Who started the Civil War?: Comparing perspectives on the causes of the war

This lesson plans presents the account of Rose O'Neal Greenhow, a confederate spy during the Civil War. Students are encouraged to find confirming and refuting evidence of her perspective on what caused the Civil War by browsing the Documenting the American South Collection of digitized primary sources.

A lesson plan for grades 11–12 Social Studies

By Meghan Mcglinn

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Related topics

• Learn more about American history, Civil War, United States, causes, history, narratives, oral histories, and social studies.

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Learning outcomes

Students will learn about the arguments of both the southern and northern positions preceding the Civil War.

Students will develop an understanding of point-of-view and bias found in primary source documents.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

1 day

Technology resources

computers with access to the internet

Pre-activities

Have students read a brief introduction to First Person Narrative of the American South: About this Project before beginning their search of the documents. This overview explains the purposes of the collection as well as its main themes.

Activities

1. Have all students read Learn More about this title summary and Chapter 2 (p. 11-25) of Rose O’Neal Greenhow: Confederate Spy which provides information about her and her position on the Civil War. See relevant websites.
2. Ask students to complete the “Perspectives on the Civil War”(See relevant websites) handout by first writing about Greenhow’s text and then adding information from other documents in the digital library.
3. Allow students to browse the collection of First Person Narratives to find other sources that provide relevant perspectives on the Civil War. Be sure to have students use the “Collection of Electronic Texts”(See relevant websites) and discuss in advice strategies for identifying alternative primary sources and skimming them for relevant information. For instance, a northern perspective might present a very different opinion on the war, as well, documents set around the time of the war, 1860-1865 would most likely deal with the subject of causes of the war.

Assessment

Assess students based on completion of the “Perspectives on the Civil War” sheet which includes a section for students to write their own history of the beginning of the war.

Supplemental information

Comments

This lesson is designed for upper level students and could be used to help Advanced Placement students develop the skills necessary for completion of Document Based Questions.