Comments about Civil War instruction

This term I'm teaching students about the Civil War and Reconstruction and we will be covering all aspects of these standards:  

Georgia Standards - 5th Grade American History

 SS5H1 The student will explain the causes, major events, and consequences of the Civil War. 

a. Identify Uncle Tom’s Cabin and John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry, and explain how each of these events was related to the Civil War. 

b. Discuss how the issues of states’ rights and slavery increased tensions between the North and South. 

c. Identify major battles and campaigns: Fort Sumter, Gettysburg, the Atlanta Campaign, Sherman’s March to the Sea, and Appomattox Court House. 

d. Describe the roles of Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Jefferson Davis, and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. 

e. Describe the effects of war on the North and South. 

SS5H2 The student will analyze the effects of Reconstruction on American life. 

a. Describe the purpose of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. 

b. Explain the work of the Freedmen’s Bureau. 

c. Explain how slavery was replaced by sharecropping and how African-Americans were prevented from exercising their newly won rights; include a discussion of Jim Crow laws and customs. 

We have a specific pacing and it is a challenge to cover the last 213 years (1800-present) of American history in one school year.  Additionally, students have presented me with unique questions and I truly wish I could spend more time helping them to explore their inquiries a little further.  It is my goal to not just teach facts but to also equip students with the skills they need to discuss and analyze these events from multiple viewpoints.  

That being said, I've attached some document and website links for students and families to explore if they want to extend learning at home. 

Civil War

Sherman's March

Women in the Civil War

Civil War Fact Sheet (document)

Confederate States

Civil War Documents (Sewanee University)

Selected Civil War Photographs (Library of Congress)

Reconstruction
Reconstruction (University of Houston Digital History site)

Sharecropping & 40 Acres and a Mule

African American Leaders During Reconstruction

(please check this blog posting periodically... I will be adding new sites between now and the end of the term)