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New York Historical Society: New York Divided Slavery and the Civil War
Visit this virtual museum exhibit to learn about New York City's divided opinions about slavery before and during the Civil War. There are three themes covered: Pro-Southern City, Fighting Slavery, and Civil War. Students use a...
University of Illinois
University of Illinois: Modern American Poetry: About the Spanish Civil War
An extensive resource covering many aspects of the Spanish Civil War. First read an overview of the conflict before looking at the many primary sources related to the war.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: African American Communities in the North Before the Civil War
In this lesson plan, students will consider "African-American Communities in the North Before the Civil War." The plan includes worksheets and other student materials that can be found under the resource tab.
Read Works
Read Works: Slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction Slavery in the Territories
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about the Congressional disagreements about slavery in the territories before the Civil War. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Before Brother Fought Brother
A lesson plan that addresses the "complex series of events" leading to the Civil War. Through this lesson, students will "gain an appreciation of everyday life in the North and South, changes occurring, and some of the major social and...
US National Archives
Docsteach: What Else Was Happening During the Civil War Era?
The years leading up to, during, and following the Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877) are most often remembered for the tension between North and South, the question of slavery, President Lincoln, and social and political changes...
A&E Television
History.com: How the Us Civil War Inspired Women to Enter Nursing
Before the American Civil War, the majority of hospital nurses or "stewards" were men. But the war created a medical crisis that demanded more volunteers, and a lot of the people who took up the call were women. Amid this desperate need...
Bartleby
Bartleby.com: Pronunciation Before the Civil War
From H.L. Mencken's "The American Language," this site examines Webster's contribution to the study of language and spelling in the United States. Covers the history of Webster's works and summarizes his philosophy and advocacy for...
Other
Student Historical Journal 1984 1985: Women's Rights Before the Civil War [Pdf]
Read an overview of the pre-Civil War women's rights movement in a student essay in an historical journal from Loyola University. Find out about specific activists prominent during this time period and learn about their attempts to...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Factory vs. Plantation in the North and South
This lesson helps young scholars study life in the United States in the years before the Civil War. Students will gain a better understanding of why people grew willing to fight to defend their way of life. Many of the documents young...
Immigration and Ethnic History Society
Iehs: Katherine S. Carper, "Difficulty of Studying "Immigrants" in Early 19th C"
This article focuses on the study of immigrants in the early 19th century before the Civil War. Migration policy was primarily under state rather than federal control, and as long as slavery existed, there was no national definition of...
American Battlefield Trust
American Battlefield Trust: Civil War: North and South: Different Cultures, Same Country
The Civil War that raged across the nation from 1861 to 1865 was the violent conclusion to decades of diversification. Gradually, throughout the beginning of the nineteenth century, the North and South followed different paths,...
Lone Star Junction
Lone Star Junction: Notable Texans Before 1900
Lone Star Junction identifies an extensive list of high-profile Texans prior to 1900. A chart informs readers what general role in Texas history each person was involved in from Texas Revolution, Indian Wars, Civil War, and the...
Virginia Historical Society
Virginia Historical Society: Lee and Grant
A retrospective of the two greatest generals of the Civil War, Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant. A side-by-side comparison of the two icons before, during, and after the war.
Other
Eng 223: American Literature Before 1865
Online syllabus for a college Pre-Civil War American Literature class with links to information about each class lesson. These lessons contain some good teaching ideas and background information about a number of famous authors, much of...
War Times Journal
War Times Journal: Memoirs: William T. Sherman
Several chapters taken from General Sherman's memoirs covering the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862. He provides a leadership view of the actions of General Ulysses S. Grant before, during and after the battle.
Henry J. Sage
Sage American History: General William T. Sherman on War, 1864
Primary source full text of letter written by General William T. Sherman and sent to Atlanta mayor, James M. Calhoun, with a directive to evacuate all civilians from the city before Sherman's troops moved in.
Ohio History Central
Ohio History Central: Radical Republicans
A good description of the beginnings of the Republican Party before the Civil War, and the transformation to Radical Republicanism during Reconstruction as they attempted to guarantee equal rights for African Americans. Information is...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: Segregation
Steven Lawson, Professor of History at Rutgers, explores how racial segreagation changed from before the Civil War up to the 1950s and the differences in segregation between the North and the South. Students should understand the legacy...
New York Public Library
African American Migration Experience: The Northern Migration
This article explores the reasons African Americans left the South and migrated north both before and after the Civil War, and many aspects of what their lives were like.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Life in North & South 1847 1861: Before Brother Fought Brother
The five lessons in this unit are designed to help students develop a foundation on which to understand the basic disagreements between North and South through the investigation of primary source documents, photographs, and census...
Smithsonian Institution
National Portrait Gallery: Mathew Brady's Portraits
Exhibition of photographic portraits taken by Civil War-era photographer Mathew Brady, who made portraits of many illustrious Americans on both sides of the conflict before, during, and after the war. Includes an animated explanation of...
Other
Nutrias Online Exhibits: The World of Francois Lacroix
Traces the life of the richest black man in New Orleans before the Civil War and after.
Other
Stratford Hall Plantation: General Robert E. Lee
This biography of Robert E. Lee is part of a larger site about the Lee family plantation, Stratford Hall. Read about his personal life before and after the war. Included are links to his farewell address and information about the horses...