Spring 2015
See your guidance counselor to schedule this class for the 2015-2016 school year!
Class Reading Material
The textbook for this class is the definitive single volume Civil War study, James McPherson's The Battle Cry of Freedom. While you'll obviously receive a copy from the school when the class begins, if you'd like to grab your own copy and start reading in advance, you can grab a copy from Amazon for under $12. Other Civil War Related Reading Material The following are books from my personal Civil War reading list. While it's not necessary to read any of them in advance of the class, they really do help broaden your understanding of the Antebellum and Civil War eras. My including links to Amazon for each book is not necessarily an endorsement, but rather a source for you to obtain book information, including the ISBN, so that you may find these books at other outlets, often times at lower prices (like, perhaps, half.com.) Ordeal by Fire: The Civil War and Reconstruction, By James Pherson This was the textbook for my college Civil War class. Current new copies cost well over $100. Mine is a 1991 second edition. I suppose that dates me a bit. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, by Dorris Kearns Goodwin If you want to understand the Civil War, you have to understand Abraham Lincoln. This biography shows a complex, likable, human Lincoln that is more than mere myth. The Civil War: A Narrative, Vols. 1-3, by Shelby Foote This book is not measured in pages, but in pounds. I will be honest, I have not read the entire three volumes, but have instead picked it up to read about individual battles and time periods. While it does read like a narrative, it is a helpful reference book. It can be found cheaper elsewhere on the internets, but I include the Amazon link so that you can get a feel for the books. April 1865: The Month That Saved America, by Jay Winik If the Civil War was the most turbulent event in American history, then April was the most turbulent month of that event, as the war came to an end and President Lincoln was assassinated. This book was made into a History Channel documentary. The Civil War, by Bruce Catton This, like Battle Cry of Freedom, is an excellent one-book history of the Civil War, and would make an excellent textbook for the class as well. Don't Know Much About the Civil War: Everything You Need to Know About America's Greatest Conflict but Never Learned, by Kenneth C. Davis I don't know if this is everything you need to know about the Civil War, but it is an excellent, well-researched book that is entertaining and easy to read. |
Class Materials
Part One: Like a Firebell in the Night Lesson One: Roots PowerPoint Notes Lesson Two: Slavery Comes to America PowerPoint Notes Olaudah Equiano Worksheet Lesson Three: Shifting Economies PowerPoint Notes Lesson Four: Compromise PowerPoint Notes Lesson Five: The Nullification Crisis PowerPoint Notes Lesson Six: Abolitionists and Slave Rebellions PowerPoint Notes Lesson Seven: Texas and the Mexican War PowerPoint Notes Lesson Eight: Gold, Compromise, and Blood PowerPoint Notes Lesson Nine: The Union Catches Fire PowerPoint Notes Part Two: And the War Came Lesson One: Secession Winter PowerPoint Notes Lesson Two: Shots Fired PowerPoint Notes Lessons Three: Black Soldiers Take The Field PowerPoint Notes |
Class Videos
The following are some videos, motion pictures and documentaries, that are based on the Civil War. While we may not watch every one of them in class, they each provide another way to enrich the Civil War leaning experience.
Ken Burns' The Civil War is perhaps the definitive Civil War documentary. It is on Netflix, and Amazon Prime Instant Video.
Gettysburg is based on the Civil War novel The Killer Angels, and follows the three day battle of Gettysburg, which was the turning point of the Civil War
Gods and Generals, based on the novel of the same name, is the prequel to The Killer Angels, showing the psyche of several Civil War leaders in the lead up to the war, through Gettysburg.
Glory perhaps the greatest Civil War movie of them all tells the true story of one of the first all-black regiments in the Civil War.
Lincoln mostly correct history of Lincoln's efforts to win the Civil War and pass the 13th Amendment ending slavery.
The Blood and the Glory this two-part History Channel documentary, which debuted in April 2015, features Civil War photography that has been colorized and really makes the war come alive.
The following are some videos, motion pictures and documentaries, that are based on the Civil War. While we may not watch every one of them in class, they each provide another way to enrich the Civil War leaning experience.
Ken Burns' The Civil War is perhaps the definitive Civil War documentary. It is on Netflix, and Amazon Prime Instant Video.
Gettysburg is based on the Civil War novel The Killer Angels, and follows the three day battle of Gettysburg, which was the turning point of the Civil War
Gods and Generals, based on the novel of the same name, is the prequel to The Killer Angels, showing the psyche of several Civil War leaders in the lead up to the war, through Gettysburg.
Glory perhaps the greatest Civil War movie of them all tells the true story of one of the first all-black regiments in the Civil War.
Lincoln mostly correct history of Lincoln's efforts to win the Civil War and pass the 13th Amendment ending slavery.
The Blood and the Glory this two-part History Channel documentary, which debuted in April 2015, features Civil War photography that has been colorized and really makes the war come alive.
