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Lesson Plans

Out of Many: A History of the American People ©2000

by Faragher, Buhle, Czitrom, and Armitage

Focus Lesson 13

Chapter 16: "The Civil War, 1861–1865"

AP* Course Description

The Civil War
- The Union
  - Mobilization and finance
  - Civil liberties
  - Election of 1864
- The South
  - Confederate constitution
  - Mobilization and finance
  - States' rights and the Confederacy
- Foreign affairs and diplomacy
- Military strategy, campaigns, and battles
- The abolition of slavery
  - Confiscation Acts
  - Emancipation Proclamation
  - Freedmen's Bureau
  - Thirteenth Amendment
- Effects of war on society
  - Inflation and public debt
  - Role of women
  - Devastation of the South>Changing labor patterns

Key Components

Instructor's Manual: pp. 82–87
Study Guide, Vol. I to 1877: pp. 134–144
Documents Set, Vol. I to 1877: pp. 206–218
Test Item File: pp. 142–152

Key Web Sites

Given the changing nature of the Internet, you may wish to preview these sites. Always check PHSchool.com for updated links to U.S. history sites.

Key Words and Terms

border states
Confederate States of America
draft riots
Copperheads

Robert E. Lee
Ulysses S. Grant
Appomattox

Suggested Pacing

There are two basic ways to approach study of the Civil War. One is to try to cover the major leaders, battles, campaigns, and so on, and the other is to take a more topical approach—states' rights, conscription, emancipation, and so on. You might try a combination—two classes on major events and two classes on topics on a traditional bell schedule of 45-minute sessions or one each on a block schedule of 90-minute periods. In either case, students will not be tested on battles on the AP* exam.

Test Strategy

Encourage students to read multiple-choice question stems carefully. If they jump too quickly into reading the choices, they can be easily confused by "distracters." These wrong answers may include some true points of information, but if read carefully, they do not answer the specific question. Suggest that students begin to underline, bracket, or circle the important words in question prompts so that they focus more carefully on what they are being asked.

Key Concepts

Protracted war
Neither side envisioned that the Civil War would last so long or be so costly. The first Battle of Bull Run showed the fallacy of both sides' thinking that the war would be over quickly. The North seemed to have the overwhelming advantages of the number of potential recruits for the army, financial stability, European allies, industrial capacity, and supply lines, yet the South managed to fight a defensive war for four years. The resilience of the South and its strategic use of its resources should be a major focus of this chapter.
Extra-legal powers of the U.S. president
To wage a war he did not want, Lincoln expanded the powers of the presidency. He expanded the budget and called up state militias. He also declared martial law to blunt the efforts of Senator Clement Vallandigham, the leader of the Copperheads, who wanted to negotiate peace with the Confederacy. Vallandigham was arrested, and a military court sentenced him to spend the rest of the war in prison. In Ex parte Vallandigham, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it had no power over military courts.

Summing Up Student Understanding

To simulate a DBQ, have students use the graph on p. 453, "Comparative Resources, North and South, 1861;" the map on p. 454, "Comparative Transportation Systems, 1860;" and the feature "History and the Land," p. 460, to answer the following essay prompt. If possible, allow them 45 minutes to plan and write the essay, although they will have 15 minutes to read and plan and 45 minutes to write during the real test.
After studying the graphs and maps, write an essay assessing the following statement: The South never had a chance of winning the Civil War. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement and why?

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

You might also find these additional readings useful in developing students' background knowledge or for DBQ activities:

American Issues: Vol. I to 1877, edited by Unger and Tomes—Chapter 16
The Power of Words: Vol. I to 1877, edited by Breen—Chapter 14
Constructing the American Past, Vol. I, edited by Gorn, Roberts, and Bilhartz—Chapter 12
American Experiences: Volume I to 1877, edited by Roberts and Olson (secondary source readings)—Part Seven

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