 Primary Source – Examine the propaganda poster
on page 361. Answer the accompanying questions.
o Redraw the Poster on Scott’s Great Snake as if
from the point of view of a Confederate
How did women and African
Americans contribute to the war Preview Fighting Erupts using the PIC method
effort?
 Two Column Notes: groups will be assigned one
of the following battles: 1st Bull Run, Shiloh,
Could the North have
Mississippi River, Peninsula Campaign, 2nd Bull
ultimately been successful
Run, Antietam, and Fredricksburg. Each will
without the help of those two
complete two column notes on their assigned battle.
groups?
o Think Write Pair Share: Groups will then
report back to the class and all groups will fill
How was the Emancipation
out the attached graphic organizer noting the
Proclamation a military
victor of the battle, generals, and importance.
strategy?
 Interpreting Visuals on pgs 364-365. How did
the new inventions and technology separate the
Civil War from wars previously fought by the
United States?
Preview The War Behind the Lines using the PIC method
 Talk to the text: the Emancipation Proclamation
o Main Idea and Details on the
Emancipation Proclamation
Take the perspective of a slave and read the Emancipation
Proclamation from that point of view. Write a letter to a
family member in the north, explaining your reactions to
the document.
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Two column notes: on The Emancipation
Proclamation
Take notes on 2 column notes on African
Americans and the War. Pg 373.
Analyze the quote by Fredrick Douglas on page
373.
Interpreting visuals on page 374.
o Use your own words to describe what you see in
the photograph.
o How does the picture either confirm or change
you ideas about life in the military?
o Use Main Idea and Details GO for Life in the
Military on page 374.
Interpret political cartoon #22. Why did
conscription so offend many in the South.
Main Idea and Details GO: Women in the Civil
War
o Read and Analyze Hospital Sketches by
Louisa May Alcott and answer
accompanying questions