VS.7 Overview
Civil War and Post-War Eras
The student will demonstrate knowledge of the issues that divided our nation and led to the Civil War by
- identifying the events and differences between northern and southern states that divided Virginians and led to secession, war, and the creation of West Virginia;
- describing Virginia's role in the war, including identifying major battles that took place in Virginia.
LITERATURE RESOURCES
Bains, Rae.
Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom. Troll Communications, 1990.
This easy biography tells about the life of Harriet Tubman as she overcame obstacles to achieve her plan to help free the slaves.
Beatty, Patricia & Phillip Robbins.
Eben Tyne, Powdermonkey. New York: Morrow, 1990.
A thirteen-year-old powdermonkey in the Confederate Navy joins the crew of the ironclad Merrimack in a mission to break the Union blockade of Norfolk harbor.
Denenberg, Barry.
When Will This Cruel War Be Over: The Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson. New York: Scholastic, 1996.
The diary of a fictional fourteen-year-old girl living in Gordonsville, Virginia, in which she describes the hardships endured by her family and friends during one year of the Civil War.
Fritz, Jean & Stephen Gammell.
Stonewall. Putnam Publishing Group, 1979.
A novel about Stonewall Jackson’s life that provides interesting background information about this Civil War personality.
Grabowski, Patricia.
Robert E. Lee: Confederate General. Chelsea House, 2001.
In this biography, the reader learns about the early life of Robert E. Lee and how he became the leader of the armies of the Confederacy.
Hopkinson, Deborah & Ransome James.
Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt. Random House, 1995.
The story of a young girl named Clara reveals much to the reader about life as a slave and her efforts to make it to freedom by route of the Underground Railroad.
Johnson, Nancy.
My Brother's Keeper: A Civil War Story. Camden: Down East Books, 1997.
As a young orphaned drummer boy in the Civil War, Josh Parrish joins the 20th Maine in time to be caught up in the battle for Little Round Top. The war takes him to the battlefields of Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Petersburg, and Appomattox.
McGovern, Ann.
If You Grew Up With Abraham Lincoln.
Scholastic Trade, 1976.
If you grew up with Abraham Lincoln would you have to work hard? What would your school be like? Find answers to these and many other questions in this book about Abraham Lincoln.
McKissack, Patricia.
A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl. New York: Scholastic, 1997.
In 1859 twelve-year-old Clotee, a house slave on Belmont Plantation in Virginia who must conceal the fact that she can read and write, records in her diary her experiences and her struggle to decide whether to escape to freedom. (Dear America Series)
Steel, Christy & Kerry Graves.
A Free Black Girl Before the Civil War: The Diary of Charlotte Forten, 1854.
This is an excellent book that depicts historical facts through the eyes of an African American female in the 1850s. It is written in a diary format.
TEACHER BACKROUND RESOURCES
http://www.vahistorical.org/storyofvirginia.htm
The Virginia Historical Society created this Web
site based on its long-term exhibition, The Story of Virginia: An
American Experience. The site features ten
easy-to-read, detailed chapters on Virginia history from prehistoric
times to the present. Additional enhancements, such as 100
downloadable images of artifacts, photographs, paintings, and
documents from the collections, Standards of Learning references,
chapter outlines, and suggested classroom activities, make this a comprehensive Web site on Virginia history. The site is completely searchable and includes numerous links to other
resources on the Web. The Story of Virginia-Online provides
teachers,
students, scholars, and history enthusiasts with a complete resource
for projects, research, and classroom instruction.
http://www.fredericksburg.com/CivilWar/index_html
This outstanding Web site, created by the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, has an interactive education section related to the SOLs that thoroughly presents the story of the Civil War. The site includes a number of interactive activities, such as "match the abolitionist," "name that leader," and "study the artifact," as well as pictures, music, videos, and more.
http://www.vahistory.org/reconfiguring/index.html
The Ground Beneath Our Feet: Reconfiguring Virginia is a resource about the Civil War that offers links to copies of newspapers, letters and documents, maps, images, and teaching suggestions.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/cwphome.html
The Library of Congress, American Memory Project, includes selected Civil War photographs as well as simplified time lines.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/99/railroad/
This National Geographic site lets you monitor the travels of Harriet Tubman and her support of the Underground Railroad.
http://www.lva.lib.va.us./whoweare/exhibits/political/civilwar.htm
The Library of Virginia summarizes the political life in Virginia after the Civil War and during Reconstruction.
