"A New Birth of Freedom: The Story of Four Americans at Gettysburg"
A Broadcast For Students and Teachers from Gettysburg National Military Park

Pre-Broadcast Activities

Welcome to the Teachers’ Resource for Gettysburg National Military Park’s 2003 Satellite Broadcast, "A New Birth of Freedom: The Story of Four Americans at Gettysburg". The information, activities, and lesson plans below will help you prepare your students, building their anticipation for the broadcast and creating a foundation of knowledge upon which the broadcast will build.

Theme, Goals, and Objectives:

The theme of this year’s broadcast is . . .

President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, delivered at the dedication to the National Cemetery on November 19, 1863, both honored the Gettysburg dead and challenged the living, then and now, to continue the work for a free and democratic nation.

The goal of the broadcast is . . .

to establish connections between the study of history and the lives of students across the country, and to create opportunities for students to better understand the broader meanings of the battles and the Civil War.

The objectives of the broadcast and the pre-broadcast activities are...

After completing the pre-broadcast activities and viewing the broadcast, students will be able to:

Curriculum Standards:

This broadcast addresses several of the National Standards for United States History, the Pennsylvania Department of Education Proposed Academic Standards for History and their Citizenship standards, as well as most states’ formal objectives. The most pertinent are listed.

Below are five lesson plans, designed to prepare students for "A New Birth of Freedom: The Story of Four Americans at Gettysburg" broadcast.

Lesson 1: Causes of the American Civil War

Purpose: To familiarize students with the basic causes of the Civil War.

Procedure: Assign the following reading for homework or have the students read aloud in class. The review questions to follow can be used as a whole class activity, an assignment, or as a quiz.

Vocabulary: compromise, conflict, tariff, state’s rights, slavery, secession

Note: The lesson is merely an overview of the complex politics preceding the Civil War. If time permits in your classroom, assign students (as individuals or in small groups) to research and present one of these issues in greater detail. A reading list is provided on this web site for direction.

Broadcast 2003 Lesson One

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Lesson 2: The Battle of Gettysburg

Purpose: To familiarize students with the landscape features and basic troop movements of the Gettysburg campaign.

Procedure: Print out and assign the following reading and map activities for homework, or as a small group activity in the computer classroom.

Vocabulary: optimal; defeat; converge; flank; obstacle; remnant.

Notes: You may utilize the maps on this website, or visit your school or local library to attain maps of the Gettysburg battlefield that work best for you.

Battle of Gettysburg Maps:

What was happening in the war prior to the spring of 1863? If time permits in your classroom, assign students (as individuals or small groups) to research and present the military campaigns of 1861 and 1862, including the battles of Bull Run, Antietam, and Fredericksburg. Other research topics that will add to the background to the Gettysburg campaign include: the ever-changing generalship of the Union Army of the Potomac, President Lincoln’s issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, and the condition of the Southern home front up to 1863.

Broadcast 2003 Lesson Two

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Lesson 3: Biographies of Four Americans

Purpose:To introduce the four individuals who will be profiled during the broadcast, and contrast their reasons for fighting the war. Also, to establish connections between the students of today, and men who lived and died so long ago.

Procedure: Have your students count off by fours, and assign one of the profiles below for each number. Students should read their soldier’s profile and letter, and try to determine his reasons for fighting in the war. While this is an individual assignment, one person should be selected from each group to present that soldier (or the President) to the entire class. Then, lead a discussion that contrasts the similarities and the differences among these four men, using the discussion questions.

Vocabulary: patriotism, sacrifice, commissary, arbitrary, truce, epistle, furlough, misconstrued, Missouri Compromise, emancipation, paramount, Emancipation Proclamation.

Notes: You can use the battlefield map during the broadcast to locate where each soldier was fighting.
** Make sure to revisit these pages after the broadcast to find out what happened after the battle and the war. **

Broadcast 2003 Lesson Three Discussion Questions

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Lesson 4: After the Battle

Purpose: To have students think about the consequences of battle, its terrible aftermath and destruction, and the reasons for creating a national cemetery.

Procedure: Assign the following reading for homework, or have the students read aloud in class. The review questions to follow can be used as a whole class activity, an assignment, or as a quiz.

Vocabulary: deliquescing, hygienic, repellent, martyrs, oratory, emphatic, transcendental, ideological

Note: This is a moderately difficult read with higher-level thinking discussion questions. Of course, modify the lesson to match your students’ abilities and learning styles. For example, there are photographs, albeit graphic, of the dead on the battlefield as well as the design of the cemetery elsewhere on this website that can help with the presentation of the material.

Broadcast 2003 Lesson Four

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Lesson 5: The Gettysburg Address

Purpose: To provide an open forum regarding the meanings and allusions of key words and specific phrases within the Gettysburg Address, that will lead to a broader discussion about its meaning, symbolism, and impact on society.

Procedure: Hand out copies of the Gettysburg Address. Have students take turns reading the three paragraphs. Afterwards, ask the following questions to make sure students understand the key points in the speech. Other activities related to the Gettysburg Address will be done during the broadcast and questions will be available on this website for post-broadcast discussion.

Broadcast 2003 Lesson Five

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"A New Birth of Freedom: The Story of Four Americans at Gettysburg"

| Overview | Pre-broadcast Activities |
| Evaluation Form | Reading List | Teacher's Guide |

National Park Service
Gettysburg National Military Park
97 Taneytown Road
Gettysburg, PA 17325