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Lesson Plan

A Nation Divided: High School Lesson Plan

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park

Grade Level:

High School: Ninth Grade through Twelfth Grade

Subject:

Social Studies

Lesson Duration:

90 Minutes

Common Core Standards:

11-12.RH.1, 11-12.RH.2, 11-12.RH.3, 11-12.RH.6, 11-12.RH.7, 11-12.RH.8, 11-12.WHST.9

State Standards:

Georgia SSUSH8e and L11-12RHSS1, L11-12WHSST1

Thinking Skills:

Remembering: Recalling or recognizing information ideas, and principles. Understanding: Understand the main idea of material heard, viewed, or read. Interpret or summarize the ideas in own words. Applying: Apply an abstract idea in a concrete situation to solve a problem or relate it to a prior experience. Evaluating: Make informed judgements about the value of ideas or materials. Use standards and criteria to support opinions and views.

Essential Question

a. How does conflict within a society result in change?
b. How did tension over slavery grow through legal decisions and violent rebellions and raids?

Objective

a. Students will compare similarities and differences between two primary documents from the Dred Scott trials.
b. Students will identify the conflicts between the North and South and explain how these led to the Civil War.
c. Students will create a visual arts piece by applying at least 3 facts about the Election of 1860 and weaving with their own alternative to secession.

Background

Tensions grew for many years before the first shots rang out at Fort Sumter, signaling the beginning of the Civil War. There was a clear division between the north and the south's perspectives of this young country.

Slavery was a big reason for this tension. People in the North held many different opinions about African Americans. However, most of them agreed slavery was unacceptable. They thought the act of owning people of African descent would slowly fade away as industrialization expanded in the new nation. People in the South, on the other hand, also held many different opinions about African Americans. However, most of them agreed slavery was necessary to keep their economy running. Without slavery, they thought, their Southern way of life would not last. Industrialization for the South came in the form of the cotton gin in 1794. This invention, people thought, increased the need for slaves to work plantations. 

When the federal government stepped in on North's side in regards to slavery, Southern states put up a fight. They felt the federal government was overstepping its authority and could not interfere in matters of individual states. This began a long, tedious process of many negotiations and compromises. The federal government tried desperately to keep the peace and ensure the union stayed together. However, when Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860, the South knew they had lost the political fight. The South's political leaders decided the only way to keep what they perceived as their rights, their culture, and their economy was to become their own country.

Preparation

Teachers can choose individual or all activities depending on their goals, available time, and their students. It is important to read through all the material and webpages before beginning the activities. 

Lesson Hook/Preview

Students in high school U.S history have explored the American Civil War in both elementary and middle school. The activities in this lesson plan allow the students to dig deeper into the tensions that split the nation emotionally and physically. Before digging, however, teachers should engage students in a review of the events that led to the war. A suggestion for a review game is below.
 

1. Divide the class evenly into four groups. 
2. Explain each student in the group will have a turn to roll dice. The total number on the dice corresponds to a review question about the events that led to the Civil War. This will help your teacher know how much review needs to occur before digging into the meat of the lessons. (Bonus: Use a roll playing di that provides up to 20 numbers instead of the regular 12.)
3. Explain the group can work together to determine one collaborative answer. A correct answer scores a point. An incorrect answer earns zero points. The next group gets the chance to "steal" the answer from the previous group, as well as roll for their own question. The group that earned an incorrect answer must write that question and answer in their notebook. (Encourage all students to do this for any questions they may not know.)
4. Provide a prize for the winning group. This could be an extra point on their Civil War test, a get out of class 5 minutes early pass, or a no homework day pass.
5. When the groups are ready, the game begins. Possible questions are below:
   1. Who were the two sides in the American Civil War?
   2. Who was the U.S President during the American Civil War?
   3. What was one of the major causes of the American Civil War?
   4. What is the difference between a territory and a state?
   5. How did the U.S government legally determine whether or not slavery was permitted in a new state?
   6. Who owned much of the northern plain states in the early 1800s?
   7. Who owned much of the western states including California and Texas in the early 1800s?
   8. What was the Compromise of 1850?
   9. What was an abolitionist?
   10. Who was Dred Scott?
   11. Who was John Brown?
   12. What was popular sovereignty?

Procedure

Activity 1 - Kansas-Nebraska Act and Popular Sovereignty

1. Watch the NPS video Causes of the Civil War. During the timestamps 6:30 - 11:00, Ranger Young discusses the Kansas-Nebraska Act and Bleeding Kansas.
2. Watch the NPS video Bleeding Kansas. During this 4 minute video, a ranger from Fort Scott National Historic Site presents in front of the free and free state hotels in Kansas. 
3. Assign students to practice, then perform, different sections of Abraham Lincoln's Peoria Speech. In this speech, Lincoln objects both the Kansas-Nebraska Act and popular sovereignty. 
4. Engage in a discussion with the students. Possible questions are:
   1. Why was it called Bleeding Kansas?
   2. What were some positives about popular sovereignty? some challenges?
   3. What was Lincoln's perspective on these latest rulings over state status?
   4. How was the status vote in these two territories a foreshadow of what was to come?

Activity 2 - Which Side in the Dred Scott Case?

1. Review the information about the Dred Scott Case with the students. Explain they will now analyze two editorials supporting different sides of the case.
2. Provide the students with an editorial from the Enquirer in Richmond, Virginia, dated March 10, 1857. The editorial is found at the linked Library of Congress page, the second image on the top of the first column. 
3. Also, provide the students with an editorial from the Gazette in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, dated March 7, 1857. The editorial is found at the linked Pennsylvania Newspaper Archive page, the second image on the top of the second column. 
4. Pass out (or send) the Dred Scott Editorials Activity (see materials section) to the students. This will help students closely analyze and compare each document for the authors' perspectives and hidden motives. Decide whether students should work independently or in groups. Either way, walk around and observe work to check for understanding.

Activity 3: Lasting Effects at Harpers Ferry

1. Review John Brown and the Raid on Harper's Ferry with the students. 
2. Read the NPS article "I had rather die than be a slave" from Harpers Ferry National Historic Park. This article highlights the raiders who fought with John Brown during the raid.
3. Explore the students "aha" or "really?!" moments within this article. Possibilites may be that two women were involved in the raid or several black men fought with John Brown or how the captured raiders were treated by the townspeople. How do these moments support emotions that led to the war?
4. Read the NPS article "Harpers Ferry Armed to the Teeth." This article highlights quotes from local townspeople praising the militia who protected them. It also explains how John Brown's raid woke up the town to prepare for potential other "John Brown events."
5. Engage in a discussion with the students. Possible questions are:
   1. Why did the South believe there would be other "John Brown" events?
   2. Do you think it was wise to prepare for these potential events? What do you prepare for now that is similar to what these townspeople did?
   3. What does the phrase "Well, I'll be John Brown" mean?

Activity 4: Election to Secession

1. Watch the NPS video Causes of the Civil War. During the timestamps 18:30 - 19:50, Ranger Young reviews the candidates and their parties during the 1860 election.
2. Read the NPS article "Secession: Why Lincoln Feared it was the End of Democracy." This article highlights Lincoln's perspective of a crumbling union. If the nation wasn't able to stay together or if the North lost the war, he feared democracy would never stand a chance again. The world was watching and he was determined to get it right.
3. Read the Secession in Georgia article from the Evening Star published January 21, 1861 (second page, top of fourth column). Georgia followed suit with Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana to dissolve their association with the U.S just after Abraham Lincoln was announced the president. This article displays the full adopted ordinance.
4. Engage in a discussion with the students. Possible questions are:
   1. Do you think it was fair that Abraham Lincoln's name didn't appear on ballots in the South?
   2. Do you think secession was a justifiable reaction to this election?
   3. What pressures did Lincoln have to keep the union together?
5. Instruct the students to write a visual arts piece as a response to the nation. They will assume the role as Abraham Lincoln who was just elected president and learned that several states consequently seceeded. The visual arts piece could be a poster, song, poem, or art display. All background information within the piece must be factual while the message to the nation should be the student's own.

Assessment Materials

Ticket Out the Door

Preparation: Place three small tupperwares on a table near the door. Label one tupperware, "I got it right!" Label the second tupperware, "I missed that one." Fill the third tupperware with small objects of the same size. Objects could be marbles, pencil top erasers, or googly craft eyes.

End class 5 minutes before the bell to allow students to clean up the area. During this time, announce a question to the class. The question should be regarding the main theme of the chosen activity for the period. Students must think of the answer in their minds. Instruct them not to share with anyone. Toward the end of the period, announce the answer. 

Instruct students to do the following as they exit the classroom. If they got the question correct, place one of the objects in the "I got it right!" tupperware. If they got the question wrong, place one of the objects in the "I missed that one" tupperware. When all students are gone, make note of the percentage of students who got it right and dump the objects back into the main tupperware for the next class. 

This is a quick and easy way to assess whether the students grasped the main concept or if you need to reteach some items the next day. 

 

Additional Resources

Example Student Video Podcasts:

The Election of 1860 - Middle School vodcasts made with Harpers Ferry National Historical Park.

Related NPS Articles: 

Missouri Compromise
Compromise of 1850
Election of Lincoln - Link includes audio clips of an NPS ranger explaining the election!
South Carolina Secedes

Mississippi Secedes 
Florida Secedes
Creation of the Confederate States of America 
Firing on Fort Sumter 

Related Lessons or Education Materials

Other lesson in this series from Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park:
A Nation Divided: Elementary School Lesson
A Nation Divided: Middle School Lesson
War Has Been Declared: Elementary Lesson
War Has Been Declared: Middle School Lesson

Other lessons about the Civil War from Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park:
Pack Like a Soldier Virtual Program
Civilian War Experience: Battle of Kennesaw Mountain
What Would You Do? Plotting and Planning Strategies of the Civil War

Other NPS Lessons about the Causes of the Civil War:
Dred Scott (H)our History Lesson from NPS' Teaching with Historic Places
Election Year 1860 Distance Learning program from Lincoln Home National Historic Site

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