+
Handout
Digital Public Library of America

Dpla: American Civil War: African American Lives

For Students 9th - 10th
Collection of digital resources gathered from public libraries, archives, and museums about African American lives in the Civil War. Here you can discover the variety of African American experiences of the Civil War.
+
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs: Music, Slavery and the Civil War

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
This lesson could serve as the basis of a curriculum unit on slavery and/or the Civil War. Spirituals are analyzed, especially their cultural implications.
+
Website
Other

Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War: Emancipation Proclamation

For Students 9th - 10th
Authors track the sentiments of Lincoln toward slavery from his pre-Civil War years through the Civil War. Site menu bar provides hyperlinks to information on the many facets of the Emancipation Proclamation.
+
Article
Scholastic

Scholastic: New York Times Upfront: The Civil War: Ten Things You Should Know

For Students 9th - 10th
Article written on the 150th anniversary of Fort Sumter, the beginning of the American Civil War, in which the author presents little known Civil War facts about topics such as, Americans during that time, slavery, new technologies,...
+
Graphic
Other

Vox: 37 Maps That Explain the American Civil War

For Students 9th - 10th
April 1865 was a momentous month in American history. On April 9, the Confederate army under Robert E. Lee surrendered to the Union forces of Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the Civil War. Then on April 14, the victorious President...
+
Handout
The History Cat

The History Cat: Countdown to Civil War

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes the events leading up to the start of the American Civil War. Looks at clashes between pro- and anti-slavery groups, the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the fight over California, the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act,...
+
Article
A&E Television

History.com: How Black Women Fought for Civil War Pensions and Benefits

For Students 9th - 10th
In a time when military pensions were a large part of the federal budget, Black women faced unique challenges in securing compensation. Widows of Civil War soldiers could begin applying to the Bureau of Pensions during the war, and one...
+
Lesson Plan
US National Archives

Docsteach: What Else Was Happening During the Civil War Era?

For Teachers 5th - 8th
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...
+
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...
+
Article
A&E Television

History.com: How Civil War Medicine Led to America's First Opioid Crisis

For Students 9th - 10th
During the Civil War, military hospitals considered opioids to be essential medicine. Doctors and nurses used opium and morphine to treat soldiers' pain, stop internal bleeding and mitigate vomiting and diarrhea caused by infectious...
+
Handout
Civil War Home

Home of the American Civil War: The Kansas Nebraska Act

For Students 9th - 10th
Provides information on the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the consequences of its passing. From "The Civil War and Reconstruction" by Randall and McDonald.
+
Website
Harp Week

The End of Slavery: The Creation of the 13th Amendment

For Students 9th - 10th
What a wonderful resource for researching the attempts to solve the issue of slavery prior to the Civil War, and the eventual ratification of the 13th Amendment. Find a timeline of legislation limiting the spread of slavery from 1787...
+
Website
Other

Slavery by Another Name

For Students 9th - 10th
Read this detailed narrative to learn about the mistreatment of African Americans long after people thought slavery had ended after the Civil War, but actually persisted into the twentieth century. Based on original documents, photos,...
+
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction Slavery in the Territories

For Students 5th
[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.
+
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Slavery, Civil War & Reconstruction Background to the Civil War

For Teachers 5th
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about the advantages of each side during the Civil War. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
+
Lesson Plan
ArtsNow

Arts Now Learning: The Civil War [Pdf]

For Teachers 5th
In this lesson, 5th graders explore the concept of cause and effect in the context of the Civil War and work in groups to write and deliver speeches articulating a point of view for one of the War's causes: tariffs, state's rights, or...
+
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction Gettysburg

For Teachers 5th
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about the Battle of Gettysburg and President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
+
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Slavery, Civil War & Reconstruction Election of 1860 and Lincoln

For Teachers 5th
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
+
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Slavery, Civil War & Reconstruction the Underground Railroad

For Teachers 5th
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about the Underground Railroad. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
+
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Slavery, Civil War & Reconstruction the Emancipation Proclamation

For Teachers 5th
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about the Emancipation Proclamation. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
+
Primary
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Civil War I: Slaves, Making of African American Identity: V. 1

For Students 9th - 10th
Photographs of slaves during the Civil War and war memories of former slaves during that conflict. Links to two separate resources can be found here, each focusing on the war memories of former slaves.
+
Handout
Library of Congress

Loc: Learning Page: Pre Civil War African American Slavery

For Students 9th - 10th
Get an overview of slavery in the South, but also see physical evidence in photographs and historical narratives from slaves of the time.
+
Interactive
PBS

Wnet: Thirteen: Slavery & Making of America: Imagining Freedom During/after Civil War

For Students 9th - 10th
In this interactive game, students are presented with a political drawings and cartoons from the period 1860-1877, and they must choose which historical event related to the end of slavery best matches each image.
+
Website
Digital History

Digital History: Pre Civil War Reform: Introduction

For Students 9th - 10th
A good introduction to the topic of reform movements in Pre-Civil War America. What were the reasons that encouraged reform of many social ills?

Other popular searches