Civil War & Reconstruction Online Course

Dickinson College / Gilder Lehrman Institute

Author: tmyers

Soldier’s Letters

By

On August 6, 2012

In Discussion, Primary Sources, Word Clouds

Every time I listen to a lecture, attend a conference, find new material and new ways of thinking about the Civil War I have to rethink how I teach it.  I only have two weeks, maybe three at the most if I stretch it, to teach the Civil War from start to finish including what led up to it.  How to choose the most important parts to teach and then how to effectively teach them is a real struggle for me.  I find that students tend to remember things much better when emotion is attached to whatever they are learning.  I have been moved to tears a few times when reading soldiers’ letters home over the last few days and I think this is a valuable tool.

Soldier's_LetterI decided to do my Wordle experiment with the words of a very sweet love letter from a soldier to his wife.  I thought this might be a good introduction to both Wordle and the real experiences of war as seen from the primary sources of letters written by soldiers of both sides of the war.

This is something I intend to use.  I think the emotion from the voices of the soldiers tell the story of the war very well.  As I have read in more than one place, how great it is that during the Civil War there was no censorship of the soldiers’ letters so we can see the honest feelings of the men.  My sudents will connect with this.

Mary Todd – A lucky woman

By

On August 6, 2012

In Discussion

This is just pure reflection. Of course having listened to the lectures and read the additional documents, watched the guest speakers, etc. Lincoln is on my mind. I love him. I think I am one of his biggest fans. I think of what it must have been like to be married to such an extraordinary man. I imagine their dinner conversations or even private conversations when they retire for the evening, and I am envious of such a lucky woman to be able to actually just listen to Abraham. However, like many married women, Mary did a lot of “retail therapy” to try to make herself happy because she was apparently not so. I guess, sadly for my romantic side, the Lincolns did not share a relationship like the Adams. What a missed opportunity. I imagine the President when he finally relaxes at night, if he was able to, sharing his real and private thoughts with his wife. How amazing would that be? I believe and am totally convinced that Lincoln ALWAYS hated slavery. He said so himself. I believe the war was about slavery. He said it in the Second Inaugural Address and I believe it was ALWAYS about slavery. Of course it was also about preserving the Union. Lincoln loved this experiement in government and could not stand the idea that it could fail. But he also hated slavery. Was he racist? Perhaps to some degree – especially by today’s standards, however he evolved like all of us do as we learn more and have more life experiences. I think we often, especially in elementary levels, see students who just think of Lincoln as a good honest president who freed the slaves. But he was SO much more than that. He was shrewd. He was brilliant. He was a great politician and he seemed to know exactly when to say what to achieve the results he really wanted. I am so glad we have awesome historians who dig deep into subjects and then share the knowledge they acquire. It makes me feel like I know Abraham Lincoln just a little bit.

Exciting and overwhelming

By

On July 31, 2012

In Discussion, Online Learning

While reading and, as mentioned above, digging in – I am struck by how vast the amount of super cool resources there are available to us all.  I find myself going to one place to begin reading, and seeing a link to something else that looks interesting and going there, soon to be five pages away from my original intent.  All of the things I find are relevant and I find so much I want to use and share in my classroom with my students.  My problem is, how  do I narrow it all down and really find the meat that is the most important to be shared.  I liked it when Matt said if you only have one day to teach John Brown, make sure you teach this.  That helps a lot.  I have so much to teach in such short time periods that I feel like I am rushing through really valuable and exciting material all the time.  Because of the standards and focus of powers that be, I am limited on the time I can take.

As has been mentioned, I want to take the time with my students to teach them to research and problem solve – using the content of sites such as House Divided and Gilder Lehrman.  I need to figure out how to design lesson plans and units that get them to do this.  School starts in a couple weeks and I want to have some dynamic lesson plans in place and ready to start off with a bang.  UGH!!  I’m feeling the pressure.  After this week I will have several from all of us regarding the Civil War, Lincoln, Underground Railroad, and Reconstruction.  But I don’t teach that until after Winter break.  I have much to do.

One more comment, I really find the essay regarding the Underground Railroad fascinating and helpful to look at from a perspective I never have.  I see how the differences in the North and South would have greatly affected the punishments, risks, etc of those working the underground railroad.  And equally fascinating is the fact that because of States’ Rights which I always teach as a Southern emphasis and part of the reason for war, were just as exercised in the North.  That makes it a very interesting discussion to have with the students.  Great information.

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén