Unit 3- Civil War
Compelling Questions:
Was the Civil War inevitable?
Why was the Civil War really fought?
What is the biggest lesson you can take away from your exploration of the Civil War?
SS.5.5. With teacher direction, construct responses to compelling questions supported by reasoning and evidence.
Major Battles
The Civil War had many battles, but here are some major ones that had a big impact on the war:
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Battle of Bull Run (1861) – This was the first major battle of the war. It showed that the war would be long and tough. The Confederates won, surprising the North.
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Battle of Antietam (1862) – The bloodiest single day in American history. It was technically a draw, but it gave President Lincoln the confidence to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, which helped turn the war against slavery.
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Battle of Gettysburg (1863) – This was the turning point of the war. The Union defeated General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate army, stopping their invasion of the North. It led to Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address.
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Battle of Vicksburg (1863) – Happening at the same time as Gettysburg, this battle gave the Union control of the Mississippi River, splitting the Confederacy in half. It was a huge victory for the North.
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Sherman's March to the Sea (1864) – General Sherman, under the direction of Ulysses Grant, marched his troops from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia, in late 1864, causing widespread destruction and demoralizing the Confederacy. They destroyed the infrastructure, resources, and moral of the South.
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Battle of Appomattox Court House (1865) – This was the last major battle of the war. After this battle, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, officially ending the Civil War.
Key Vocabulary:
Score- a group of twenty
Conceive- to form or build
Proposition- a plan of action
Dedicate- to commit time, effort, and resources to something
Devotion- a love, loyalty, and enthusiasm about something
Resolve- to settle or find a solution or answer
Perish- to end, to die off
Consecrate- to make something special or sacred
Hallowed- honored, revered, holy
Turning Point
The Gettysburg Address:
On November 19th, 1863, Abraham Lincoln gave a speech at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetary. The Battle of Gettysburg led to over 51,000 casualties combined between the Union and the Confederacy. In his brief speech, President Abraham Lincoln said:
"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal... It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
-Gettysburg Address, President Abraham Lincoln
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There are five different copies of the Gettysburg Address. Two are stored at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. Another is stored at the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois.
Promise Fulfilled?
I Have a Dream Speech:
On August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave a speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial calling back to the Gettysburg Address and President Lincoln's hope:
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"Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation...Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children...I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
-I Have a Dream Speech, Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech was part of a March on Washington event that was recorded and televised. A copy of his speech was given to George Raveling. It is now in the stewardship of Villanova University, which has an agreement to display the speech at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History in Washington, DC.
Key Vocabulary:
Emancipation Proclamation- a document signed by Abraham Lincoln declaring that all slaves should be freed
Democracy- a system of government where the people are represented by elected officials
Segregation- a set of laws and practices that separated people by race, color, and/or gender
Equal- having the same status, rights, and opportunities
Negroes- an older and often offensive word that meant relating to a person of Black African ancestry
Promissory Note- a signed document with a written promise
Civil Rights- the rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality