Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History: Civil War Readings

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Activity Description

In this activity, students read and discuss a selection of primary documents from the Civil War drawn from the four-volume series “The Civil War: Told by Those Who Lived It”. Resources include introductions by eminent scholars and discussion questions. This activity gives students a look at primary source documents to enhance your Civil War unit.

There are six different Civil War Readers to choose from. This activity uses Civil War Reader #1; however, you can select a reader of choice. Readers can be downloaded in a single or double page version. There is also a collection of Civil War Podcast Videos on various Civil War topics.

Preparation

1. Review the articles in Civil War Reader #1 and decide which articles you want students to read.
2. Identify the appropriate questions for the selected articles.
3. Download Civil War Reader #1 and print only selected articles.

How-To

1. Present a unit on the Civil War such that students have background knowledge of the events that took place.
2. Introduce the activity and the importance of using primary sources.
3. Divide the class into small groups.
4. Have each group read their selection and answer the discussion questions, which begin on page 64.
5. Have each group report back to the class what they learned.

Teacher Tips

• Under the Civil War Multimedia section (see navigation bar on the left), check the audio lectures (podcasts) for more classroom material. Be sure to scroll down the page to see all the options.
• If you decide to use the link to Civil War 150 Online Exhibition, you may need to be using Internet Explorer as your browser of choice. We had difficulty seeing the exhibits in Firefox and Chrome.

More Ways

Create a project where students will use features from the site in order to write and show a report about the Civil War. Assign students in pairs or groups to choose topics, conduct research and collect data, and share/publish with class. They can create timelines, present oral speeches, create bulletin boards, etc.

Program Areas

• ASE: High School Diploma

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