JeffBrooks
2nd Lieutenant
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2009
- Location
- Hutto, TX
I've reached the point in the school year where I am teaching my 8th grade class Unit 10, otherwise known as the Civil War. I thought it might be an interesting exercise to post my thoughts day-by-day as we go through the unit.
First, let me start by quoting the state-mandated requirements:
We've spent the last two weeks discussing the causes of the war. They had already learned about the Missouri Compromise and the overall reality of slavery in earlier units. We started with a few lessons about the rise of abolitionism in the North, with Frederick Douglass and his escape to freedom receiving particular attention. Then, one-by-one, we went through Nat Turner's Revolt, the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska Acts, Bleeding Kansas, the Dred Scott decision, the Raid on Harper's Ferry, and the election of 1860. They also learned about Lincoln's life up to 1860.
Today was the first day of the Civil War unit. I started by covering the secession of the seven Southern states and the Montgomery Convention, telling the students the details of Jefferson Davis's birth, upbringing, and education, and a brief personality profile. One student commented that Davis was like Andrew Jackson, just rich and with an education. I talked about the respective inaugural address of Davis and Lincoln and had the students read excerpts from Lincoln's speech. We discussed what Lincoln meant by the "mystic chords of memory" and the "better angels of our nature".
We discussed why it was important to Lincoln that federal property in the South be protected, while it was equally important to the South that such facilities be taken. When I told the story of Lincoln sending a supply ship to Fort Sumter, without weapons, one student compared it to how President Polk sparked the Mexican War by sending troops to the Rio Grande, although the student thought Lincoln's move was simply clever while Polk's was just greedy. I talked about the firing on Fort Sumter and the students expressed astonishment that no one was hurt.
We went over which states were in the Confederacy, which in the Union, and which were the Border States. I took time out to mention that many Southerners remained loyal to the Union and briefly mentioned George Thomas. We discussed how the Confederates moved their capital to Richmond, with many students asking why on earth they would move their capital so close to Northern territory.
We then went into a discussion about the respective advantages of the two warring sides, how the Union's manpower, industrial, and naval superiority was pitted against the fact that the South was fighting a defensive war and initially had a population more adapted to military life. There was a discussion about whether the slaves would fight for the South, with every class (and especially my African-American students) overwhelmingly deciding that the thought was absurd.
We ended the lesson with a brief discussion of First Bull Run, and the students thought it was hilarious that people actually came out from Washington with picnic baskets to watch the battle. I mentioned how the battle initially seemed to be going in the Union's favor, until the Confederate defense rallied behind Stonewall Jackson's brigade (mentioning how he got his nickname and telling the students that we will soon learn more about him) and ended the lesson with everyone realizing that the war was not going to be quick or easy.
Any thoughts or observations would be appreciated. Tomorrow, I am teaching about Robert E. Lee and the early stages of the war in the Eastern Theater.
First, let me start by quoting the state-mandated requirements:
The student understands individuals, issues, and events of the Civil War. The student is expected to:
(A) explain the roles played by significant individuals during the Civil War, including Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, and Abraham Lincoln, and heroes such as congressional Medal of Honor recipients William Carney and Philip Bazaar;
(B) explain the causes of the Civil War, including sectionalism, states' rights, and slavery, and significant events of the Civil War, including the firing on Fort Sumter; the battles of Antietam, Gettysburg, and Vicksburg; the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation; Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House; and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln; and
(C) analyze Abraham Lincoln's ideas about liberty, equality, union, and government as contained in his first and second inaugural addresses and the Gettysburg Address and contrast them with the ideas contained in Jefferson Davis's inaugural address.
We've spent the last two weeks discussing the causes of the war. They had already learned about the Missouri Compromise and the overall reality of slavery in earlier units. We started with a few lessons about the rise of abolitionism in the North, with Frederick Douglass and his escape to freedom receiving particular attention. Then, one-by-one, we went through Nat Turner's Revolt, the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska Acts, Bleeding Kansas, the Dred Scott decision, the Raid on Harper's Ferry, and the election of 1860. They also learned about Lincoln's life up to 1860.
Today was the first day of the Civil War unit. I started by covering the secession of the seven Southern states and the Montgomery Convention, telling the students the details of Jefferson Davis's birth, upbringing, and education, and a brief personality profile. One student commented that Davis was like Andrew Jackson, just rich and with an education. I talked about the respective inaugural address of Davis and Lincoln and had the students read excerpts from Lincoln's speech. We discussed what Lincoln meant by the "mystic chords of memory" and the "better angels of our nature".
We discussed why it was important to Lincoln that federal property in the South be protected, while it was equally important to the South that such facilities be taken. When I told the story of Lincoln sending a supply ship to Fort Sumter, without weapons, one student compared it to how President Polk sparked the Mexican War by sending troops to the Rio Grande, although the student thought Lincoln's move was simply clever while Polk's was just greedy. I talked about the firing on Fort Sumter and the students expressed astonishment that no one was hurt.
We went over which states were in the Confederacy, which in the Union, and which were the Border States. I took time out to mention that many Southerners remained loyal to the Union and briefly mentioned George Thomas. We discussed how the Confederates moved their capital to Richmond, with many students asking why on earth they would move their capital so close to Northern territory.
We then went into a discussion about the respective advantages of the two warring sides, how the Union's manpower, industrial, and naval superiority was pitted against the fact that the South was fighting a defensive war and initially had a population more adapted to military life. There was a discussion about whether the slaves would fight for the South, with every class (and especially my African-American students) overwhelmingly deciding that the thought was absurd.
We ended the lesson with a brief discussion of First Bull Run, and the students thought it was hilarious that people actually came out from Washington with picnic baskets to watch the battle. I mentioned how the battle initially seemed to be going in the Union's favor, until the Confederate defense rallied behind Stonewall Jackson's brigade (mentioning how he got his nickname and telling the students that we will soon learn more about him) and ended the lesson with everyone realizing that the war was not going to be quick or easy.
Any thoughts or observations would be appreciated. Tomorrow, I am teaching about Robert E. Lee and the early stages of the war in the Eastern Theater.