Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Teaching the Civil War on the 150th Anniversary


As we approach the 150th anniversary of Gettysburg, it is important to teach about the death and destruction that was waged to ultimately end slavery. Despite the numerous competing interpretations of the American Civil War, Lincoln eloquently argued in his Second Inaugural Address that "One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war." By 1865, over 625,000 soldiers were dead and many more wounded, many cities and towns were leveled, and most importantly, the last American slaves were finally liberated on June 19th, 1865 (Juneteenth).

There are many excellent Civil War resources for teachers on Internet, here are some of the best:
Resource: www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/02/the-civil-war-part-1-the-places/100241/
Resource: www.archives.gov/education/lessons/blacks-civil-war/
Resource: perspectives.jhu.edu/civil-war/
Resource: www.teachinghistory.org/history-content/beyond-the-textbook/23911
Resource: www.pbs.org/civilwar/
Resource: topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/c/civil_war_us/index.html


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