Gettysburg Address

1. A score equals 20. To what year does Lincoln take us back? Why?

2. To what was Lincoln referring to when he says the United States was born "dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal?"

3. According to Lincoln, what is the Civil War testing?

4. What advice does Lincoln give? 

5. According to Lincoln, what might happen if the North loses the Civil War?

Civil War Soldiers

Although historians, teachers, and students concentrate mostly on the major battles of the Civil War, we can learn a great deal by studying smaller battles as well. The Battle of Rivers Bridge was fought in South Carolina on February 2-3, 1865. 

First, read the Surviving on the Battlefield (Reading 1) to find out about Civil War tactics and specifically the Rivers Bridge. Then continue on to letters and reports about the battle and respond to the following questions:

Reading 2:

1. Compare the 2 casualty reports. Why do you think the number of Union casualties was twice the number of Confederate casualties?

2. Compare the number of Confederate casualties estimated by the Union commander compared to the number reported by the Confederate commander. Why do you think accounted for the discrepancy?

Reading 3:

1. Read the memoirs of Sgt. Moore and Captain Wilson. Both reported about the medical treatment received by wounded soldiers during the battle. Describe the medical services given to the Union and Confederate wounded as reported in the two accounts.

2. Read Mrs. Cherry's letter. What was her purpose in writing it?

 

John Brown's Raid

1. Follow the link to the newspaper headline reporting John Brown's seizure of the arsenal at Harpers Ferry. Was the newspaper biased toward either the North or the South? What words or phrases support your idea?

2. There were 5 African-Americans among the 21 men that accompanied John Brown. One of the five, Dangerfield Newby, who died in the raid, wrote about the reason that he participated? Why did Newby join John Brown's group?

3. Click on the link to the drawing of John Brown holding hostages at Harpers Ferry. Do you think the artist admired John Brown or not, based on the drawing? Why or why not?

4. Click on the link to the painting of John Brown being led to his execution. Do you think that the artist admired John Brown or not, based on the drawing? Why or why not?

5. Read the letters submitted by Majala Doyle, Francis Watkins, and Henry David Thoreau. Did they support or oppose John Brown? What is the main idea of each letter?

"A Man Kidnapped"

1. Based on the poster, answer "who, what, when, where," and speculate on "why"

2. What do you think that this poster is about?

3. Where is Faneuil Hall? Is it still there?

Dred Scott: How difficult is it to become a naturalized US citizen?

As you have read, in the 1857  Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Scott, as an African-American, did not have the right to sue (called standing) in a federal court because African-American slaves were not US citizens. Nine years after Dred Scott, the 14th amendment defined citizenship to include everyone born or naturalized in the United States.

How difficult is it to become a naturalized US citizen? Visit the link to read about the  steps to citizenship. Then respond to these two questions:

1. What are the two steps in the process that you consider most essential? Why are they important?

2. What are the two steps that are least important? Why are they not important? 

Seneca Falls Declaration

By basing the Seneca Falls Declaration (also known as the Declaration of Sentiments) on Thomas' Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her fellow reformers challenged the Nation to live up to its original creed.

1. Only 1/3 of the three hundred people at the convention signed the Declaration. Why do you think that the other 200 didn't sign? If you had been there, would you have signed? Why or Why not?

2. Re-read the next to last paragraph. What is the plan to gain equal rights? Is it a good plan? Why or why not?

Click on the link to the political cartoon drawn by Elizabeth M'Clintock, a supporter of women's suffrage.  

1. What do you notice about the figures in the cartoon?

2. What do you think is the cartoonist's message? Explain your answer.

Women's Rights Movement

Read about the early women's rights movement by going to the National Park Service website for the M'Clintock House, where many of the women and men who fought for equal rights met.  In which aspects of life in the early 19th century were women's rights restricted? How did people justify those restrictions?