Educator Resource
Chapter 8: 1860-1877 Inquiry Organizer
Did the Civil War help create a more perfect Union?
In this organizer
- Lesson4
- Narrative11
- Primary Source9
- Point-Counterpoint3
- Decision Point3
Compelling question
Did the Civil War help create a more perfect Union?
Chapter objectives
- Students will be able to examine the relationship between military events in the Civil War and changes in politics, society, and justice for African Americans.
- Students will be able to analyze the changing nature of the goals of the Civil War and whether it wrought a “second American Revolution.”
- Students will be able to evaluate whether justice for African Americans was achieved through Reconstruction.
Supporting questions and resources
The filter narrows the resources under every question. Each card opens the resource.
Supporting question 1
What were the major events of the Civil War?
- NarrativeFort Sumter and the Coming of the War
- NarrativeThe Battle of Antietam
- NarrativeGettysburg and Vicksburg: July 4, 1863
- Decision PointAbraham Lincoln and Emancipation
- NarrativeWilliam Tecumseh Sherman and Total War
- Primary SourceImages of Total War: Sherman’s March to the Sea, 1865
- Decision PointGrant and Lee at Appomattox
- Point-CounterpointDid Abraham Lincoln Exceed His Presidential Powers during the Civil War?
- Point-CounterpointWas the Civil War Fought Over Slavery?
- Primary SourceJ.B. Elliott,Scott’s Great Snake(Anaconda Plan), 1861
- Primary SourceMathew Brady, The Dead of Antietam Photography, 1862
- LessonThe Rhetoric of Abraham Lincoln DBQ
Supporting question 2
How did the Civil War affect the lives of different groups of people within U.S. society?
- NarrativeThe Draft and the Draft Riots of 1863
- NarrativeRobert Gould Shaw and the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment
- NarrativeMary Chesnut’s War
- NarrativeClement Vallandigham and Constitutionalism
- NarrativeWomen during the Civil War
- Primary SourceDaniel Emmett’s “Dixie” and Julia Ward Howe’s “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” 1859 and 1861
Supporting question 3
What were the major political developments of Reconstruction and to what extent did Reconstruction change the lives of those living in the South?
- Primary SourceCartoon Analysis:The “Rail Splitter” at Work Repairing the Union, 1865
- NarrativeO. O. Howard and the Freedmen’s Bureau
- Primary SourceComparing Views of the Freedmen’s Bureau, 1866
- NarrativeThe Ku Klux Klan and Violence at the Polls
- Point-CounterpointTo What Extent Did American Principles Become a Reality for African Americans during Reconstruction?
- Primary SourceCartoon Analysis: Thomas Nast on Reconstruction, 1869-1874
- Decision PointThe Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
- Primary SourceAndrew Johnson’s Veto of the Civil Rights Act, 1866
- LessonThe Emergence of Black Codes DBQ
- LessonComparing Impeachments across U.S. History
- Chapter 8 Introductory Essay: 1860-1877
- Primary SourceThe Homestead Act of 1862
- LessonUnit 4 Civics Connection: Equality, the Civil War, and Reconstruction
Standards
You may also need
More of this category
Use this Lesson once students have a strong understanding of the rights of African Americans both before and after the passing of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments. It would also be helpful for students to have read the O. O. Howard and the Freedmen’s Bureau and The Ku Klux Klan and Violence at the Polls Narratives.
Use this Lesson in conjunction with the Abraham Lincoln and Emancipation Decision Point to have students analyze Abraham Lincoln's rhetoric throughout his presidency.
Use this Lesson alongside The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson Decision Point to introduce students to the concept of impeachment and how it has been used throughout U.S. history.
A review lesson for Unit 4 (1844-1877) that provides an overview of key events and ideas from the Civil War and Reconstruction Era.