The United States Civil War resulted in the highest mortality rate for Americans since the nation's inception. Delve deeper into the causes for the drastic separation of states with a history lesson plan that features analysis charts, primary sources, and ample background reading.

Concepts

the united states civil war, slavery, causes of the civil war, abraham lincoln, primary source analysis, primary sources

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Additional Tags

social studies

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Instructional Ideas

• Have learners watch the short video on their own, either at home or on independent class devices
• Use the activity in a jigsaw setting or during an extended block period
• Assign the pre-test as a warm-up activity

Classroom Considerations

• When clarifying the terminology used in a Civil War-era quote, the resource identifies the term colored people as polite terminology of the time; discuss this wording with class members
• Lesson calls for eight groups of varying size
• Refer to the attached teacher reference guide to see a more detailed description of Common Core alignment

Pros

• Includes all auxiliary materials and background information
• Provides a thorough answer to the essential question regarding the causes of the Civil War

Cons

• None

Common Core

RH.6-8.2 RH.6-8.4 RH.6-8.7