Social Studies - United States History I
Lesson Plans

U.S. I Strand 7: THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION

(Ca. 1820-1877)

Trends that started with the earliest colonization of America grew into sectional conflicts, and by the election of Lincoln in 1860 the nation was on the brink of civil war. The war had a profound impact on American society and American identity. Events leading to the war and the heavy toll of the war created a severely fractured America. The period of Reconstruction started the process of mending, but created new controversies as concepts of equality, democracy, and citizenship were redefined. The Civil War era and Reconstruction are important aspects of U.S. history, essential to understanding modern America, including race relations and inequality.

Possible Guiding Questions to Consider:

• Why were efforts at compromise unsuccessful immediately prior to the Civil War?
• What caused a growing number of people in the North to be opposed to slavery?
• Was it necessary and worthwhile to wage a war to preserve the Union?
• What does it take for a brother to take up arms against a brother?
• What forces made Reconstruction so difficult?
• Why does the Civil War remain such a defining event for American identity?
• Why does Lincoln reference ideas in the Declaration of Independence when referring to the Civil War?
• What is the proper way to memorialize controversial events and people?

U.S. I Standard 7.1:

Students will explain how slavery and other geographic, social, economic, and political differences between the North, South, and West led to the Civil War.

• 6 Primary Sources from the American Civil War
  This Lesson plan uses 6 primary sources to teach students about the American Civil War and its impact on American Society.

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