The Civil War
What started the Civil War? Who were the Union and Confederates? What was life like during the 1800s? In this lesson, we learned about the American Civil War, going over topics such as the causes of the Civil War, the Underground Railroad, and the Emancipation Proclamation. From deciphering codes to picking cotton, kids were able to engage in activities and have fun while learning about a pivotal point in American history.
Welcome!
Welcome to the fourth official class in this American Literacy course! We will learn about what the American Civil War was and its importance in American History.
What is a Civil War?
So, what exactly is a civil war?
The term "civil war" means a war between two groups of people living in the same country.
For example, it’s like two people from the same family getting into an argument. Have you ever gotten into an argument with a brother or sister? Well, that is basically what a civil war is like.
American Civil War
Now that we know what a civil war is, what do you think the U.S. Civil War was like?
Why did it Start?
In the 1860s, the northern and southern parts of the United States fought the American Civil War.
The war started after 11 Southern states separated themselves from the United States and formed their own government. The Civil War threatened to break up the United States.
The War happened because the North and the South had very different ideals. There were many political and cultural differences between the two parts of America, and they were divided for many years over the issue of slavery.
Union vs. Confederacy
In the two sides of the Civil War, the North was called the Union while the Southern states were called the Confederate.
The Southern economy was based largely on cotton, which was grown on large farms called plantations. Enslaved African Americans did most of the work on the plantations. Southern states decided to secede
from the United States to protect their right to keep slaves.
The Northern states that stayed loyal to the United States were called the Union. The Northern economy relied more on manufacturing. They wanted to stop the spread of slavery.
Map of the Civil War
This is a map of the states during the American Civil War.
Four states—Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, and Delaware—stayed in the Union even though they allowed slavery. They were called border states.
Significant Figures
Now let’s think about this question. What are some examples of people that were important during the American Civil War?
Military Leaders
Ulysses S. Grant led many Union armies to victory in the American Civil War. He gathered and trained troops for the Union, gained command of all the Union armies, and led many battle victories for the Union. Grant accepted the surrender of Confederate general Robert E. Lee in 1865.
General Robert E. Lee led Southern armies during the American Civil War. Even though his side had fewer soldiers and less money than the Union, he scored many victories. Lee was a hero to Southerners even in defeat.
Clara Barton
When the American Civil War began in 1861, Barton heard that Union soldiers were suffering and dying because there were not enough bandages and other medical supplies. She organized a private agency to buy supplies. Starting in 1862 she herself worked as an unpaid nurse, aiding the wounded where they fell. After the war, she led an effort to track down missing soldiers.
Political Leaders
Jefferson Davis was the first and only president of the Confederate States of America. He took office on February 18, 1861. Davis ordered an attack on Fort Sumter in South Carolina on April 12. The attack began the American Civil War.
Historians see Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, as one of the country’s greatest leaders. During the American Civil War Lincoln promised to save the Union. Known as the Great Emancipator, he also helped end slavery in the United States.
Slavery
The practice of people owning other people is called slavery. Enslaved people have to work for the owners, doing whatever the owners ask them to do.
For enslaved Africans on plantations, the work was always hard. They did not have enough to eat, decent places to live, or good clothes to wear. They could also be sold at any time and separated from their family. Enslaved people had few legal rights. Even if attacked, they could not strike a white person. They could not learn to read or write. In addition, enslaved people could not marry.
The large Southern plantations relied on slave labor to keep the farms running, it was a big factor in their economy, and in some states more than half the people were slaves.
This is a video of a 103-year-old great-grandmother telling how she used to spend 14 hours a day picking cotton on a Georgia farm.
Madie Scott would spend each day between the hours of 3 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the farm picking cotton. She was paid only 50 cents per day for her labor. Though the pay was very little, Scott said she continued on so she could provide a better life for herself and her family.
This shows just how hard it was for the people that were enslaved. They worked the whole day, from morning to night, and had little to no pay and it was very very unfair.
Picking Cotton Activity
During the time, kids had to work as well. They didn’t get time to play or go to school, and most of them had to pick cotton and stand in the fields all day.
Picking cotton was not an easy task. Cotton is actually very sharp and grows closer to the ground. The slaves had to be bent down all day long to pick the cotton which is really bad for their backs.
In this activity, the students were invited to try picking cotton themselves.
Why This Activity?
Could you imagine, being forced to pick cotton all day, taken away from your family, without proper food or water, and not allowed to play or go to school?
Through this activity, students learned just how hard picking cotton was for the slaves.
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg was the turning point of the American Civil War. It was fought over three days—July 1–3, 1863—in Pennsylvania. It was the bloodiest battle of the war and ended in a Union victory.
The site is now preserved as Gettysburg National Military Park. In November 1863, at the dedication of a national cemetery at the battle site, President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address.
Emancipation Proclamation
This document, issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, declared that the enslaved people in the Southern states were free.
The president could not really enforce the proclamation in places that were still controlled by Southern troops. Even so, the proclamation was important because it made the Civil War a fight about slavery.
After the war, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution ended slavery throughout the United States.
What They Ate
Food in the army is not as good as you are used to. Each week, soldiers are given supplies - pork or salted beef, flour or hard bread (called hardtack), beans, peas, coffee, sugar, and salt. Regulations state that they had to boil the meat and vegetables for several hours, so the food did not taste very great.
Everyone was given some cheese biscuits and hardtack to try for themselves.
The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was not an actual railway. Instead, it was a secret organization that existed in the United States before the Civil War. The people of the Underground Railroad helped escaped enslaved people from the South to reach places of safety in the North or in Canada.
Railroad Paths
Here is a map of the paths many people took in the Underground Railroad to escape slavery.
Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery in the southern United States. After she escaped, Tubman became a “conductor” for the Underground Railroad. By 1857, she had made some 13 missions and freed dozens of enslaved people, including her own parents.
During the American Civil War, Tubman went to South Carolina with the Union Army. She served both as a nurse and a spy. She even led raids against the Confederates.
Codewords
The Underground Railroad used railway terms as code words. The routes to freedom were called “lines.” The hiding places on the lines were called “stations.” The people who moved or hid the enslaved people were called “conductors.” The enslaved people themselves were sometimes called “freight.”
Quilt Codes
In addition to codewords, quilts were also used as communication. These quilts were embedded with a kind of code so that by reading the shapes and motifs sewn into the design, an enslaved person on the run could know the area’s immediate dangers or even where to head next.
In addition to using quilt, Underground Railroad code was also used in songs sung by slaves to communicate among each other without their masters being aware.
If a slave heard the song in the video, they would know that they had to be ready to escape. A "band of angels" are coming to take them to freedom. The Underground Railroad (sweet chariot) is coming south (swing low) to take the slave to the north or freedom (carry me home).
By March 1865, Lee was very short of men and supplies. On April 3 Grant captured Richmond, the Confederate capital. He accepted Lee’s surrender in Appomattox, Virginia, on April 9. By the end of May, all Confederate armies had surrendered.
After the war, the defeated states were gradually allowed back into the United States. The South rebuilt damaged property and changed its economy so it no longer depended on the labor of enslaved people. This period was known as Reconstruction. It lasted until the last U.S. troops left the South in April 1877.
Click the above image to purchase the escape room.
Escape Room Activity
After learning about the American Civil War, we had one last activity. Students worked with table groups, using the new knowledge they gained in the lesson to solve this escape room.
End of the War
Photos of our Class
Click the arrow to scroll through images of the day. Click on any one photo to see it in full frame.
