Civil War

Students will use primary documents to determine the views and dreams of freedmen in the Exoduster migration to Kansas using a photo of an Exoduster family in NE, the Kansas Emigrant Song, and NARAs document analysis form.

Students will utilize Google Earth to build a route map of a participant in the Border War between Missouri and Kansas, noting stops and events along their path in the war.

Get student to make connections between documents and history using Civil War primary sources.

To help students understand that while political party affiliation often has a profound impact upon Congressional voting, geographic considerations especially during the antebellum era can have an even bigger impact.

In this lesson students will work in teams to create a time line of raids during the Border War before watching the movie Ride with the Devil to learn information about the Missouri-Kansas Border War.

The students will analyze editorial cartoons created in the context of the Election of 1860. Students will use the primary sources to identify the major issues of this election and how those issues shaped the elections outcome.

Students must understand the progression of events in the 1850s to comprehend how difficult it became to reconcile differing opinions in the nation over slavery, states rights, and territorial expansion. Chronological analysis and cause/effect are both important skills for students to master prior to the national Advanced Placement United States History exam.

To show students that the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the effects of John Brown's raid and other raids along the border.

Through this lesson students will be able to make a more personal connection to history, they will come to understand the deep wounds that resulted from the conflict, and they will be able to discern the lasting effects of the conflict.

I want students to understand that constitutional interpretation, particularly in matters concerning war powers, is an ambiguous process. Students will gain better understanding of what the Constitution has to say about war powers, as well as increasing their understanding of the Civil War.  They will also practice presenting their findings to others.