Causes of the Civil War

Objectives:

The objective of this lesson is to get the students to understand and learn about the causes of the civil war. After this lesson, the students will have a comprehensive look at the causes of the civil war from a Southern and northern perspective. They will examine aspects of politics, economics and societal differences. At the end of the lesson, the students will be able to predict the struggles and problems that lie ahead with the upcoming war. The class will be split into small groups, relative to the class size. Each group will examine a particular issue, assigned by me. Each group will research in depth the underlying problems associated with their assigned problem. After a few days in the computer lab, each group will present their information to the class. Each person will be given a flow chart to fill out during the presentations where they will write down the most important information about each cause. They will use this in order to study for the test.

Grade Level:

11th grade United States History Regents level course.

Materials Needed, Description and Timing

The student will need something to write with and a notebook. We will be going to the computer lab where the groups will research their topic, so a computer is necessary for any outside research. The lesson is planned for 4 to 5 days. Each group will extensively research their topic and describe a cause to the war. Two days should be used for researching their topic, citing all sources. The third day will be used for creating their presentation, either through powerpoint or some other visual aid or media form. The fourth day consist of presenting and filling out the flowcharts for each cause. At the start of the next unit, I will describe how the culmination of all those events/problems brought the country into a civil war.

List of Approved Websites:

http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/causes-of-the-civil-war/

http://www.historynet.com/causes-of-the-civil-war

http://www.findingdulcinea.com/features/feature-articles/2009/feb/The-American-Civil-War--North-and-South.html

http://www.us-civilwar.com/cause.htm

http://mrnussbaum.com/civil-war/causes/

www.sweetsearch.com

Causes:

Driving question of the unit: What problems in US history prior to 1861 led to the secession and eventual war? Evaluate the importance of these problems, how they affected the country and their overall impact as causes to the Civil War.

Slavery
State Rights
Abolitionist Movement and the Underground Railroad
The Election of Abraham Lincoln
Congressional Power
Dred Scott Decision/Missouri Compromise
Southern Rebellion (John Brown/Harpers Ferry)
Secession/Fort Sumter

Class Management:

Day 1:

Settle class down and explain the first assignment.
1. they will be split into 8 groups (approx 3) students per group. Each group will have a topic to research for two days, create a presentation on the third and present on the fourth day.
2. explain that they not only have to find out the events surrounding their topic, but how this event/topi affected the north and the south.
  1. Who did it affect more? Why?
  2. where were these topics most prevelant
  3. who was involved?
  4. how did this affect the country? economically, politically, socially?

DON’T just describe the topic. Describe what your topic was but why it was so important to cause a Civil War. There should a be a minimum of three sources sited by your group in your presenation. Please use as many PRIMARY SOURCES as possible.

Bring them to the computer lab/library.
Let them work.
1. walk around, giving help to those who need it. Guide them, don’t give them the answer.

Day 2:

Class research

Day 3:

Create presentation
Anything not finished in class has to be finished at home.

Day 4 (and 5 if need be):

Presentations. Should only be about 5-10 minutes. Will try and finish presenting in one day.

Evaluation of Students

During this lesson, the students will be evaluated based on 4 criteria. The criteria categories are, the presentation, classroom research and use of time, and group evaluation. It is an known fact that certain kids take control of group projects while others allow people to do most of the work. By having students in the group grade each other, people who do more work are rewarded while those who do less work receive fewer points. This way, a student that coasts off another will not receive the same grade. Every student is allotted 5 points. So a two person group has 10 group points to be given out. However no person can have the same number of points, thus recognizing the difference in work completed.

The teacher will award classroom participation points based off of how well the group works during their research time in the computer lab. If they spend their time doing non-class work, then they will receive fewer points. The groups will be given rubrics for the presentation assignment in order to know how they will be graded and how to get the best grade. At the end of this project, the students will take a quiz in order to determine how well they learned through this project, the collaboration and group presentations.

Expected Cognitive Outcome

Students will gain intellectual skills, cognitive skills, attitude and verbal information during this lesson. At the end of this group project, the students should have better communicating, research and analytical skills. The students are expected to read for comprehension while using critical thinking when doing their research to find useful readings on their topic as well as ones without bias. Students will learn about the different events that unfolded prior to the Civil War outbreak and their effects on the country as well as the effects these events had on different people. The Civil War was one of the darkest hours in American history and it is imperative for students to know what caused such a bloody war. By working in groups, students build communication skills as well as the ability to use each other to gain information and knowledge.

Rubric

File:Rubric.pdf