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An Educational Lesson Plan for United
States History
Contributed by the Journey Through Hallowed
Ground
Grade: Middle School, 5-7
Lesson Time: 1 class period
Overview:
President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation stated that as
of January 1, 1863, all slaves living in states or parts of states that had
ceded from the Union would be free. In this lesson, students will study the
Emancipation Proclamation. The lesson is meant to be a prequel to the JTHG
lesson entitled, “In His Footsteps: Former Slave George Gilmore at Montpelier” and/or
as a sequel to the JTHG lesson entitled, “In His Footsteps: General George
McClelland at Antietam.”
Lesson
Objectives: After completing
this lesson students will:
- Understand what the Emancipation Proclamation says
- Be
able to identify on a map which slaves were freed
- Understand President Lincoln’s
timing regarding its issue
Topics Covered: Emancipation
Proclamation
Time Period: 1862-1863
Essential Questions:
- What did the Emancipation Proclamation say?
- Did the
Emancipation Proclamation free all slaves? If not, how was this determined?
- Why
did President Lincoln chose to issue the Proclamation after the Battle of
Antietam?
Field Trips: This lesson can stand alone or be coordinated
with a visit to The National Park Service Antietam Battlefield and/or Montpelier,
President James Madison’s home, and the Gilmore Cabin. See our Field Trip Guide for more information on site visits.
Materials:
Lesson Outline
1. Read the Text
of The Emancipation Proclamation and summarize its contents in
a class discussion. Pass around a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation
as a graphic so students can see that the document was hand written. |
2. Hand each
student a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation Map. As a group,
discuss who was freed and who was not freed. Why the distinction? Ask
your students to speculate on what implications might this have. |
3. Finally,
discuss with your class Lincoln’s rationale for issuing the Proclamation
in September, 1862:
- Lincoln waited for a Union win on the battlefield
so that the timing would be at a period of northern military strength.
Antietam provided that timing.
- Freeing of slaves allowed African Americans
to join the Union army.
Lincoln insured that England and France
would remain neutral rather than aid the pro-slavery Confederacy.
- Lincoln
did not antagonize the border states by not freeing their slaves
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Summary and
Conclusion: Assessment of Student Understanding
For homework,
ask each student to write an essay explaining the statement that by issuing
the Emancipation Proclamation in September, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln
changed the course of the Civil War morally, militarily, and politically. |
Standards
of Learning Connections (SOL's)
USI.9c
The student will demonstrate knowledge of the causes, major events, and effects
of the Civil War by
c) identifying on a map the states that seceded from the Union and those that
remained in the Union.
USI.9d
The student will demonstrate knowledge of the causes, major events, and effects
of the Civil War by
d) describing the roles of Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant,
Robert E. Lee, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, and Frederick Douglass
in events leading to and during the war.
References
Primary documents:
Additional
Reading
We are developing a list of additional reading materials for this topic and
welcome your suggestions.
educationpage, Education, Teaching-materials, school trips, educational trips, zedu, Education-page, Theme-Land of Leadership, Period-19th Century, Standards of Learning, SOL
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