Images of African Americans in the Civil War

The Changing Role of African Americans During the Civil War

A Lesson Plan developed by Steve DiStefano, Maine-Endwell Middle School and Jason Motell, Chenango Forks High School

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Lesson Objective: This lesson plan is designed for Middle School students, but can be altered to suit the needs of High School students. Through the use of resources on the World Wide Web and the subsequent completion of a writing assignment students will demonstrate the ability to:

Discuss how African Americans' roles changed during the Civil War
Analyze and use primary sources (photographs)
Research information on the internet in a responsible and thoughtful manner
Write a well-organized essay based on the documents used in class

Day 1

1st Activity (Anticipatory Set) - Have students brainstorm different ways in which their roles in the community have changed since childhood (elementary school) and how they expect them to change as they grow older.

Discuss change and the roles of various people in the community. Have students share their ideas and list responses on the board.

2nd Activity (Body) - Take students to the computer lab, break them into pairs, and share the lesson objectives with them.

Instruct the students to go to the following Web page: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/081_cwaf.html

Have students look for evidence of African Americans:

Serving white military personnel
Integrated with white military personnel
Doing menial labor

Have each group print out one picture depicting each of the above roles. Students need to record the date of each photograph that they print.

Day 2

3rd Activity (Body) - Present the students with the essay question:

Theme: When the Civil War broke out in 1861, many whites were hesitant to allow African Americans to join the war effort. However, as the war raged on, African Americans' roles changed dramatically.

Task: Based on the evidence found in the photographs, explain how African Americans' roles in the war changed over time.

Create three groups out of the class and have students share their photographs. Students should put their photographs in chronological order and discuss how the roles of African Americans changed during the various stages of the Civil War.

4th Activity (Closure) - Have each group present to the class as a whole their photographic evidence, noting key points on the blackboard.

5th Activity (Culminating Activity) - Have students draft an outline for their essay which is to include an introduction, a three-paragraph body, and a conclusion.

Day 3

6th Activity (Assessment) - Write the essay.

Standards Assessed:

New York State Standard: 1--Key Ideas: 1,3, and 4

New York State Standard: 3--Key Idea: 1

New York State Standard: 4--Key Idea: 1

New York State Standard: 5--Key Ideas: 1,2, and 4

African Americans and the Civil War | Summer 2002 Workshop