Reconstruction

Today, after looking at the new assignment sheet and the upcoming unit, we'll finish our exploration of the Reconstruction era by reviewing its goals, the impact it had on freed blacks, white southerners and the nation's political system and then making some conclusions about its successes or failures. We'll close today by reading this article from the Atlantic:
Is This the Second Redemption?

Reconstruction

Reconstruction Web Activity

Complete Intro and Sections 1 - 3

The new assignment sheet is posted.

And here is a Thanksgiving message from Abraham Lincoln (click on the link below the image for the full text):

Proclamation of Thanksgiving

Essay Work Day

Please make sure your prep work is uploaded to turnitin.com.  Essays are due to turnitin by class time tomorrow.
Here is a sample. Good body paragraphs, intro/thesis still needed a bit of work.
Lincoln Sample Essay

The End of the War and Review

Today in class we reviewed Lincoln's 10% Plan and the 13th Amendment. We also watched the last segment of Ken Burns' The Civil War called Was it Not Real.  We looked at these notes from the segment and in our notebooks, wrote about how those might be relevant to 2016.
We spent the second part of class reviewing the essay and the exam.
For the essay, you are responsible for submitting a completed prep sheet but instead of writing the full essay, you only need to write the introductory paragraph and then choose one of the three body paragraphs to write. Look at your prep sheet and write whichever one you believe is your strongest.
The exam is 70 multiple choice questions. About half are skill based while the other half are based on the content listed in the study guide.

Coming to the End of the War

Today we'll start by finishing our deconstructed Gettysburg Address from yesterday.
Then we'll focus in on the end of the war, using Ken Burns' The Civil War to learn about Andersonville and Sherman's March. We'll go over Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural Address (using the questions you prepared for homework yesterday) and if time, look at Burns' take on Appomattox.

Here is the Study Guide for Friday's test.
Please also submit your responses to all of the Lincoln/Douglass Worksheet questions to turnitin.com.

The Gettysburg Address

On Thursday last week, we discussed the impact of the Emancipation Proclamation by watching the clips The Higher Object and Bottom Rail on Top from Ken Burns' series, The Civil War. We also read and analyzed Frederick Douglass' editorial, Men of Color to Arms.
Today, we'll look at how Lincoln responded to the events during the summer of 1863 by taking a close look at The Gettysburg Address and doing an "exploded imagery" activity that allowed us to make a new, deconstructed version of the speech.

Election Results, Lincoln Essay, Emancipation

First, we'll finish our Election journals and make time for some discussion about last night's election.
We'll then assign the Lincoln Essay and the Planning the Lincoln Essay chart.
We'll finish by looking at the Emancipation Proclamation and "A Higher Object" from the Ken Burns Civil War series.