Creating a Blueprint for
History and Social Science
Education
Advancing Instruction,
Assessment, Student
Learning, Literacy, and
Engagement
Abraham Lincoln, half-length portrait, facing right,
probably 1858, printed later. Source: Library of
Congress.
The California History-Social
Science Project and
The History Blueprint Initiative
Partners and Affiliates
Blueprint Civil War Unit Team
California
History-Social
Science Content
Standards
• Compare interpretations of state & federal authority
• Trace boundaries and geographical differences
between North and South
• Identify constitutional issues of nullification and
secession
• Discuss Lincoln’s presidency and significant
writings & speeches
Common Core
Reading and
Writing
Standards
• Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis
• Determine central ideas or information of primary or
secondary source
• Identify aspects of a text that reveal author’s point of
view or purpose
Historical
Disciplinary
Skills
• Evaluate fact and opinion
• Differentiate between primary and secondary sources
• Identify bias and loaded language
• Analyze perspective
Historical Focus Question:
Was the Civil War a war for freedom?
“Am I Not a Man and a Brother?” Woodcut image from an 1837 broadside
publication of John Greenleaf Whittier's antislavery poem, "Our
Countrymen in Chains." Source: Library of Congress,
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2008661312/
Life in Camp Cameron, Washington, DC. May 1861.
Photographer: Matthew Brady. Source: Library of
Congress http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2010647707/
Third Draft of
Civil War Unit
Lessons:
The Road to War
Secession
Strategies & Battles
Perspectives
Lincoln’s Speeches
Emancipation
Effects of the War
Final Assessment
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Louisa May Alcott
Ella Gertrude Clanton Thomas
Jefferson Davis
Frederick Douglass
Harriet A. Jacobs
Robert E. Lee
Robert Smalls
George Templeton Strong
Clinton Hatcher
Michael F. Rinker
Charles Berry, Senior
John P. Wilson
Oliver Wilcox North
Susie King Taylor
Historical Figures
Jefferson Davis (1808-1889)
Secondary Source:
Jefferson Davis was born in Kentucky on June 3,
1808 and is famous for serving as the president of
the Confederacy during the Civil War. After
graduating from West Point Military Academy, he
served …
Primary Source:
Jefferson Davis, seated, facing front, during
portrait session at Davis' home Beauvoir, near
Biloxi, Mississippi, c 1865. Edward L. Wilson,
Photographer. Source: Library of Congress,
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2009633710/
Excerpt from Davis’ Farewell Speech in the
Senate Chamber, U.S. Capitol, January 21, 1861
It is known to Senators who have served with
me here, that I have for many years advocated,
as an essential attribute of State sovereignty, the
right of a State to secede from the Union. . .
Secession . . . is to be justified upon the basis that
the States are sovereign. There was a time when
none denied it. I hope the time may come again,
when … the inalienable rights of the people of
the States, will prevent any one from denying
that each State is a sovereign….
Lincoln’s Speeches
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“House Divided”
Speech
First Inaugural
Address
Emancipation
Proclamation
Gettysburg Address
Second Inaugural
Address
Why did Lincoln fight?
What does the Gettysburg Address tell us about
Lincoln’s reasons for war?
The Gettysburg
Address
Sentence Deconstruction: The Gettysburg Address
Analyzing the Gettysburg Address
Making an
Interpretation:
How did Lincoln’s
reasons for fighting
the war change over
time?
Part A: Making an Interpretation: How did Lincoln’s reasons for fighting
change over time?
Here are three “interpretation starters.” Discuss them with your group,
select the starter that best fits your interpretation, and fill in the blanks.
Then write your interpretation in the space below.
1. In the beginning, Lincoln argued that the reason for fighting was
____________ ____________________________, but by the end of the war,
his reason(s) had changed to
___________________________________________.
2. In all of his speeches, Lincoln had the same reason(s) for fighting the war,
which was ___________________ _____________________________________.
3. In the beginning, Lincoln argued that the reason for fighting was
____________ ________________________, but by the end of the war, he
added a reason(s), which was (were)
__________________________________________.
Focus Question: How did Lincoln’s reasons for fighting change over time?
Interpretation:
___________________________________________________________________
EVIDENCE GATHERING CHART
EVIDENCE
Use “quotation”
marks
Use ellipses (…) to
take out parts of
sentences
Beginning:
What was Lincoln’s reason(s)
for fighting the war in the
beginning? (House Divided or
First Inaugural)
Point of Change: When and
how did Lincoln’s reason(s) for
fighting the war change?
End:
What was Lincoln’s reason(s)
for fighting the war in the end?
(Gettysburg Address & Second
Inaugural)
ANALYSIS
What does this
mean?
This means that …
(explanation of
evidence)
RELEVANCE
How does this
support your
interpretation?
This relates to
________
(interpretation)
because …
SOURCE
Write down your
citation
information
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Pilot unit in 8th-grade
classrooms – Spring
2012
New units in world
and U.S. history
Future Plans
Contact Information
Shennan Hutton:
[email protected] or [email protected]
530.752.0572
Websites
History Blueprint:
historyblueprint.ucdavis.edu
CHSSP Statewide Office:
chssp.ucdavis.edu, csmp.ucop.edu/chssp (see videos)