United States History to 1877

Civil War and Reconstruction: 1860s to 1877

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

• Begin the unit by asking students how cultural, economic, and constitutional issues created bitter divisions between the North and South.
• Explain that cultural, economic, and constitutional differences between the North and South eventually resulted in the Civil War.
• Use graphic organizers found at http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/actbank/torganiz.htm (Score Graphic Organizers), or http://teacherresourcecatalog.pwnet.org/docs/Reading.pdf (Reading Strategies for Content Teachers) and have the students organize the following background information on issues that divided the nation.
• Introduce the issues that divided the nation leading up to the Civil War. Students may use the Differences that Divided the National worksheet to summarize information. For the worksheet, CLICK HERE. For the answer key to the worksheet, CLICK HERE.
• Slavery
• While there were several differences between the North and the South, the issues related to slavery increasingly divided the nation and led to the Civil War.
• Cultural
• The North was mainly an urban society in which people held jobs.
• The South was primarily an agricultural society in which people lived in small villages and on farms and plantations.
• Because of their cultural differences, people of the North and South found it difficult to agree on social and political issues.
• Economic
• The North was a manufacturing region, and its people favored tariffs that protected factory owners and workers from foreign competition.
• Southerners opposed tariffs that would cause prices of manufactured goods to increase. Planters were also concerned that England might stop buying cotton from the South if tariffs were added.
• Constitutional
• A major conflict was states' rights versus strong central government.
• Lead a discussion on the causes that led to the secession of the South from the Union. Emphasize that the primary causes of the Civil War were issues related to states' rights, sectionalism, slavery, and western expansion. As the United States began to expand west, slavery again became a pressing issue. Would the country tolerate the spread of slavery into newly acquired western territories? Should the residents of new states decide for themselves whether to keep or abolish slavery? Were the North and South so different economically, socially, and geographically that they could not reconcile their differences? The answers to these questions varied and threatened to tear the country apart.
• Have students read in their texts the primary causes and events that led to the Civil War. After students have reviewed the necessary information in the text, discuss with students what they think were the primary causes of the war. List these on the board. Some possible answers are the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850, Fugitive Slave Law, the election of 1860, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Help students connect each event with issues of sectionalism, states' rights, slavery, or western expansion.
• Have students create an illustrated time line of the causes of the Civil War, using the information they gained in the previous step. Time lines may be drawn horizontally or vertically. Provide students with a list of causes to include, or let them choose what they think are the most significant causes. Time lines should include a time line title, names of the events, dates of the events, short explanations of the events, and small illustrations depicting the events. Explanations should include the reasons the events are historically significant to the cause of the Civil War. Encourage students to use color and be creative in their illustrations.
• Have students sort a set of significant events/causes into their correct order. Listed below are sets of such events in chronological order. Explanations of these events are found in Events Leading to the Civil War worksheet. Display these events on the board in random order, and have students take turns putting them in their proper chronological order. After the exercise is complete, review each event and the chronological order of the events by using proper explanations. To emphasize that these are "steps" to the Civil War, have students arrange them in a staircase fashion. For the Civil War worksheet, CLICK HERE.
• Western Expansion
• Missouri Compromise
• Compromise of 1850
• Fugitive Slave Law
• Uncle Tom's Cabin
• Kansas-Nebraska Act
• Dred Scott Decision
• Harpers Ferry Raid
• Election of 1860
• Secession of the South
• BOOM!!
• Civil War
• Have students brainstorm what they already know about the differences between the north and south. Have them predict which side believed in each issue that ultimately divided the nation (including government, cultural, jobs, slavery, tariffs, etc.).
• Describe how each region felt about each issue.
• Hand out the worksheet on Issues That Divided the Nation. Allow students to use textbooks and other available resources to complete the chart. For lower level students, you may want to include a "word bank" for students to use. For the Issues That Divided the Nation worksheet, CLICK HERE.
• Go over answers with students.
• Assess students by giving them questions about this subject. Complete the worksheet entitled Questions: Issues that Divided the Nation. For the worksheet with the questions, CLICK HERE.
• Have the students read a non-fiction book about the Civil War.

WEB SITES

http://sunsite.utk.edu/civil-war/warweb.html
American Civil War Home Page

http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/civilwar/cwar.htm
Civil War for Kids

http://www.civil-war.net/
Civil War Home Page

http://www.historyplace.com/civilwar/index.html
A Nation Divided

Copyright ©2008 Prince William Network/Virginia Department of Education