Lesson Plans -- Student

Directions: The following section is divided into two parts. Part A will require you to note the following historical documents and answer the accompanying questions. Part B will require you to write an essay based upon the documents, as well as your own knowledge of U.S. history.

Historical Context: The Civil War, which took place during the 1860s, changed the lives of many Americans. Each individual witnessed the war in different ways. The effects of the conflict were readily apparent during the war and post-war period.

Task: Using the information in the included documents, as well as your own knowledge of history, answer the following questions in Part A. Once completed, use the information from the documents to help you write an essay in Part B. In this essay, you will be asked to:

Discuss the ways in which the Civil War affected and changed the lives of Americans, whether they were soldiers, civilians, or slaves. In your essay, discuss the differences between Union and Confederate wartime experiences.

Part A

Directions: Analyze the following documents and answer the accompanying questions. The documents and your answers will help you write your essay.

Document 1 The following is a passage from a Confederate soldiers diary, written when he was confined in military prison.

October We have got the smallpox in prison, and from six to twelve men are taken out dead daily. We can buy from prisoners rats, 25 cents each, killed and dressed. Quite a number of our boys have gone into the rat business. ON the 11th of this month there were 800 sick prisoners sent South on parole.
- Louis Leon, 1864

1a According to Louis Leon, why did some prisoners die in the prison?

1b According to Louis Leon, how did some prisoners make money in the prison?

Document 2

This photograph of a destroyed railroad engine was taken in Richmond, Virginia in 1865, following an attack by Union troops.

2a How might the destruction of railroads affect Southern residents?

Document 3

The following is taken from the diary of Carrie Berry, a 10-year-old child from Atlanta Georgia. In this excerpt Berry describes her experience during the Civil War.

Wed. Nov. 16. [1864] Oh what a night we had. They came burning the store house and about night it looked like the whole town was on fire. We all set up all night. If we had not set up our house would have ben burnt up for the fire was very near and the soldiers were going around setting houses on fire where they were not watched. They behaved very badly. They all left the town about one oclock this evening and we were glad when they left for nobody know what we have suffered since they came in.

-- Carrie Berry

3. According to Carrie, what did the soldiers do to the town?

Document 4

The following is a portion of the Gettysburg Address, a speech President Lincoln gave in 1863 to commemorate the battle of Gettysburg.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate we cannot consecrate we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people by the people for the people shall not perish from the earth.

--Abraham Lincoln

4a According to Lincoln, for what cause did the men die in battle?

4b According to Lincoln, how can the living best serve those men who died?

Document 5

The following is an excerpt from a poem written by a resident of Richmond, Virginia in 1862.

"Virginia's Dead" by Cornelia J.M. Jordan

Proud mother of a race that reared
The brave and good of ours,
Lo! on thy bleeding bosom lie
Thy pale and perished flowers.
Whereer upon her own bright soil
Hosts meet their blood to shed
Where brightly gleams the victors sword
There sleep Virginia's dead.

And when the crimsoned field
The cannon loudest roars,
And hero-blood for liberty
A streaming torrent pours;
Where fiercest grows the battles rage
And Southern banners spread;
Where minions crouch and vassals kneel,
There sleep Virginia's dead.

--Cornelia J.M. Jordan

5. According to the poet, what happened to many Confederate soldiers as they fought in battle?

Document 6

The following is a passage from a poem written by a Massachusetts resident regarding a battle in which Union troops were ambushed.

They've trapped us, boys!
Rose from our flank a voice.
With a rush of steel and smoke
ON came the rebels straight,
Eager as love and wild as hate;
And our line reeled and broke;

Broke and fled.
Not one stayed but the dead!
With curses, shrieks, and cries,
Horses and wagons and men
Tumbled back through the shuddering glen,
And above us the fading skies.

There's one hope, still
Those batteries parked on the hill!
Battery, wheel! (mid the roar)
Pass pieces; fix prolonge to fire
Retiring. Trot! In the same panic dire
A bugle rings Trot! and no more.

--George Parsons Lathrop

6. According to the poet, how did the soldiers respond to the ambush?

Explanation of the Documents Chosen:

This DBQ was created in order to test students grasp of Civil War history, specifically the nature of individual witness to the war, and ultimately the wars impact on individuals and communities. I found that primary documents that described the toils and trials of the war supported this aim. The image of the train was also helpful in representing the physical consequences of unmitigated urban warfare. The excerpt from Lincolns Gettysburg Address helps to summarize both the cost of human lives, as well as the ideological theory behind the conflict.

How will this exam be graded?

The most difficult aspect of constructing an exam was predicting the difficulty of each question. Nevertheless, certain trademarks of diligent students should become evident when reading the completed exams. High scores will require not only a judicious reading of the document itself, but also evidence of a greater understanding of the period and topic. Factual errors, vagueness in a response, and overwhelmingly poor grammar will detract from an otherwise high mark.

The essay also requires the students to draw on the documents in the context of their general historical knowledge. Using crisp, idiomatic prose, the students should synthesize the primary documents examined in part A with their greater understanding of the topic. Structurally, the essay should consist of an introduction, body paragraphs that address individual sub-topics, and a strong conclusion.