THE TRADITIONAL CIVIL WAR CURRICULUM BY THE AMERICAN BATTLEFIELD TRUST
The Traditional Civil War Curriculum | Middle School
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GOAL 2 | LESSON PLAN | MIDDLE SCHOOL
1861: The Country Goes to War
GRADES: Middle School
APPROXIMATE LENGTH OF TIME: 50 minutes
GOAL: Students will be able to explain the state of the nation and list the sequence of events
leading to the Civil War.
OBJECTIVES:
1. Students will be able to complete a timeline of events from the election of Lincoln to the
First Battle of Manassas.
2. After reading primary source documents from leaders and from citizens, students will
be able to discuss how individuals felt about the coming war.
3. Students will be able to identify the Southern states, Northern states, and border states
on a map of the United States.
COMMON CORE:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.1
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.7
Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well
as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.
NCSS STANDARDS FOR SOCIAL STUDIES:
1—Culture
2—Time, Continuity, and Change
3—People, Places, and Environment
5—Individuals, Groups, and Institutions
6—Power, Authority, and Governance
10—Civics, Ideals, and Practices
The Traditional Civil War Curriculum, Goal 2
1861: The Country Goes to War
The Civil War Curriculum | Middle School
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MATERIALS:
1. Entrance Pass
2. The Country Goes to War PowerPoint
3. The Country Goes to War PowerPoint Student Note Sheet
4. The Country Goes to War PowerPoint Student Note Sheet (Teacher Version)
5. 1860 U.S. Map Worksheet
6. Labeled 1860 U.S. Map (for teacher use)
7. Pencils in 3 Different Colors
8. Exit Pass
ANTICIPATORY SET/HOOK
Using the Entrance Pass, have students provide three significant events or developments that
led up to the American Civil War.
PROCEDURE:
Print out the PowerPoint with notes prior to class. There are notes included with the slides that
can be on the printed slides, but won’t be seen by your students during the presentation.
Activity 1
1. Hand out The Country Goes to War PowerPoint Student Note Sheet.
2. Present The Country Goes to War PowerPoint.
3. The students should complete the note sheet during the presentation.
Activity 2
1. Hand out the 1860 U.S. Map Worksheet and have students fill in the Northern states,
Southern states, and border states using different colors as a class. See Labeled 1860
U.S. Map as a guide.
2. Have the students answer the follow-up question.
CLOSURE:
1. Have students watch the In4 Video, Union with Dr. Gary Gallagher.
2. Discuss why the idea of Union was so important.
3. Revisit why South Carolina left.
4. Discussion Question or Journal Question: What are some of the reasons why the war
broke out?
ASSESSMENT IN THIS LESSON:
1. Entrance Pass completed with three events or developments that pushed the United
States toward civil war.
2. A completed The Country Goes to War PowerPoint Student Note Sheet.
3. A colored and labeled map of the U.S. in 1860 with follow-up question.
4. Informal assessment through conclusion discussion. Or journal entry.
The Traditional Civil War Curriculum,
Goal 2
1861: The Country Goes to War
Name: _________________
Date: _________________
The Traditional Civil War Curriculum | Middle School
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ENTRANCE PASS
Using the Entrance Pass, have students provide three significant events or developments that
led to the American Civil War.
1.
2
3
POWDER KEG
CAUTION: EXPLOSIVE
The Traditional Civil War Curriculum,
Goal 2
1861: The Country Goes to War
Name: _________________
Date: _________________
The Traditional Civil War Curriculum | Middle School
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The Country Goes to War
Student Note Sheet
Complete the following timeline:
Battle of _____ _____ of First Manassas
July 21, _ _ _ _
Firing on _____ _______
April 12, _ _ _ _
Secession of _____ ________
December 20, 18_ _
Election of 1860, Lincoln is elected 16th president of the United States
November _, 18_ _
The Traditional Civil War Curriculum, Goal 2
1861: The Country Goes to War
The Traditional Civil War Curriculum | Middle School
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US election of 1860 Winner - __________________ _________________
The South became fearful that this new president would…
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
________________ _______________ is the first state to secede from the Union on
December 20, 18_ _, 44 days after Lincoln is elected president.
What does “secession” mean?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Why did South Carolina secede from the United States?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
What does South Carolina want other Southern states to do?
_________________________________________________________________
The Traditional Civil War Curriculum, Goal 2
1861: The Country Goes to War
The Traditional Civil War Curriculum | Middle School
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Why would these other states want to do this?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Who does Jefferson Davis say chose to create the Confederacy?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Does Jefferson Davis want war or peace? What in his speech makes you believe that?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Does Abraham Lincoln want war or peace? What in his speech makes you believe that?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
The Traditional Civil War Curriculum, Goal 2
1861: The Country Goes to War
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Who fired at Fort Sumter?
Union
Confederacy
Why?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Who occupied (was located in) Fort Sumter?
Union
Confederacy
Who were the aggressors in this situation? The US or the Confederacy? Explain your
answer.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
How did the citizens of Richmond, Virginia, feel about the actions at Fort Sumter? How
exactly, do you know this?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
The Traditional Civil War Curriculum, Goal 2
1861: The Country Goes to War
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Who called for troops right after the firing on Fort Sumter?
_________________________________________________________________
Virginia joined the Confederacy April ______, 1861.
In April of 1861, Virginia joined the Confederacy. After Virginia joined, what city became the
Confederate capital? __________________________________________________
Following the Battle of First Manassas (Bull Run), the governor of New York does what?
_____________________________________________________________
What does this tell you about what people thought of the war?
_____________________________________________________________
The first major land battle of the Civil War took place near ________, Virginia, on July _ _,
18_ _.
At this battle, the Union Army __________ the Confederate Army.
What did citizens of both the Confederacy and the United States realize at this time?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
The Traditional Civil War Curriculum,
Goal 2
1861: The Country Goes to War
Name: _________________
Date: _________________
The Traditional Civil War Curriculum | Middle School
Battlefields.org
The Country Goes to War
Student Note Sheet (Teacher Version)
Complete the following timeline:
Battle of _Bull__Run__ of First Manassas
July 21, 1861
Firing on __Fort___Sumter
April 12, 1861
Secession of ___South Carolina___
December 20, 1860
Election of 1860, Lincoln is elected 16th president of the United States
November 6, 1860
The Traditional Civil War Curriculum, Goal 2
1861: The Country Goes to War
The Traditional Civil War Curriculum | Middle School
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Election of 1860 Winner - ____Abraham_____ __Lincoln_____
The South became fearful that this new president would_____ abolish slavery or not support
the slaveholding states
_____South______ __Carolina_________ is the first state to secede from the Union on
December 20, 1861, 44 days after Lincoln is elected president.
What does secession mean? _To leave the Union ______
Why did South Carolina secede from the United States? _The non-slaveholding states were not
following the law that was laid out in the Constitution and that broke the agreement that South
Carolina had made in order to be part of the Union. They also felt that Lincoln was not going to
support the slaveholding states.
What does South Carolina want other Southern states to do? ____Secede as
well_________________ __________________________________
Why would the other states want to do this? ___Because they agree with South Carolina’s
reason for leaving the Union.______________________________
The Traditional Civil War Curriculum, Goal 2
1861: The Country Goes to War
The Traditional Civil War Curriculum | Middle School
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Who does Jefferson Davis say chose to create the Confederacy? ___The people___________
Does Jefferson Davis want war or peace? ____ Peace, students should provide a quote to
support this.
Does Abraham Lincoln want war or peace? What in his speech makes you believe that? Peace,
students should provide a quote to support this.
Who fired at Fort Sumter?
Union
Confederacy
Why? __The Confederacy wanted the Union to surrender the federal fort located just off the
coast of South Carolina.______
Who occupied (was located in) Fort Sumter?
Union
Confederacy
Who were the aggressors in this situation? The US or the Confederacy? Explain your answer.
___The students will have to decide and use what they have learned to support their answer.
Some may say the Confederacy was the aggressor because they fired the shots. Some may say
The Traditional Civil War Curriculum, Goal 2
1861: The Country Goes to War
The Traditional Civil War Curriculum | Middle School
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the United States was the aggressor because they refused to leave Fort Sumter after South
Carolina seceded.
How did the citizens of Richmond Virginia feel about the action at Fort Sumter? _The people
were excited and celebrated in the streets. _______________________________
Who called for troops right after the firing on Fort Sumter?
____Both the Confederacy and the United States ______________________________
Virginia joined the Confederacy _April____ 17, 1861.
In April of 1861, Virginia joined the Confederacy. After Virginia joined, what city became the
Confederate Capital? ___Richmond______________________________
Following the Battle of First Manassas (Bull Run), the governor of New York does what?
__Called for more troops and for a longer volunteer period. ___________________
What does this tell you about what people thought of the war? ____People realized after the
devastation of Manassas that the war would be much longer and cost more men then they had
previously predicted. ____________________________
The Traditional Civil War Curriculum, Goal 2
1861: The Country Goes to War
The Traditional Civil War Curriculum | Middle School
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The first land battle of the Civil War took place near _Manassas__, Virginia, on July 21, 1861.
At this battle, the Union Army _lost__ to the Confederate Army.
What did citizens of both the Confederacy and the United States realize at this time? __That
the war was not going to be easy or end quickly. ________________________
The Traditional Civil War Curriculum | Middle School
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The Traditional Civil War Curriculum,
Goal 2
1861: The Country Goes to War
1860 U.S. Map Worksheet
Name: _________________
Date: _________________
The Traditional Civil War Curriculum | Middle School
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In James McPherson’s article, An Overview of the American Civil War he states:
The Civil War started because of uncompromising differences between the free and slave states over the power of the national
government to prohibit slavery in the territories that had not yet become states. When Abraham Lincoln won election in 1860 as the
first Republican president on a platform pledging to keep slavery out of the territories, seven slave states in the deep South seceded and
formed a new nation, the Confederate States of America. The incoming Lincoln administration and most of the Northern people refused
to recognize the legitimacy of secession. They feared that it would discredit democracy and create a fatal precedent that would
eventually fragment the no-longer United States into several small, squabbling countries.
Based on your map and what McPherson says above, why do you think some of the slave holding states decided not to join the
Confederacy?
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The Traditional Civil War Curriculum | Middle School
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The Traditional Civil War Curriculum,
Goal 2
1861: The Country Goes to War
Labeled U.S. 1860 Map
Name: _________________
Date: _________________
