Mini-lesson:
You might choose to present this lesson using classroom materials so there is a cross-over between your classroom work and the work students will be doing on their NHD projects. If so, create a contextual timeline for your event to share with your students. The timeline provided here is on the topic of The Emancipation Proclamation, compiled by Scholastic.
1850: Compromise of 1850 effected between antislavery and proslavery factions. It brought California into the union as a free state while Texas was admitted as a slave state. It also abolished the slave trade from the District of Columbia, though it was still legal to own slaves there. The compromise also states that New Mexico and Utah would decide for themselves on whether they would be slave or free states when they joined the Union. Finally, a new fugitive slave law made it a crime for anyone to help an escaped slave.
1854: Republican Party formed.
1856: Civil war in Kansas over slavery issue.
1857: Dred Scott decision by Supreme Court legalizes slavery in U.S. territories.
1858: Senatorial candidates Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas debate slavery in Illinois.
1859: Abolitionist John Brown leads raid at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, and is hanged.
1860: Lincoln elected president; South Carolina secedes from Union.
1861: Civil War begins with firing on Fort Sumter in South Carolina.
1862: President Lincoln drafts Emancipation Proclamation
1863: Emancipation Proclamation issued; Battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg.
1864 Sherman's army marches to the sea in Georgia.
1865: Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox, Virginia; Lincoln assassinated; Andrew Johnson succeeds him as President; 13th Amendment, prohibiting slavery, ratified.
1868: 14th Amendment is ratified, granting citizenship to former slaves.
Obviously, with a topic related to the Civil War, a timeline could be created in much greater depth, but too much detail can be overwhelming. In addition, if students choose to include a timeline on their exhibit or website, each word counts toward the word limit, so caution your students about being too wordy with their timeline. (A timeline can be quoted, thus eliminating it from the word count, but no changes can be made from the original timeline, and it must be cited just as any quote would be).
Point out to students that the timeline begins several years prior to the Emancipation Proclamation, and ends several years after. This helps build historical context. We can see the causes and the effects on the timeline.
Beyond dates and events on a timeline, asking questions about the climate surrounding their event will students understand both contest and cause and effect. Doing background research can help students understand the event better. The sheet linked below will pose questions for students to answer to better understand their issue.
Homework:
Have students build a timeline of their event. (If you have students who are focusing on a person, have them look at the important events of that individual’s life, including world events.) Determine the number of entries students should have based on the age and abilities of your class. They can draw their timeline, create it digitally, or use a web-based service like timeline maker from softschools (easy to use) or http://timerime.com/ (more complicated but also looks really cool)
Also have students begin work on the Building Historical Contest worksheet. This will be a work in progress as they continue their research because they will learn new things as they go.
You might choose to present this lesson using classroom materials so there is a cross-over between your classroom work and the work students will be doing on their NHD projects. If so, create a contextual timeline for your event to share with your students. The timeline provided here is on the topic of The Emancipation Proclamation, compiled by Scholastic.
1850: Compromise of 1850 effected between antislavery and proslavery factions. It brought California into the union as a free state while Texas was admitted as a slave state. It also abolished the slave trade from the District of Columbia, though it was still legal to own slaves there. The compromise also states that New Mexico and Utah would decide for themselves on whether they would be slave or free states when they joined the Union. Finally, a new fugitive slave law made it a crime for anyone to help an escaped slave.
1854: Republican Party formed.
1856: Civil war in Kansas over slavery issue.
1857: Dred Scott decision by Supreme Court legalizes slavery in U.S. territories.
1858: Senatorial candidates Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas debate slavery in Illinois.
1859: Abolitionist John Brown leads raid at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, and is hanged.
1860: Lincoln elected president; South Carolina secedes from Union.
1861: Civil War begins with firing on Fort Sumter in South Carolina.
1862: President Lincoln drafts Emancipation Proclamation
1863: Emancipation Proclamation issued; Battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg.
1864 Sherman's army marches to the sea in Georgia.
1865: Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox, Virginia; Lincoln assassinated; Andrew Johnson succeeds him as President; 13th Amendment, prohibiting slavery, ratified.
1868: 14th Amendment is ratified, granting citizenship to former slaves.
Obviously, with a topic related to the Civil War, a timeline could be created in much greater depth, but too much detail can be overwhelming. In addition, if students choose to include a timeline on their exhibit or website, each word counts toward the word limit, so caution your students about being too wordy with their timeline. (A timeline can be quoted, thus eliminating it from the word count, but no changes can be made from the original timeline, and it must be cited just as any quote would be).
Point out to students that the timeline begins several years prior to the Emancipation Proclamation, and ends several years after. This helps build historical context. We can see the causes and the effects on the timeline.
Beyond dates and events on a timeline, asking questions about the climate surrounding their event will students understand both contest and cause and effect. Doing background research can help students understand the event better. The sheet linked below will pose questions for students to answer to better understand their issue.
Homework:
Have students build a timeline of their event. (If you have students who are focusing on a person, have them look at the important events of that individual’s life, including world events.) Determine the number of entries students should have based on the age and abilities of your class. They can draw their timeline, create it digitally, or use a web-based service like timeline maker from softschools (easy to use) or http://timerime.com/ (more complicated but also looks really cool)
Also have students begin work on the Building Historical Contest worksheet. This will be a work in progress as they continue their research because they will learn new things as they go.
