National Endowment for the Humanities
Women's Lives Before the Civil War
Women's lifestyles before the Civil War made a huge impact as a point of causation. Give middle schoolers the opportunity to view firsthand the lives of women before the Civil War. They analyze primary source documents, view photographs,...
Bill of Rights Institute
Economics of the North and South Before the Civil War
How did economic issues lead to war? Viewers watch an AP review video to examine one of the main causes of the American Civil War, the Tariff of Abominations. They examine the issues concerning the economies of the North and South prior...
Curated OER
The Civil War: A Nation Divided
Discuss the differences between the North and the South and how those differences led to the Civil War. Middle schoolers examine and analyze a famous speech or writing by President Lincoln in order to better understand the speaker's...
PBS
Free, but Not Free: Life of Free Blacks Before the Civil War
Using the family stories of a famous comedian and singer-songwriter, learners consider what life was like for African Americans who were enslaved and free before the Civil War. To complete a concluding activity, they write about the...
National Endowment for the Humanities
African-American Communities in the North Before the Civil War
Middle schoolers may be surprised to learn that before the American Civil War there were more slaves living in New York than there were in Kentucky! Young historians examine maps and census data to gather statistics about...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Life Before the Civil War
American life before the Civil War was very different from American life today. To show this difference in a full spectrum, learners compare two communities that illustrate the differences between Northern and Southern life. Throughout...
Curated OER
African American Women Before and After the Civil War: Slavery and Freedom
Students listen to data on African American women in Texas before the Civil War. In this Civil War instructional activity, students compare and contrast the lives of slave and free women, and discuss case studies, locating areas on a...
National Endowment for the Humanities
People and Places in the North and South
North and South: two opposite directions and two opposite economic and social systems in time of the Civil War. Pupils peruse census websites and primary source photographs to understand what life was like for the everyday person before...
PBS
Civil War: Blacks on the Battlefield
Imagine a war being fought to free slaves, with slaves on the front line. Scholars use primary documents, videos, and research in the second installment of a three-part series to guide their analysis of the first African-Americans on the...
Civil War Trust
The Gathering Storm: The Coming of the Civil War
Take a longer look at a formative time in history with a lesson that explores the causes of the American Civil War. After viewing a series of images and explanations for various forces at play, middle schoolers choose the images that...
Curated OER
Civil War Photography Worksheet
Prepare your class for analyzing Civil War photography with this worksheet. Have your class research online about Matthew Brady as well as view several of Alexander Gardner's Civil War photos and read critical analysis of his work. Class...
Stanford University
Civil War Photographs
One of the first photographed images of the Civil War give historians a glimpse of the realities of war. By viewing images from the war—including pictures of those killed in the bloodiest battles—learners experience the war's impact...
American Battlefield Trust
The Common Civil War Soldier
If it were possible to step back in time, what would learners want to know about the Civil War? With the aid of discussion prompts, they now have that chance. Invite a Civil War re-enactor to your classroom and have all their questions...
Curated OER
African-American Communities in the North Before the Civil War
Students examine what life was like in free African-American communities before the Civil War. They analyze maps, identify elements of everyday life in these communities, explore various websites, and complete a chart.
Core Knowledge Foundation
The Civil War
A unit covers many aspects of the Civil War. Over six weeks, fifth graders delve deep into the history of slavery, the Civil War—before, during, and after—Abraham Lincoln, women's contributions, the Emancipation Proclamation, and...
Civil War Trust
Contrasting the North and South before the War
Learners create a standing cube with four panels that display information on the North and South's economy, geography and climate, society, and means of transportation before the Civil War. Through discussion and reading informational...
Curated OER
Civil War Timeline
Seventh graders identify the major events before, during and after the Civil War. In groups, they use the events to create a timeline and research the figures and places involved in their specific event. They present their information to...
Curated OER
Civil War Scouting
Students complete a webquest that focuses on the basic causes and major events of the Civil War. They answer a series of questions each having an Internet link to a reading that provides clues for the answer.
Curated OER
Forty Acres? The Question of Land at the War's End
Should land be redistributed to former slaves after the Civil War? This essential question guides a lesson on the Reconstruction Era, as learners analyze primary sources (linked), recording responses on a worksheet (linked). To model the...
University of California
The Civil War: Emancipation
Investigate and analyze Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation using primary and secondary sources. The sixth installment of an eight-part series analyzes the meaning of Lincoln's document in relation to its impact on the Civil War.
PBS
Civil War: Before the War
Free the slaves! Scholars research primary documents and videos while working together to create abolitionist posters. They examine the John Brown raid as a template to creating their own demonstration.
Curated OER
Civil War Photojournalism: A Record of War
Students view photographs of the Civil War. For this photojournalism lesson, students look at Mathew Brady's photographs of the Civil War. They discover the evolution of photographic equipment and analyze Civil War photographs.
Curated OER
Homer's Civil War Veteran: Battlefield to Wheat Field
Students examine Civil War-themed artwork. In this visual arts lesson, students compare and contrast paintings by Winslow Homer and Timothy O'Sullivan. Students analyze the symbolism in the artwork representing Civil War veterans and...
Curated OER
African Americans after the Civil War
Students explore the events of Reconstruction after the Civil War. In this US History lesson, students complete several activities and worksheets that reinforce challenges and social upheaval experienced in the South after the Civil War.