Lesson Plan -- Peer Review
"A House Divided -- The Lincoln-Douglas Debates" Gary Emerson
Newfield Central School

1. Title: A House Divided-- The Lincoln-Douglas Debates

2. Unit: This is a lesson to be used in a unit about sectionalism and the coming of the Civil War

3. Topics Covered: This lesson is about the Lincoln-Douglas debates during the U.S. Senate campaign in Illinois in 1858.

4. Grade Level: Commencement (grades 9-12)

5. Time Requirement: 42 minute class period

6. NYS Learning Standards:

  • Standard 1: Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United States.
  • Key Idea 3: Study about the major social, political, economic, cultural, and religious developments in New York State and United States history involves learning about the important roles and contributions of individuals and groups.
7. Learning Context/Background: The students will need to have previous learning about the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska Act and popular sovereignty, and the Dred Scott decision.

8. Learning Objectives:

  • By reading and discussing excerpts from the Lincoln-Douglas debates, the students will be able to understand how the North was divided over the issue of slavery.

  • The students will be able to cite a political, an economic, and a social reason why Northerners both supported and opposed slavery.
9. Resources/Materials Needed:
  • Handout A listing excerpts from the Lincoln-Douglas debates (all excerpts taken from Abraham Lincoln: A Documentary Portrait Through His Speeches and Writings, ed. by Don E. Fehrenbacher (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1964, 1977).
  • Handout B which students need to complete after reading Handout A.
  • A copy of the videotape, Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940, Turner Home Entertainment). Available at Amazon.com.
  • Windows XP Moviemaker
10. Procedure:
  • a. The teacher will first review some previous learning with the class by asking the students to recall what the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850 said. Also review the Kansas-Nebraska Act, popular sovereignty, and the Dred Scott case.
  • b. Divide the class up into groups of three or four. Use playing cards and have the students pick cards. All those with the same card (King, Queen, etc.) are to be in the same group.
  • c Explain to the class that in 1858 there was an important election in Illinois for U.S. Senator. The two candidates were Stephen Douglas, a leading Democrat and nationally known, and Abraham Lincoln, the candidate for the new Repubican Party. Lincoln invited Douglas to engage is a series of public debates as part of the campaign. Douglas agreed to seven debates.
  • d. Show the video clip from the film Abe Lincoln in Illinois. The scene shows Lincoln responding to Douglas during one of their debates. Some of the dialogue from this movie scene the students will recognize in Handout A when they read it. The film dialogue is quite true to the actual speeches. The scene with Lincoln's speech is only 5 minutes long.
  • e. When the film clip is done, pass out Handout A to the students and ask them to read it to learn more about what Lincoln and Douglas argued in their debates.
  • f. Pass out Handout B for the students to complete in their groups as they finish the reading. They will have to discuss and decide what Lincoln and Douglas believed about slavery and other issues based on the documents that they read and fill in Handout B.
  • g. When the groups are finished with Handout B, call on various groups and have them explain what they wrote down as answers. Some other questions to ask them as part of the discussion include: Why did Lincoln rely so much on the Declaration of Independence when discussing slavery? Why didn't he refer to the Constitution? Who won this election? Why was this election important to Douglas? To Lincoln?
  • h. Have the students look at Handout B and their answers once again. Have them consider in their groups which answers represent a political reason for supporting or opposing slavery. Which are a social reason? Which are an economic reason? Have them write the letters P, S, or E next to their answers on Handout B. Discuss their choices when they are finished.
  • i. For homework, ask the students to play the part of either an editor or a Republican or a Democratic newspaper. A Republican editor should write a response to the arguments made by Douglas in the documents. A Democratic editor should write a response to Lincoln's arguments in the documents
11. Differentiated Instruction
  • For extra-credit, students can use Windows XP Moviemaker to create a short political campaign ad for either Abraham Lincoln or Stephen Douglas that illustrates their stance on the slavery controversy and that promotes their image to voters. Include appropriate images, text, and music to enhance the campaign ad. The ad should be at least one minute in length.
  • Carousel Brainstorming- the next day when the students come in, put them into their same groups again and give each group a poster size sheet of paper and some markers. At the top of each poster have either the name Lincoln or Douglas. Tell each group that they will have 30 seconds to write down words that are illustrative of the person whose name is on that paper. When 30 seconds is up, they must pass the poster to the next group and get another poster from one of the other groups. They will get another 30 seconds to write. After a few turns, stop and hang up the posters on the board and discuss what they wrote for each.
  • To accommodate students who have lower reading and vocabulary levels, it would be helpful to go over some of the more difficult words they may encounter in Handout A. Another suggestion would be to put the definitions of some of the more difficult words right in Handout A itself by putting the definitions or other meanings in parentheses next to the words.
  • Another modification would be to have students make a campaign poster instead of a movie campaign ad. Students could include pictures and text on the poster about their candidate.
12. Assessment Plan- Handout B provides the students the opportunity to think about the different ways Northerners looked at the issue of slavery. It also has them think about what were some of the political, social, and economic arguments in the North both for and against slavery. The writing assignment given as homework will give the students a chance to think about what they learned and to demonstrate it in a creative fashion. The extra-credit assignment allows students to pursue the topic further on their own.

13. Reflection- This lesson is for a high school class that is heterogeneously mixed. The teacher should read through the speeches in the book used as the source for the speeches, or go online to read them to have a better understanding of the debates.

14. References:

Materials Needed:

Handout A-DBQ
Handout B-DBQ Chart
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