Primary sources & The Civil War

What are they? Why are they important?

How do we use them to teach our students?

Tim Hargesheimer & Roger ThomasResource Teachers

Cultural Studies Unit/Social StudiesJCPS Gheens Academy

timothy.hargesheimer@jefferson.kyschools.usroger.thomas@jefferson.kyschools.us

TODAY WE WILL CONSIDER:• CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR• PRIMARY SOURCES

DOCUMENTS, PHOTOGRAPHS,

MAPS & SONGS• STRATEGIES FOR ENGAGING

STUDENT INQUIRY• THE U.S. IN 1850• WIKI PAGE & RESOURCE

DEVELOPMENT

CAUSES: WHY DID THE SOUTHERN STATES SECEDE?

A. SLAVERYB. STATES RIGHTSC. ELECTION OF LINCOLND. TARIFFS & TAXES

WHERE WOULD WE LOOK TO FIND THE ANSWER?

PRIMARY SOURCES1. The Avalon Project

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/csapage.asp

2. Civil War Primary Documents, Personal Diaries, Journals, Letters, Cartoons, Art, Images, Poetry, Literature, & Music http://www.teacheroz.com/Civil_War_Documents.htm

3. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, http://www.gilderlehrman.org/

OTHER SOURCES FOR PRIMARY SOURCES

1. The Education Staff of the National Archives and Records Administration http://www.archives.gov/education/index.html

2. The Library of Congresshttp://www.loc.gov

Check out this resource:

http://www.teachercreatedmaterials.com/socialStudies

On October 21, 2010, James Loewen, author of Lies My Teacher Told Me, spoke to a full house at The Filson Institute Academic Conference. He referred to his new book The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader: “The Great Truth” About the “Lost Cause" (University Press of Mississippi, 2010). Co-edited with Edward H. Sebesta, this book is a collection of primary documents on the Civil War.

Loewen explained that, “the declarations supplied by the 11 Confederate states as they left the union are among the most important documents in the history of our nation.” Yet not only do textbooks avoid the documents, “the accounts they provide contradict the historical record.” The result is widespread misinformation about the cause of the Civil War. 

LET’S LOOK AT SOME HANDOUTS…

• E.J. DIONNE, C-J EDITORIAL, “CIVIL WAR NEEDS NO SPIN,” 01/02/11.

• EUGENIA K. POTTER, C-J LETTER TO THE EDITOR, “TRUTH IN ART,” 01/02/11.

• WILLIAM WEBER, C-J LETTER TO THE EDITOR, “SIMPLISTIC ANALYSIS,” 01/02/11.

• JAMES LOUWEN, WASHINGTON POST EDITORIAL, “FIVE MYTHS ABOUT WHY THE SOUTH SECEDED,” 01/09/11.

There are a lot of opinions out there, even among teachers!

1. It’s not our job to tell students what to believe – offer primary sources and let them become historians and draw their own conclusions.

2. The fact that there are different opinions offers an opportunity to talk with students about civil discourse, historical interpretation, and open-mindedness.

• Primary Sources – pictures, songs, documents, artifacts, etc.

• Graphic Organizers, illustrated dictionaries, etc.

• Visual cues

How can we help students understand and remember causes of the Civil

War?

$ $ $ $$

Five Causes of the Civil War

1. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe

2. The Underground Railroad3. John Brown’s raid on Harper’s

Ferry4. The election of Abraham Lincoln5. Economic differences between the

North & the South – Sectionalism/Tariffs

LET’S LOOK AT SOMEPRIMARY SOURCES

• DOCUMENTS• PHOTOGRAPHS• MAPS• SONGS

HARRIET TUBMANby Walter Robinson

One night I dreamed I was in slavery,'bout 1850 was the timeSorrow was the only sign,nothing around to ease my mindOut of the night appeared a ladyleading a distant pilgrim band“First mate,” she cried pointing her hand,“Make room aboard forthis young woman,” saying

“Come on up, I've got a lifeline Come on up to this train of mine

Come on up, I've got a lifeline Come on up to this train of mine!” She said her name was Harriet Tubman and she drove forthe Underground Railroad

Hundreds of miles, we traveled onwardgathering slaves from town to town Seeking every lost and foundSetting those free that once were bound

Somehow my heart was growing weaker,I fell by the wayside sinking sand Firmly did this lady stand, she lifted me up andtook my hand, saying

Come on up . . .Follow, follow the Drinking GourdFollow, follow the Drinking GourdWho are those children dressed

in red? They must be the ones that Moses led. x2

Come on up . . .

John Brown’s Bodyfrom Victor Hugo’s “Letter to America Against John Brown Hanging”

John Brown’s body lies a-mouldering in the grave

John Brown’s body lies a-mouldering in the grave

John Brown’s body lies a-mouldering in the grave

His soul is marching on!

Chorus:Glory, glory, hallelujah!Glory, glory, hallelujah!Glory, glory, hallelujah!His soul is marching on!

He captured Harper’s Ferry with his nineteen men so true,

And he frightened old Virginia till she trembled through and through,

They hung him for a traitor, themselves the traitor crew,

But his soul goes marching on!

Chorus:

John Brown died that the slave might be free… And his soul is marching on!

Chorus:

The stars above in Heaven now are looking kindly down… On the grave of old John Brown.

Chorus:

Now has come morning of the glorious jubilee…

When all mankind are free.

Chorus:

Kentucky ConnectionsIt’s been said that

one of the causes of the U.S. Civil War was Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. In one dramatic scene Eliza escapes from Kentucky across the Ohio River.

The stories of John Parker, John Rankin, the escape route from Paris, KY to Maysville to Ripley, Ohio are a part of our history, as are the routes that came through Louisville and New Albany.

Eliza’s Escape, from the 1853 Illustrated Edition of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

I looked over Jordan and what did I see

Comin’ for to carry me home

A band of angels comin’ after me

Comin’ for to carry me home

Swing low, sweet chariotComin’ for to carry me

homeSwing low, sweet chariotComin’ for to carry me

home

If you get there before I doComin’ for to carry me

homeTell all my friends I am

comin’ there, tooComin’ for to carry me

homeChorus:I’m sometimes up,

sometime downComin’ for to carry me

homeBut still I know I am

freedom boundComin’ for to carry me

homeChorus:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxWwDgOj0oE LINCOLN & LIBERTY, TOO!

BY JESSE HUTCHINSON

Hurrah for the choice of our nation!

Our hero so brave and so true;

We'll go for the great reformation—

For Lincoln and Liberty, too!

We'll go for the boy from Kentucky

The hero of Hoosierdom through;

The pride of the Suckers so lucky

For Lincoln and Liberty, too.

Come all you true friends of the nation

Attend to humanity's call

Oh aid of the slaves’ liberation

And roll on the liberty ball

We’ll finish the temple of freedomAnd make it capacious withinThat all who seek shelter may find itWhatever the hue of their skin.

Success to the old fashioned doctrineThat men are created all freeAnd down with the power of the despotWherever his stronghold may be

We'll go for the boy from KentuckyThe hero of Hoosierdom through;The pride of the Suckers so luckyFor Lincoln and Liberty, too.

DIXIE BY DAN EMMETT

Oh, I wish I was in the land of cotton,

Old times there are not forgotten, Look away, look away, look away

Dixie Land.

In Dixie Land, where I was born in,

early on one frosty mornin', Look away, look away, look away

Dixie Land.

I wish I was in Dixie, Hooray! Hooray!

In Dixie Land I'll take my standto live and die in Dixie. Away, away, away down south in

Dixie. Away, away, away down south in

Dixie

But if you want to drive 'way sorrow

Come and hear this song tomorrow

Look away! Look away! Look away!Dixie Land

There's buckwheat cakes and Injun batter,

Makes you fat or a little fatter;Look away! Look away! Look

away!Dixie Land

Then hoe it down and scratch your gravel,

To Dixie's Land I'm bound to travel,

Look away! Look away! Look away!Dixie Land

“DIXIE” WAS ONE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S FAVORITE SONGS AND WAS PLAYED AT HIS PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION.

DAN EMMETT, THE SONG WRITER FROM OHIO, WAS OSTRACIZED IN THE NORTH FOR WRITING A SONG SO STRONGLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE CONFEDERACY.

WHAT WAS LIFE IN THE

UNITED STATES REALLY LIKE IN

THE 1800’S?

LOOK AT THE JAMES McPHERSON HANDOUT…

Reflection Questions:1. What did you learn or

remember again about the United States in 1850?

2. How does this reading inform or affect the way you approach teaching the Civil War?

LET’S DEVELOP SOME RESOURCES AND SHARE OUT!