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Gettysburg National Military Park A fight at close quarters at Gettysburg.
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Gettysburg National Military Park
War for Freedom
The War for Freedom

(Library of Congress)

African American Experiences in the Era of the Civil War

Gettysburg is the best-known and most visited Civil War battlefield. It has become a touchstone for millions of Americans, taking on meanings that go beyond the battlefield and Civil War history. 

The town’s African Americans, who likely understood the causes of the conflict better than any of the town’s residents, have been largely ignored by historians. The stories of these individuals — all free on the eve of war — raise important questions about the African American experience in the Civil War: 

       How did people become free? 

       How did they protect their freedom? 

       How did they expand their freedom? 

       And what, in the end, did it mean to them that the greatest battle in this war for freedom took place in their backyards?

 

 

Curriculum Materials (high bandwidth)

-All Materials (pdf-617kb)

 

 

Curriculum Materials (low bandwidth)

-Explore the Setting (pdf)-241.8k)

- Learning Activities

1. Choose and develop a character.(pdf- 24.9k)

2. What would you do, stay or flee? (pdf- 28.4k)

3. "A new birth of freedom."? (pdf- 14.1k)

4. Long Remember- Postwar (pdf- 11.6k)

 

-Resources

1. African American Bios. (pdf-19k)

2-4. Supplementary Material. (pdf-29k)

5. Mag Palm Account. (pdf-112k)

6. The Gettysburg Address. (pdf-12k)

7. Lincoln on Race Relations. (pdf-12k)

8. Reactions to the Gettysburg Address. (pdf-21k)

9. Contemporary Views of the Lincoln Administration. (pdf-20k)

10. Worksheet. (pdf-13k)

11. Grave diggers at Gettysburg (photo; pdf-43k)

12. Basil Biggs and wife (photo; pdf-69k)

13. Owen Robinson (photo; pdf-66k)

13. John Hopkins (photo; pdf-32k)

 

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Irish Brigade Monument at Gettysburg

Did You Know?
The bronze likeness of an Irish Wolfhound on the Irish Brigade monument at Gettysburg National Military Park symbolizes the loyalty shown for the Union cause by the brigade's soldiers, most of whom were Irish immigrants or sons of immigrants to the United States.

Last Updated: June 05, 2011 at 18:09 MST