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DocsTeachThe online tool for teaching with documents, from the National Archives National Archives Foundation National Archives

The Civil War: Commemorate or Celebrate?

Weighing the Evidence

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The Civil War: Commemorate or Celebrate?

About this Activity

  • Created by:National Archives Education Team
  • Historical Era:Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
  • Thinking Skill:Historical Analysis & Interpretation
  • Bloom's Taxonomy:Analyzing
  • Grade Level:High School
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Please use a tablet or desktop computer to use this activity.
In this activity, students will look at a variety of aspects of the American Civil War through analysis of primary sources. They will decide if each of the Civil War-related documents they see supports either a commemoration or a celebration of the Civil War.

The activity was designed to prepare students to participate in the The Civil War: Celebrate or Commemorate? Learning Lab program at the National Archives Museum in Washington, DC. It is the second of two pre-visit activities associated with the lab experience. In the learning lab, Members of Congress need help to decide what type of national holiday they should create to remember the Civil War: a holiday of commemoration or of celebration?
https://docsteach.org/activities/student/the-civil-war-commemorate-or-celebrate

Suggested Teaching Instructions

Objectives

Students will analyze records related to the Civil War. After examining each record, they should decide if the record supports either a commemoration or a celebration of the Civil War and place it on the scale.

Instructions

Conduct this activity in small groups, or as a homework assignment. Appropriate for grades 9-12.

Before you start the activity, propose the research question to students, "How should we observe the American Civil War, with a commemoration or a celebration?

Hold a brief class discussion on the similarities and differences between the terms commemoration and celebration. (For example, a commemoration would be to acknowledge something of significance and great importance with respect and honor. A celebration would be to acknowledge something of significance and great importance with festivities and recognizing achievements.)

Instruct students to begin the activity by carefully examining and analyzing the records using critical analysis techniques. Ask them to identify key information by answering the following questions about each document:
  • Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?
  • Does this document support a commemoration or a celebration of the Civil War?
  • Why?



When they have finished answering the questions, instruct them to click the “When You're Done” button. Students will be asked to answer the following questions to practice the analytical skills they will need in the learning lab:
  • Did anything surprise them?
  • Were there documents that supported both sides of the celebrate or commemorate question?
  • What influenced their decision on where the documents should be placed on the scale?
  • Was there overwhelming evidence that supported one side versus the other?

Documents in this activity

  • Baseball game between Union prisoners at Salisbury, North Carolina
  • Carver Hospital, Washington, D.C. Interior view
  • Casualty List of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment from the Assault on Fort Wagner, South Carolina
  • "Contraband" Camp
  • Drawing of Improvements in Breech-Loading Repeating Cannon
  • Naval Engagement in Hampton Roads. Merrimac and Monitor. March 1862. Copy of print by J. Davies after C. Parsons
  • West Point Class Petition Asking to Graduate Early
  • Register of Marriages
  • US Military Telegraph Operators, Headquarters, Army of the Potomac. July 1863.

CC0
To the extent possible under law, National Archives Education Team has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to "The Civil War: Commemorate or Celebrate?".

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