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Civil War Webquest

  

 

Introduction

The Civil War created a tremendous demand for news. The telegraph made it possible for the public to read about what happened yesterday. For the first time in our history reporters actually traveled to the front, establishing a new breed of journalist--the war correspondent.

Welcome new reporters! You are assigned to rather dangerous duty. Your beat is the battlefields of the Civil War.

 

The Task

Your assignment is to cover a battle of the Civil War from the perspective of a journalist.

Though good journalists make efforts to be impartial in their reporting of the news, the fact that you live in either the North or the South will certainly color the story you tell. It will determine the people you are able to interview. Remember that propaganda has played a part in all wars in our history and journalists have often fueled the "propaganda effort."

"The first casualty when war comes is truth." -- Senator Hiram Johnson, 1917                                

You will be using Microsoft Publisher to create a special edition newsletter reporting on the battle.

You may use the resources found on this page under Resources  or CWSAC Battle Summaries http://www2.cr.nps.gov/abpp/battles/bystate.htm.

The Process

You are to create a special edition newsletter using Microsoft Publisher.  You may include as many pages as you need in the newspaper to complete the assignment.    You have been assigned a battle as well which side you are reporting for.  As a reporter, you must remember to report the facts accurately while keeping in mind your audience. 

Your newspaper must include the following:

  • A detailed description of the major events of the battle.  This should be your main article and should be long enough for your readers to thoroughly understand this battle.
  • Include one or two photographs from Selected Civil War Photographs 1861-1865, a fantastic archive of photographs from the Library of Congress American Memory Collection. The photographs must be related to your battle.  Remember to credit the photographer in your newsletter.
  • Include at least one map of the battle to explain the action to your readers. In one of your articles explain the impact of geography on your battle. The American Memory Collection also hosts a wonderful Civil War Maps Collection!
  • The impact to your side of the war. Discuss gains and losses in terms of soldiers, equipment, etc. You may choose to discuss treatment of the injured and the dead.
  • An interview or biography of at least one of the higher-ranking officers. Actual quotes would be very impressive! Get the officer's perspective on the battle.
  • Interview  a soldier, nurse or a person who lives in the area of battle.  You may choose to get the perspective of a woman, a slave, a child, a farmer, a business person, etc.
  • Attach your Works Consulted page to the newsletter.

Though your stories MUST be historically accurate, feel free to exaggerate heroism and display bias.     Be sure to create a name and date for your paper.  You may choose any newspaper template within Microsoft Publisher.  You may add other items, articles and ads to give your newspaper a more complete look. These additional items MUST be historically accurate and pertain to the time period.

DO NOT PLAGIARIZE IN ANY WAY!!  DO NOT CUT AND PASTE!!  DO NOT RETYPE SOMEONE ELSE'S WORDS!! RETYPING SOMEONE ELSE'S WORDS IS STILL PLAGIARISM!!!

                     

Civil War WebQuest Resource Page

About.com Civil War Menu http://americanhistory.about.com/homework/americanhistory/cs/civilwarmenu/index.htm

American Civil War http://homepages.dsu.edu/jankej/civilwar/civilwar.htm

American Civil War Collections http://etext.virginia.edu/civilwar/

American Civil War Homepage http://sunsite.utk.edu/civil-war/

American Civil War Battles, Battlefields, Historic Sites http://homepages.dsu.edu/jankej/civilwar/battles.htm

Civil War Artillery Page http://www.cwartillery.org/

Civil War Center U.S. http://www.cwc.lsu.edu/

Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Systems http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss

Civil War Sites Advisory Commission: Battle Summaries http://www2.cr.nps.gov/abpp/battles/tvii.htm

Civil War Treasures from the New York Historical Society http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpcoop/nhihtml/

Civil War Women http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/women/cwdocs.html

Crisis at Fort Sumter http://www.tulane.edu/~latner/

Historical New York Times (Civil War Years) http://www.nyt.ulib.org/

Home of the American Civil War http://civilwarhome.com/

Letters Home from an Iowa Soldier http://www.civilwarletters.com/home.html

The Time of the Lincolns www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/lincolns/index.html-

Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/vshadow2/

War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/browse.monographs/waro.html

War Times Journal http://www.wtj.com/wars/civilwar/

Springfield Civil War Links http://mciunix.mciu.k12.pa.us/~spjvweb/stuameri.html#Civil%20War

US Civil War Generals http://sunsite.utk.edu/civil-war/generals.html

Images from the American Memory Collection and Smithsonian

Civil War Maps http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/cwmhtml/

For images: Selected Civil War Photographs 1861-1865

Civil War  http://civilwar.si.edu/siteindex.html

 

                              

 

Specific Battles

Crisis at Fort Sumter

Civil War Battle Summaries http://www2.cr.nps.gov/abpp/battles/bystate.htm

Antietam National Battlefield http://www.nps.gov/anti/index.htm

Antietam: A Photographic Tour http://www.westwoodgalleries.com/antietam/

Antietam on the Web http://aotw.org/

Appomattox Courthouse http://www.nps.gov/apco

Civil War in Arkansas http://civilwarbuff.org/

Bentonville Battleground http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/sections/hs/bentonvi/bentonvi.htm

Civil War @ Charleston http://www.awod.com/gallery/probono/cwchas/cwlayout.html

Chattanooga: A Road Trip Through Time http://www.mediaalchemy.com/civilwar/

Corinth: Crossroads of the Confederacy http://www.corinth.org/

Fort Scott National Historic Site http://www.nps.gov/fosc/home.htm

Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Park Visitor Center http://www.nps.gov/frsp/vc.htm

Battle of Fredericksburg http://members.aol.com/lmjarl/civwar/frdrksburg.html

Gettysburg Links http://mciu.org/~spjvweb/gettys.html

Harpers Ferry Homepage http://www.nps.gov/hafe/home.htm

Manassas National Battlefield Park http://www.nps.gov/mana/home.htm

Last Salute (Manassas) http://www.espdesigns.com/salute/

Monocacy National Battlefield http://www.nps.gov/mono/home.htm

Petersburg National Battlefield http://www.nps.gov/pete/mahan/PNBhome.html

Siege of Petersburg http://members.aol.com/siege1864/

Pickett's Mill Battlefield Historic Site http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Rhodes/8540/pickettsmillpg.html

Richmond National Battlefield http://www.nps.gov/rich/home.htm

Civil War in the Shenandoah Valley: 1863-1865 (New Market, Piedmont, Kernstown, Winchester) http://www.rockingham.k12.va.us/EMS/Civil_War_in_the_Shenandoah/Civil_War_in_the_Shenandoah.htm

Vicksburg National Military Park Home http://www.nps.gov/vick/home.htm

Wilson's Creek National Battlefield http://www.nps.gov/wicr

Battle of the Wilderness http://home.att.net/~hallowed-ground/wilderness_tour.html

Monitor & Merrimac Naval War - American the Civil War

                    

Extras

Civil War Generals

Civil War Nurses

Spotlight- Biography - The Civil War

Civil War Cartoons

Civil War Battlefield Medicine

Civil War Women -

Weapons of the Civil War

        

 

 

Evaluation

 
  Criteria  Poor 0-10 Adequate 11-20 Good 21-30 Exemplary 31-40 Total Score
Content of Newspaper Newspaper is historically accurate and covers the major events and importance of the battle          
Creativity Students' writing is clever and engaging. S/he used the format of the newsletter to convey the feeling of the battle and give the reader a sense of the time.          
Understanding of Perspective (voice) Student maintains the perspective (voice) of a reporter of the north or south consistently through their writing.          
Documentation (do not submit without documentation.  You will not receive a grade) Student uses a variety of high quality resources and incorporates appropriate documents and visuals into their work.  Student documented all sources appropriately in Works Consulted page.          
Following directions, using time wisely in lab Student follows directions, stays on task in lab, completes project on time          

Conclusion

You have been engaged in exploring history through the perspective of a "player" on one side of the great historic debate that was our nation's Civil War.

History is essentially the story of people and all people have perspectives. Perspective is the place where you stand relative to what you are viewing. By analyzing multiple interests and values, we develop a richer understanding how people really lived and of the great issues of our past.

How we view our history may well determine how we perceive the present.

"The only way in which a human being can make some approach to knowing the whole of a subject is by hearing what can be said about it by persons of every variety of opinion and studying all modes in which it can be looked at by every character of mind. No wise man ever acquired his wisdom in any mode but this." John Stuart Mill