Creating a Blueprint for History and Social Science Education

Advancing Instruction, Assessment, Student Learning, Literacy, and Engagement

Abraham Lincoln, half-length portrait, facing right, probably 1858, printed later. Source: Library of Congress.

The California History-Social Science Project and

The History Blueprint Initiative

Partners and Affiliates

Blueprint Civil War Unit Team

• Compare interpretations of state & federal authority • Trace boundaries and geographical differences

between North and South • Identify constitutional issues of nullification and

secession • Discuss Lincoln’s presidency and significant

writings & speeches

California History-Social

Science Content Standards

• Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis • Determine central ideas or information of primary or

secondary source • Identify aspects of a text that reveal author’s point of

view or purpose

Common Core Reading and

Writing Standards

• Evaluate fact and opinion • Differentiate between primary and secondary sources • Identify bias and loaded language • Analyze perspective

Historical Disciplinary

Skills

Historical Focus Question: Was the Civil War a war for freedom?

“Am I Not a Man and a Brother?” Woodcut image from an 1837 broadside publication of John Greenleaf Whittier's antislavery poem, "Our Countrymen in Chains." Source: Library of Congress, http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2008661312/

Life in Camp Cameron, Washington, DC. May 1861. Photographer: Matthew Brady. Source: Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2010647707/

Third Draft of Civil War Unit Lessons: The Road to War Secession Strategies & Battles Perspectives Lincoln’s Speeches Emancipation Effects of the War Final Assessment

Historical Figures

Louisa May Alcott Ella Gertrude Clanton Thomas Jefferson Davis Frederick Douglass Harriet A. Jacobs Robert E. Lee Robert Smalls George Templeton Strong Clinton Hatcher Michael F. Rinker Charles Berry, Senior John P. Wilson Oliver Wilcox North Susie King Taylor

Jefferson Davis (1808-1889)

Secondary Source: Jefferson Davis was born in Kentucky on June 3, 1808 and is famous for serving as the president of the Confederacy during the Civil War. After graduating from West Point Military Academy, he served … Primary Source: Excerpt from Davis’ Farewell Speech in the Senate Chamber, U.S. Capitol, January 21, 1861 It is known to Senators who have served with me here, that I have for many years advocated, as an essential attribute of State sovereignty, the right of a State to secede from the Union. . . Secession . . . is to be justified upon the basis that the States are sovereign. There was a time when none denied it. I hope the time may come again, when … the inalienable rights of the people of the States, will prevent any one from denying that each State is a sovereign….

Jefferson Davis, seated, facing front, during portrait session at Davis' home Beauvoir, near Biloxi, Mississippi, c 1865. Edward L. Wilson, Photographer. Source: Library of Congress, http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2009633710/

Why did Lincoln fight?

Lincoln’s Speeches • “House Divided”

Speech • First Inaugural

Address • Emancipation

Proclamation • Gettysburg Address • Second Inaugural

Address

What does the Gettysburg Address tell us about Lincoln’s reasons for war?

The Gettysburg Address

Sentence Deconstruction: The Gettysburg Address

Analyzing the Gettysburg Address

Making an Interpretation: How did Lincoln’s reasons for fighting the war change over time?

Part A: Making an Interpretation: How did Lincoln’s reasons for fighting change over time? Here are three “interpretation starters.” Discuss them with your group, select the starter that best fits your interpretation, and fill in the blanks. Then write your interpretation in the space below. 1. In the beginning, Lincoln argued that the reason for fighting was ____________ ____________________________, but by the end of the war, his reason(s) had changed to ___________________________________________. 2. In all of his speeches, Lincoln had the same reason(s) for fighting the war, which was ___________________ _____________________________________. 3. In the beginning, Lincoln argued that the reason for fighting was ____________ ________________________, but by the end of the war, he added a reason(s), which was (were) __________________________________________. Focus Question: How did Lincoln’s reasons for fighting change over time? Interpretation: ___________________________________________________________________

EVIDENCE Use “quotation” marks Use ellipses (…) to take out parts of sentences

ANALYSIS What does this mean? This means that … (explanation of evidence)

RELEVANCE How does this support your interpretation? This relates to ________ (interpretation) because …

SOURCE Write down your citation information

Beginning: What was Lincoln’s reason(s) for fighting the war in the beginning? (House Divided or First Inaugural)

Point of Change: When and how did Lincoln’s reason(s) for fighting the war change?

End: What was Lincoln’s reason(s) for fighting the war in the end? (Gettysburg Address & Second Inaugural)

EVIDENCE GATHERING CHART

Future Plans

• Pilot unit in 8th-grade classrooms – Spring 2012

• New units in world and U.S. history

Shennan Hutton: slhutton@ucdavis.edu or chssp@ucdavis.edu 530.752.0572

Contact Information

Websites History Blueprint: historyblueprint.ucdavis.edu CHSSP Statewide Office: chssp.ucdavis.edu, csmp.ucop.edu/chssp (see videos)