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Primary
Duke University

Duke University Special Collections Library: Alice Williamson Diary

For Students 9th - 10th
"Wonder what it would have been like to have been 16 when the Union Army attacked?" Find out from this first hand account. Alice Williamson's diary and some background on her life is given at this site. Hyperlinks to additional information.
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Primary
University of Michigan

Making of America: The Spirit of the South Towards Northern Freemen and Soldiers

For Students 9th - 10th
The full text of a William Lloyd Garrison's compilation of newspaper articles and letters of Southerners railing against the North in the Civil War. There is no commentary, only the primary source documents.
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Website
Virginia Historical Society

Virginia Historical Society: Surviving War: The Home Front

For Students 9th - 10th
An online exhibition that looks at what life was like for Virginians under military occupation. Many of them became refugees rather than stay while Union troops invaded their lands, stealing crops, burning fields, and taking over homes.
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Website
Virginia Historical Society

Virginia Historical Society: The Home Front: How Did Civilians Suffer?

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes the many hardships that citizens, no matter what their status, faced in Virginia during the Civil War. One town, Winchester, switched hands about seventy-two times during the war. Many people lost loved ones, as well as their...
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Website
University of Virginia

Hearts at Home: Southern Women in the Civil War

For Students 9th - 10th
Uses primary sources to document the role of Southern women in the Civil War.
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Unit Plan
The Newberry Library

Newberry Library: Home Front: The Visual Culture of the Civil War North

For Students 9th - 10th
Lesson using primary resources examines the ways in which images shaped the meaning of the war for people at home and the meaning of the home during wartime.
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Handout
Civil War Home

Home of the American Civil War: Benjamin Butler's New Orleans "Woman's Order"

For Students 9th - 10th
How did women display their distaste and anger about the Union occupation of New Orleans? Read about how their behavior forced Gen. Butler's to issue orders on how they should be treated. From "Historical Times Encyclopedia of the Civil...
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Handout
Georgia Humanities Council and the University of Georgia Press.

New Georgia Encyclopedia: Women During the Civil War

For Students 9th - 10th
Article that takes a look at the role of women in the South during the American Civil War especially in Georgia.
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Handout
Other

History Buff: How the South Gathered News During the Civil War

For Students 9th - 10th
This article explains how Southern newspapers joined forces and established the Press Association as a way to cover the Civil War for these newspapers.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Southern Homefront

For Students 5th - 8th
Life in the Confederacy during the Civil War was one of shortages. Read about the shortages of food, and the unstable currency which resulted in rampant inflation. Women's roles expanded in many fields. See what occurred when the draft...
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Lesson Plan
Texas State Historical Association

Texas State Historical Association: Civil War on the Home Front [Pdf]

For Teachers 4th - 8th
An activity guide where students refer to the Texas Almanac, which is free to download, for information needed to complete assigned tasks. In this lesson, they research what life was like on the home front in Texas during the Civil War.
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Primary
University of North Carolina

Documenting the South: The Southern Homefront

For Students 9th - 10th
Diaries and Personal Correspondence from Southerners during the Civil War provided by the University of North Carolina. An excellent collection of primary source documents for your study of everyday Southern life during the Civil War era.
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Website
TexasHistory.com

Texas history.com: The Home Front: Life in Texas During the Civil War

For Students 9th - 10th
Looks at what life was like in Texas during the Civil War. Discusses the issue of slavery, military conscription, frontier defense, the role of women, the role of slaves, how the blockade affected exports to the South, and the...
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Handout
Other

Civil War News: Roswell Women Exiled

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from The Civil War News discusses the story of the women of Georgia's Roswell mills who were forced from their homes and jobs during the American Civil War. The factories which employed these women were destroyed, and as a...