President Abraham Lincoln’s Policies and Actions Pertaining to the Civil War

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

Mr. deMaintenon

Durhamville Elementary School, Durhamville, NY

mdemaintenon@oneidacsd.org

INTRODUCTION:

On March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln inherited a nation divided by the issues of slavery and states’ rights. Southern states were seceding from the Union over these matters. Lincoln did not recognize this secession and deemed it legally void. Division of our nation was not an option. He also believed that the issues of slavery and states rights would not pass until, “a crises shall have been reached, and passed.”

You will decide if Lincoln’s stance on these issues ultimately benefitted or hindered the nation.

TASK:

You will imagine you are a journalist during the Civil War.
You will compose an editorial (persuasive essay) that is either in accord with Lincoln’s stance on secession and states’ rights or opposes Lincoln’s policy pertaining to secession and states’ rights.
Your editorial (persuasive essay) must contain an attention grabbing introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
Your essay must contain ideas from the resources below. Use the Results of the Civil War article to support your point of view with prognostications pertaining to the ramifications Lincoln’s policies.

PROCESS:

1) You will work independently in developing this piece of writing.

2) You will use the AHPPA to help you analyze the issues President Lincoln was charged with solving and the historical suitability of his policies.

Step One: Identify the Problem

Step Two: Gather Evidence of the Problem

Step Three: What are the Causes?

Step Four: Evaluate the Policy

3) You will use the resources below, the documents developed using the AHPPA, and class notes to plan and develop a persuasive piece of writing that either supports Lincoln’s policies pertaining to states’ rights and slavery or condemning the said policies.

4) The Results of the Civil War article should give you some perspective as to how historical policies shaped our country’s history and can be used to develop extrapolations.

RESOURCES:

1) Civil War Causes

2) Slavery

Username: oneidacsddv Password: brainpop

3) Five Causes of the Civil War

4) Events of Civil War

5) Reasons for Southern Secession

6) Read the following document:

Results of the War
Measured in physical devastation and human lives, the American Civil War was the costliest war in the experience of the American people. When the war ended, 620,000 men (in a nation of 35 million people) had been killed and at least that many more had been wounded. The North lost a total of 364,000 (nearly one of every five Union soldiers) and the South 258,000 (nearly one of every four Confederate soldiers). More men died of disease and sickness than on the battlefield; the ratio was about four to one. The physical devastation was largely limited to the South, where almost all the fighting took place. Large sections of Richmond, Charleston, Atlanta, Mobile, and Vicksburg lay in ruins. The countryside through which the contending armies had passed was littered with gutted plantation houses and barns, burned bridges, and uprooted railroad lines. Many crops were destroyed or confiscated, and much livestock was slain. More than $4 billion worth of property had been wiped out through emancipation, the repudiation of Confederate bonds and currency, the confiscation of cotton, and war damage. The war settled the question of the permanence of the Union; the doctrine of secession was discredited, and after 1865 states would find other ways to manifest their grievances.

The war expanded the authority of the federal government, with the executive branch in particular exercising broader jurisdiction and powers than at any previous time in the nation’s history. The U.S. Congress, meanwhile, enacted much of the legislation to which the South had objected so strenuously before the war, including a homestead act, liberal appropriations for internal improvements, and the highest tariff duties in American history to that date. Economically, the war encouraged the mechanization of production and the accumulation of capital in the North. The needs of the armies in the field resulted in the mass production of processed foods, ready-made clothing, and shoes, and after the war, industry converted such production to civilian use. By 1865 the U.S. was on its way to becoming an industrial power. Finally, the American Civil War brought freedom to nearly 4 million blacks. But the attitudes that had sustained slavery in the South for more than 300 years did not end with the war, thereby creating tensions and problems that would persist into the 20th century.

L.F.L., LEON F. LITWACK, M.A., Ph.D.

EVALUATION:

Editorial Rubric

	4	3	2	1
Introduction	Attention Grabbing! Uses strategies modeled in class.	Makes an appropriate attempt at generating interesting, but lacks originality and/or voice.	Shows an understanding of the topic, but fails to generate immediate interest.	Does not display an understanding of the topic.
Evidence and Development	Ideas are fully developed. Implements proper persuasive essay structure and elements.	Ideas are developed, but could use more supporting evidence. Implements proper persuasive essay structure and elements.	Ideas are present, but not well developed. May lack pertinent persuasive essay elements.	Does not display an understanding of the topic.
Conclusion	Fully developed, utilizes strategies modeled in class.	Present, but not fully developed.	Present, but does not correlate with essay or is vague.	Does not display an understanding of the topic.
Mechanics	No errors in grammar or mechanics. Shows evidence of revision.	Few errors in grammar or spelling. Shows evidence of revision.	Many errors in grammar or spelling. Shows little evidence of revision.	Many errors in grammar or spelling. Shows no evidence of revision. Errors significantly impact the readability of the piece.

STANDARDS:

English Language Arts –

Standard 1: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding.

Standard 3: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for critical analysis and evaluation.

Social Studies –

Key Idea 1: The study of New York State and United States history requires an analysis of the development of American culture, its diversity and multicultural context, and the ways people are unified by many values, practices, and traditions.

Key Idea 2: Important ideas, social and cultural values, beliefs, and traditions from New York State and United States history illustrate the connections and interactions of people and events across time and from a variety of perspectives.

Key Idea 3: Study about the major social, political, economic, cultural, and religious developments in New York State and United States history involves learning about the important roles and contributions of individuals and groups.

Key Idea 4: The skills of historical analysis include the ability to: explain the significance of historical evidence; weigh the importance, reliability, and validity of evidence; understand the concept of multiple causation; understand the importance of changing and competing interpretations of different historical developments.

CONCLUSION:

Through the use of the AHPPA, class discussion, and this web quest, you should have a thorough understanding of President Abraham Lincoln’s positions prior to and during the Civil War, and the gravity of his decisions.