Unit 4: Civil War and Reconstruction
Chapters:
10-12, 16.3
Essential Questions
1) Which is more important- individual liberties or preservation of a nation?
2) To what extent is it possible to eradicate feelings of prejudice and discrimination towards a group of people?
3) What are some long-term effects of the Civil War and emancipation?
4) How do historical interpretations of the Civil War differ, depending on the geographical location?
The War with Mexico
Concepts
Manifest destiny
Annex
Gadsen Purchase
Wilmot Proviso
Topics
-Mexican War: Causes and
Effects
-Bear Flag Revolt
-Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo:
Provisions
-New Territory Added to
America: Causes and Effects
-Slavery: Questions Raised as a
Result of New Territory
People
James K. Polk
Zachary Taylor
Santa Anna
A Nation Divided
Concepts
Popular sovereignty
Free soilers
Lower South
Upper South
Secessionists
Confederate States of America
Nullification
States’ rights
Topics
-Uncle Tom’s Cabin: Significance
-Slavery: Arguments for and
against
-Differences between the North
and the South
-Missouri Compromise
-Compromise of 1850
-Kansas-Nebraska Act
-Creation of the Republican
Party: Causes and Effects
-“Bleeding Kansas”
-The Dred Scott Decision:
Significance
-The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
-Election of 1860
-Formation of the Confederate
States of America
People
John C. Calhoun
Henry Clay
Stephen Douglas
Abraham Lincoln
Dred Scott
John Brown
The Civil War
Concepts
Union
Confederacy
Draft
Copperheads
Writ of habeas corpus
Siege
Topics
-North and South:
Strengths/Weaknesses, Military
Strategy, Financing the War
-Important Battles: Bull Run,
Shiloh, Antietam, Fredericksburg,
Chancellorsville, Gettysburg,
Vicksburg
-The Emancipation Proclamation
-The Gettysburg Address
-African-American Soldiers in the
Civil War
-Hardships Faced by Troops and
Civilians
-Prison Camps and Medial Care
-Sherman’s March to the Sea:
Devastation of the South
-13th Amendment
-Surrender at Appomattox
Courthouse
-Lincoln’s Assassination
People
Ulysses S. Grant
Robert E. Lee
Abraham Lincoln
William Tecumseh Sherman
Jefferson Davis
Reconstruction
Concepts
Reconstruction
Radical Republicans
Freedmen’s Bureau
Black codes
Civil rights
Impeach
Carpetbaggers
Scalawags
Sharecropping
Tenant farming
Infrastructure
Compromise of 1877
Topics
-Hardships in the South
-Debate: Punish or Pardon the
South?
-Lincoln’s Reconstruction Plan
-Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan
-14th and 15th Amendments
-President Johnson’s
Impeachment
-Election of President Grant
-Changes in Southern Farming:
Causes and Effects
-Rise of the Ku Klux Klan
-End of Reconstruction: Causes
and Effects
People
Andrew Johnson
Ulysses S. Grant
The World of Jim Crow
Concepts
Poll tax
Grandfather clause
Segregation
Jim Crow laws
Lynching
NAACP
Topics
-Plessy vs. Ferguson
-“Separate but equal”
-Purpose: Poll taxes, literacy
tests, grandfather clause
-New approaches to race
problems
“I Can” Statements: Over the course of the unit, place a check mark next to the statements that are true for you. This will allow you to better prepare for unit
assessments.
I Can:
_____ Understand the causes and effects of the War with Mexico. 16.A.4a
_____ Trace the political rise of Abraham Lincoln and discuss his historical significance. 16.A.4b
_____ Identify how slavery affected national politics in this period. 16.D.4a
_____ Discuss how the election of 1860 demonstrated the split between the North and the South. 16.A.4b
_____ Discuss the two views concerning slavery (Northern view and Southern view). 16.D.4a
_____ Compare and contrast the differences between the North and the South (i.e. economic, social, political). 16.A.4b
_____ Identify and discuss the various compromises that were reached prior to the start of the Civil War. 16.A.4b
_____ Identify and discuss the causes of the Civil War. 16.A.4a
_____ Identify and discuss various battles of the Civil War, specifically the significance of each battle to the overall Civil War.
16.A.4a
_____ Identify and discuss the effects of the Civil War on soldiers, women, and African Americans. 16.A.4a
_____ Identify and discuss the strategies for winning the war. 16.A.4b
_____ Explain why the South was eventually defeated in the Civil War. 16.A.4B
_____ Debate answers to the following question: “Was the Civil War unavoidable?” 16.A.5a
_____ Compare and contrast Lincoln and Johnson’s plans for Reconstruction. 16.A.4a
_____ Identify the ways in which former slaves began to rebuild their lives after the Civil War. 16.D.4a
_____ Explain the significance of the following amendments: 13th, 14th, and 15th. 16.A.5a
_____ Discuss the successes and failures of Reconstruction. 16.A.5a
Common Core 9-10 Reading Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies (RH)
Key Ideas and Details
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to
such features as the date and origin of the information.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate
summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.3 Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later
ones or simply preceded them.
Craft and Structure
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary
describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.5 Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.6 Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics,
including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.7 Integrate quantitative or technical analysis (e.g., charts, research data) with qualitative analysis in
print or digital text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.8 Assess the extent to which the reasoning and evidence in a text support the author’s claims.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.9 Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.10 By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 9–10 text
complexity band independently and proficiently.
Common Core 9-10 Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies (WHST)
Text Types and Purposes
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.1 Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.1a Introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and
create an organization that establishes clear relationships among the claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.1b Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly, supplying data and evidence for each while pointing
out the strengths and limitations of both claim(s) and counterclaims in a discipline-appropriate form and in a manner that anticipates
the audience’s knowledge level and concerns.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.1c Use words, phrases, and clauses to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and
clarify the relationships between claim(s) and reasons, between reasons and evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.1d Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and
conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.1e Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from or supports the argument
presented.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.2 Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific
procedures/ experiments, or technical processes.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.2a Introduce a topic and organize ideas, concepts, and information to make important
connections and distinctions; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding
comprehension.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.2b Develop the topic with well-chosen, relevant, and sufficient facts, extended definitions,
concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.2c Use varied transitions and sentence structures to link the major sections of the text, create
cohesion, and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.2d Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to manage the complexity of the topic
and convey a style appropriate to the discipline and context as well as to the expertise of likely readers.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.2e Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and
conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.2f Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or
explanation presented (e.g., articulating implications or the significance of the topic).
Common Core 9-10 Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies Continued… (WHST)
Production and Distribution of Writing
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.5 Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a
new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared
writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and
dynamically.
Research to Build and Present Knowledge
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.7 Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a selfgenerated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject,
demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.8 Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using
advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research question; integrate information into the
text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.9 Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Range of Writing
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for reflection and revision) and shorter time
frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Note
Students’ narrative skills continue to grow in these grades. The Standards require that students be able to incorporate narrative
elements effectively into arguments and informative/explanatory texts. In history/social studies, students must be able to incorporate
narrative accounts into their analyses of individuals or events of historical import. In science and technical subjects, students must be
able to write precise enough descriptions of the step-by-step procedures they use in their investigations or technical work that others
can replicate them and (possibly) reach the same results.