Civil War Class

The oldest group of students finished up their in depth study of the Civil War. After learning about the local abolitionist movement and underground railroad here in Syracuse at the Onondaga Historical Association, the students analyzed the causes of the war from both the north and souths perspective. They read and interpreted the inaugural address of Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis. To better understand what life was like during the war, they read and analyzed primary source letters from women, children, nurses, and confederate, union and black soldiers. As a home project with their families they interpreted the Gettysburg Address and put it into their own words. In small groups, they studied the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments. Each student researched and presented about a Civil War Heroine. To summarize and round out the unit they watched the Freedom: A History of Us videos A Fatal Contradiction and A War to End Slavery where they had remarkable discussions sharing their ideas and feelings about freedom, contradiction, the emancipation proclamation, reconstruction, Gettysburg, how students learn about the Civil War in the south, law and equality.