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NCSS.D2.His.1.9-12. Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts. NCSS.D2.His.2.9-12. Analyze change and continuity in historical eras. NCSS.D2.His.3.9-12. Use questions generated about individuals and groups to assess how the significance of their actions changes over time and is shaped by the historical context. NCSS.D2.His.4.9-12. Analyze complex and interacting factors that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras. NCSS.D2.His.14.9-12. Analyze multiple and complex causes and effects of events in the past. NCSS.D2.His.15.9-12. Distinguish between long-term causes and triggering events in developing a historical argument. NCSS.D2.His.16.9-12. Integrate evidence from multiple relevant historical sources and interpretations into a reasoned argument about the past.
This lesson will feature Lincoln's rise to national prominence as the Republican Party's preeminent anti-slavery spokesman. In the activities below, students will contrast Lincoln's ideas with those of two abolitionists, two southern Democrats, and a northern Democrat. They will also compare and contrast the platforms of the Republican Party, the two branches of the Democratic Party, and the Constitutional Union Party during the election of 1860. The above PBS documentary examines Lincoln's election to the Presidency and the start of his first term in office (1860-1862). Review the activities, then locate and bookmark websites and primary documents (included in the PDFs for this lesson) that you will use.
The PDFs created for this lesson contain the text of speeches, writings, and platforms, as well as textual analysis worksheets and compare-and-contrast matrices, which students will use to help them understand and organize the material. The resources that are contained in the PDFs can be downloaded, printed, and given to students for use in the classroom or as homework. If your students lack experience in dealing with primary sources, you might use one or more preliminary exercises to help them develop these skills. The Learning Page at the American Memory Project of the Library of Congress includes a set of such activities. Another useful resource is the Educator Resources of the National Archives, which features a set of Document Analysis Worksheets.
Divide the class into four groups. All groups (1-4) will read selections from Lincoln's speeches and writings. Then each group will be given the writings or speeches of one additional political or social figure to contrast with those of Lincoln. The group assignments are as follows.
Students will read the primary texts and then answer the questions for each source. The questions are designed to show points of agreement or disagreement between the two figures in regard to the federal union, the Constitution, and the future of American slavery. The task of each group will be to read the information in the documents, discuss the questions, and come to a group consensus on the answers to the questions. Each group will appoint one or two students to speak for the group. After they have been given a sufficient amount of time, they will reassemble as a class and each group will share what it has learned with the rest of the class. Note: All of the speeches and writings used below are also available in the PDFs, along with the accompanying textual analysis worksheets and compare-and-contrast matrices, for downloading, printing and distributing to students. All Groups (1-4): Abraham Lincoln Political CartoonHave all students read the following documents and answer the corresponding questions on pages 1-3 of the PDF. Group 1 Assignment: William Lloyd GarrisonHave students read the following documents and answer the corresponding questions on pages 4-6 of the PDF: After Group 1 has completed the textual analysis worksheet for each of the primary source documents, have them complete the Compare-and-Contrast Matrix for Lincoln and Garrison, provided on page 7 of the PDF. Group 2 Assignment: Frederick DouglassHave students in Group 2 read the following documents and answer the corresponding questions on pages 1-3 of the PDF: After Group 2 has completed the textual analysis worksheet for each of the primary source documents, have them complete the Compare-and-Contrast Matrix for Lincoln and Douglass, provided on page 11 of the PDF. Group 3 Assignment: Stephen A. Douglas: Leader of the Northern Democrats Political CartoonHave students in Group 3 read the following documents and answer the corresponding questions on pages 1-3 of this PDF. After Group 3 has completed the textual analysis worksheet for each of the primary source documents, have them complete the Compare-and-Contrast Matrix for Lincoln and Douglas, provided on page 4 of this PDF. Group 4 Assignment: Southern Democrats: Jefferson Davis and William Lowndes YanceyHave students in Group 4 read the following documents and answer the corresponding questions on pages 1-3 of this PDF. After Group 4 has completed the textual analysis worksheet for each of the primary source documents, have them complete the Compare-and-Contrast Matrix for Lincoln and Davis/Yancey, provided on page 4 of this PDF. Activity 2. Comparing the Republican Party Platform with the Other Party Platforms of 1860Groups 1-4 will now contrast the Republican Party platform with the platforms of both factions of the Democratic Party and the Constitutional Union Party. Have students read the platforms and answer the corresponding questions on pages 1-3 of the PDF.
Students will use the matrix provided on this PDF to demonstrate their knowledge of the differences between Abraham Lincoln and the others in this lesson regarding the American union, the U.S. Constitution, and slavery. Have students write a paragraph explaining one of the following ironies listed below:
Ask students to grapple with the looming divide of the Union by giving a paragraph answer to each of the following questions:
Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) was a Supreme Court decision that held that Dred Scott, a slave, was not freed by virtue of his master taking him to reside for a while in the free state of Illinois and free territory of Wisconsin. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney added that Congress had no constitutional authority to enact the 1820 Missouri Compromise, which outlawed slavery in federal territory north of the 36º30' parallel. This meant Congress could not legislate regarding slavery in the territories, which raised a hue and cry throughout the free states of the North. For more details about Dred Scott's life and Chief Justice Roger B. Taney's reasoning in his majority opinion, see the EDSITEment-reviewed websites Africans in America: Dred Scott's Fight for Freedom Decision of the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott Case at, and Africans in America: Dred Scott case: the Supreme Court decision. John Brown's Raid at Harpers Ferry (1859)—John Brown (1800–1859) was a radical abolitionist who took the fight against slavery literally into his own hands. First, in retaliation against slaveholders who terrorized settlers in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1855, he and four of his sons and two accomplices killed five slaveholders in what became known as "Bleeding Kansas." Second, he attempted to foment a slave insurrection by seizing a federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in October 1859. Col. Robert E. Lee led a company of U.S. Marines to capture Brown, who was then tried and eventually hanged on December 2. Frederick Douglass said of John Brown, "His zeal in the cause of my race was far greater than mine. I could live for the slave, but he could die for him." For more details about how John Brown's raid of the Harpers Ferry armory shaped American attitudes in the year before the 1860 election, see the EDSITEment-reviewed website John Brown and the Underground Railroad. 1860 Platforms Compared: Additional, Specific Questions (a) Have students read the Republican Party Platform (Abraham Lincoln, Chicago, May 16, 1860) found in the PDF for this lesson and at the EDSITEment-reviewed website American Memory: An American Time Capsule, and answer the following questions, which address primarily the first ten resolutions:
(b) Have students read the Democratic Party Platform (Stephen A. Douglas and the Northern Democrats, Baltimore Convention, June 18, 1860) found in the PDF for this lesson and at the EDSITEment-reviewed link Avalon Project at Yale Law School: Democratic Party Platform, and answer the following questions:
(c) Have students read the Democratic Party Platform (John C. Breckenridge and the Southern Democrats, Richmond Convention, June 1860), found in the PDF for this lesson, and answer the following questions:
(d) Have students read the Constitutional Union Party Platform (John Bell, Baltimore Convention, 1860), found in the PDF for this lesson (and in the Assessment for teacher review), and answer the questions that follow:
The Crittenden Compromise (December 18, 1860), named for Kentucky Senator John J. Crittenden, was a last ditch effort to prevent state "secessions" from the Union through constitutional amendments and resolutions. These reinstated the 36º30' parallel by extending it formally to the California border and guaranteeing slavery's existence below parallel while forbidding slavery north of the parallel, and strengthened the federal government's authority to return fugitive slaves to their owners. Lincoln opposed the compromise as the incoming Republican president, and it failed to pass both the House of Representatives and the Senate. For more details about the Crittenden Compromise, see the EDSITEment-reviewed weblink Crisis at Fort Sumter: Dilemmas of Compromise (click "December 18" on the calendar for a brief description, and then click "compromise plan" for the text of Crittenden's proposed amendments and resolutions). Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address—For Lincoln's explanation of his intentions as the incoming president of a nation where seven states had already declared their separation from the federal union, see the final printed version of Lincoln's First Inaugural Address at EDSITEment-reviewed weblink The Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress, and the EDSITEment lesson entitled We Must Not Be Enemies: Lincoln's First Inaugural Address. Frederick Douglass's 1876 "Oration in Memory of Abraham Lincoln"—To read what is arguably the most astute appraisal of Abraham Lincoln's statesmanship by a contemporary, have students read the following excerpt from Frederick Douglass's "Oration in Memory of Abraham Lincoln" (April 16, 1876) found at the EDSITEment-reviewed link, The Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress (read page 42 of the 50-page document).
Selected EDSITEment Websites
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