Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate soldier

Students read the account of a private from Charlotte who served in the Civil War and grew tired of only hearing about the war from the perspectives of officers. After reading his experiences as a “man behind the gun” students will write their own point-of-view piece. They also have the opportunity to read other diary accounts from the war available through Documenting the American South.

A lesson plan for grade 8 Social Studies

By Meghan Mcglinn

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• Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier “This diary was commenced for the fun of writing down my experience as a soldier from the Old North State. I never thought for a moment that I would put it in print; but now that I am getting old and have read so many histories written by our officers, but have never seen in print a history written by a private.”

Related pages

• Confederate currency: An inflation simulation: Using primary sources from the Documenting the American South collection, this lesson provides a brief simulation of inflation during the Civil War while introducing students to issues faced on the home front.
• North Carolina women and the Progressive Movement: This lesson includes primary sources from Documenting the American South specifically related to North Carolina women involved in reform movements characteristic of the Progressive era. For the most part, these documents detail women's work in education-related reform and describe the creation of schools for women in the state. They also demonstrate that, as was true in the rest of the nation, the progressive, female reformers of N.C. were segregated based on race and socio-economic status.
• Civil War journals: Integrates creative writing with social studies and enhances knowledge of the effects of the Civil War on people.

Related topics

• Learn more about American history, Civil War, Confederacy, North Carolina, diaries, history, oral histories, and social studies.

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Learning outcomes

• Students will learn more about the experience of soldiers during the Civil War.
• Students will read and evaluate a primary source and identify perspective and bias.
• Students will express what they know about the Civil War in a point-of-view writing exercise.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

1 day

Technology resources

Internet access and computer lab (or copies of the primary source document)

Pre-activities

This lesson should coincide with students’ study of the Civil War.

Activities

1. Have every student read the “Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier.”
2. While they are reading ask students to complete the Primary Source Analysis Sheet.
3. After students have completed the Analysis Sheet, have them share their answers first in pairs and then with the whole class Read, Pair, Share.
4. Next hand out the RAFT assignment. Allow students to select their own role, audience, format, and topic and to brainstorm on the handout before writing their final assignment on un-lined white paper this could be done in a word processing document or by hand.
5. If students have additional time, they may add illustrations.

Assessment

Assess students based on the completion of the Analysis Sheet and the RAFT assignment.

Supplemental information

There are many additional Civil War diaries available online through the Documenting the American South site that students may read.

Comments

This lesson could also be used in high school history classes.