The Theaters of the Civil War

          The Civil War was divided into three sections, or "theaters"; they were the east, the west, and the naval theater. When a battle was fought one thing that was looked at was what theater it was in. In class we learned about battles in different theaters by doing a scavenger type activity. Each student researched a specific battle and wrote down where the battle took place, who won the battle, what theater it was in, and details about the battle on a shareable google document. Every student then put up a QR code, that sent you to the notes for the battle, in different places around the school and the class spent a couple days going around getting information for all battles researched. After this we came together and discussed trends and who won each theater on a padlet.

Created with Padlet

          The results of each theater relate to the ultimate winner of the war, the north. In the west, from the beginning of the war, the union dominated. Using their overpowering numbers they were able to overwhelm the confederate armies and push farther and deeper into the south. Also with lack of basic resources like ammunition and food the confederates had they were unable to withstand the union attack. In the eastern theater it was pretty even for who won it. In the beginning the confederacy controlled the eastern theater. With their tactic of just waiting and defending, their job was to just make sure that the union didn't advance of have a decisive win, and if this happened they considered it a win. But, as the war progressed the ammunition and other supplies was dwindling for the confederates and they did not have enough manufacturing to make more quick enough, so the union began to take control of the eastern theater by the end of the war. For the naval theater the clear winner was the union. Before the war even began, the union had a strong and established naval army which helped them succeed throughout the war. Looking at the success of the union in all three theaters it makes a lot of sense that they were the eventual victors of the war.

http://quizlet.com/17153995/civil-war-and-reconstruction-flash-cards/

            Throughout the war some commonalities were very apparent. For the union in all battles that they over numbered the confederacy in, they usually ended up being the victor. Another commonality was in most of the battles the confederates ran out of either food, ammunition, or both. For the confederates most of their wins came when the union wasn't expecting an attack. Wether it was an ambush or just the union wasn't expecting the confederates few wins came usually when the union wasn't prepared. These were the commonalities that were present during the Civil War.

       

Morality of Slavery in Early America

          In the 19th century, as the United States started to grow economically, slavery started to become entrenched inside the United States. In 1790 there were 690,000 slaves in America and they were located in the Chesapeake area and the Carolinas. Also during 1790 only 1.5 million pounds of cotton were produced, and it was considered an insignificant part of the nation's economy. However, by 1860 3.954 million were spread out throughout the nation, mostly in the south. And, in 1860 cotton accounted for 57% of the nations total export revenue, 2.28 billion pounds were produced, and it was valued at $191.8 million. This was no coincidence that both of these were increasing around the same time; they came hand in hand. Another part that contributed to both was the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney. This made farming cotton a lot easier, so more production of cotton called for more slaves to work the fields. An interactive map shows the increase of both cotton production and slave population. The south was where cotton was produced, so they depended on slaves. In the north slaves were mostly used as servants, but the textile mills in the north needed the cotton from the south. This shows that the whole economy relied on slavery and cotton production.

          The system used for slavery where it was based on race affects human dignity because it implies that just because of the color of your skin you are automatically considered more or less than another human being. From the beginning of slavery in the Americas, African Americans were told they were less than the whites. Through verbal and physical assault from the whites, the African Americans started to believe this. Then, the government started creating laws that degraded slaves even more. In Article 1, Section 9, Clause 1 of the Founder's Constitution it states "The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person." This is saying that before 1808 importing slaves would not be taxed, but after 1808 they could be, but it could not exceed $10 for each slave. This is putting a price tag on a human being which is taking away their dignity. With laws like these African American slaves were never given a chance to think that they were equal.

          This system of race ignores the liberty and equality of all men and women.  It forces people to think that they are either inferior or superior to others around them. It also created people, who think they are superior, to think of excuses that makes it seem that they are not objectifying a specific race. One example was in George Fitzhugh's "Cannibals All!" he states "The Negro slaves of the South are the happiest, and, in some sense, the freest people in the world." By saying this he shows how ignorant he and all of his followers are for coming up with a statement that covers the truth. Him saying that the slaves were more free than the whites is like if I said that animals in zoos are more free than humans like you and I. With comments like these made by the southerners, the honesty and compassion in whites from the south disappeared as the desire for wealth and greed flourished.

Interactive map:

http://mappinghistory.uoregon.edu/english/US/US18-00.html

Understanding History Through Art

          For the election of 1860, instead of using usual documents and notes to learn about this crucial point in American history, we looked at art. Using the "The Civil War in Art" website we gathered information, and created a presentation about the election of 1860 using educreations. The election was one of the most crucial elections in the history of the United States. With the debate over slavery reaching a boiling point and war being seen as the only resolution, everyone knew that the outcome of the election would ultimately decide how soon the war would begin. With Abraham Lincoln (against slavery) winning the election the separation of the nation began. As southern states seceded one after the other, Lincoln's attempts to convince them to join the nation again seemed futile and war was imminent. As all of these events unfolded and the war began the public looked to artists for news on the situation. Through art artists were able to tell stories about the war. It was also an easy way for the public to catch up on the latest events. As the war progressed art became more and more popular for a way to get news.

https://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/the-election-of-1860/30122342/?s=rTwIFC&ref=app