Procedures

• SET UP

  This lesson offers several options for you to use with your students whether you are teaching in class, using a hybrid model, or engaging through distance learning. It can be completed in steps as a class or students can move at their own pace and complete the activities independently.

  You can post links to the videos in the lesson along with the related handouts and engage in discussion to share responses on a discussion board or learning management system.

  You can also save and share the following Google resources for students to use with this lesson.

  Handout: Optional Vocabulary Chart (Google Doc).

  Handout: Choice Board (Google Slides).

  In Google, choose "File" then "Make a Copy" to get your own copy. You can make any needed adjustments in the instructions such as which activities students need to complete, when it is due, etc. and then make it available to them via Google.

• WARM UP

  Pose the following brainstorming questions to your students, directing them to record their responses in their notebooks or on a piece of paper, share with a partner, and then with the class if they choose.

  • What factors determined whether a state would remain with or secede from the Union leading to the American Civil War?
  • Summarize the result of the American Civil War.

• VOCABULARY

  If you so choose, provide your students access to the Optional Vocabulary Chart (Google Doc). Direct your students to view and define the vocabulary terms and provide a brief summary of the featured people that will appear in the lesson. The vocabulary words and individuals are also listed to the right on this webpage. We recommend having your students define and present the terms and people in a jigsaw activity to save time.

  Depending on time and resources, you may consider having your students define and present the terms in a Frayer's Model activity, where each student takes one or two items. Students can then post their models around the room for reference throughout the lesson. Note: this is not an all-encompassing list of terms or individuals included in each video. We recommend you preview the video clips to determine any necessary additions/subtractions to this list for your specific students.

• INTRODUCTION

  Provide your students access to the Choice Board (Google Slides). Have your students read the directions on the second slide of the Google Slide document.

  Then, have them view the introductory video clip of editor Charles Mitchell discussing the "Lost Cause" narrative and providing an overview of his lecture challenging claims that the state of Maryland leaned heavily toward the Confederacy on the third slide of the Google Slide document. Direct your students to answer the related questions in the Google Slide document and share their findings with a partner, small group, or the class when finished.

  Clip #1: Lost Cause and Secession (4:30).

  • What was the “Lost Cause narrative?”
  • According to Charles Mitchell, who and what influenced how the Civil War was described post-war?
  • Describe the “what-ifs” described in the clip. Of what is the historical record “clear?”
  • Why were many Maryland slaveowners “unionist?”

• CHOICE BOARD

  After they have finished sharing their findings from the introduction portion of the lesson, have your students progress to the fourth slide of the Google Slide document.

  Remind your students that they will choose to study one of five options. Have your students click on their chosen link to be taken to that section of the Choice Board. They will watch three video clips for their selection. Direct them to play the video clips and answer the questions that follow using evidence from the video clips.

  When they are finished responding to each of the questions for their three video clips, have your students prepare a brief presentation to share their findings with the class. As each student shares their responses in a jigsaw activity, encourage your class to record the answers to all of the questions throughout the Choice Board.

  The five options and each video clip and related questions are listed below.

• OPTION #1: Clip #2: Pratt Street Riot (3:00).

  • Based on the clip, why were militia troops coming through Baltimore April 1861?
  • According to Charles Mitchell, what was the result of the Pratt Street Riot?
  • Who was present during the riot, according to Mitchell?
  • What “alternative arrangement” was agreed upon between the Mayor of Baltimore and Abraham Lincoln? Why?

• OPTION #1: Clip #3: Benjamin Butler (1:51).

  • Based on the clip, who was Benjamin Butler?
  • According to Charles Mitchell, what did Butler do on May 13, 1861?
  • Why were Abraham Lincoln and Winfield Scott “livid?”
  • What ultimately happened to Butler, according to Mitchell?

• OPTION #1: Clip #4: US Colored Troops (3:39).

  • What happened after Benjamin Butler “took command” at Fort Monroe?
  • According to Charles Mitchell, what action did Butler take? Why?
  • What happened at Fort Monroe as time went on? What did Butler decide to do and to what did this add “fuel?”
    • Based on the clip, what was Butler’s relationship with African Americans?

• OPTION #2: Clip #5: Militia (2:13).

  • Did Maryland send militia to Washington, D.C. in response to Abraham Lincoln’s “call?”
  • Of what was there little “concern?” Why?
  • How were the Confederate “clever?” Summarize the example from the clip.
  • What impact did the Confederate strategy have on the Union, according to Charles Mitchell?

• OPTION #2: Clip #6: Legislative Session and Habeas Corpus (4:12).

  • What did Governor Thomas Holliday Hicks “finally” do on April 27th, 1861? How did Abraham Lincoln respond?
  • According to Charles Mitchell, what was the result of the event?
  • What did Lincoln “suspend,” and why? Why was this action controversial?
  • Summarize the “Constitutional crisis” that ensued in Ex parte Merryman (1861).

• OPTION #2: Clip #7: Political Dynamics (1:58).

  • What began to “shift” in Maryland? How and why?
  • According to Charles Mitchell, what was Abraham Lincoln’s belief about slavery?
  • Based on the clip, what occurred in April of 1862 and how did this impact Maryland?
  • What was Lincoln’s “posture” regarding the war?

• OPTION #3: Clip #8: African American Experience (4:15).

  • Why is the African American experience during the Civil War “important?”
  • Describe the Census trend in Maryland up to the start of the Civil War. What “reasons” explain this trend?
  • According to Charles Mitchell, what was the purpose and effect of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850?
  • How did enslaved persons “take action on their own?” Describe the process.

• OPTION #3: Clip #9: Emancipation Proclamation (2:41).

  • Of what was Abraham Lincoln “convinced?” What “victory” did the Union achieve?
  • When was the Emancipation Proclamation “published and announced?”
  • For what did the Emancipation Proclamation lay the “groundwork?” What was the Confederate response?
  • According to Charles Mitchell, what were the contributions and success of the US Colored Troops?

• OPTION #3: Clip #10: Confederate Optimism (1:59).

  • According to the audience member, of what were Confederate “optimistic?”
  • How many Confederate “incursions into Maryland” were there?
  • What was Robert E. Lee “confident” about, and what did he do?
  • Does Charles Mitchell agree with the audience member’s assertion? Why or why not?

• OPTION #4: Clip #11: Election of 1860 (3:18).

  • Based on the clip, who did the Democrats nominate for the 1860 election?
  • What did the Constitutional Union Party believe, and who was their “standard bearer?”
  • According to Charles Mitchell, what were the conditions in the city of Baltimore in the summer of 1859? Why?
  • Describe the outcome in the election, as stated by Mitchell. How did Marylanders vote?

• OPTION #4: Clip #12: Evidence (2:19).

  • According to the audience member, how did the Confederates view the Union?
  • Why did the Maryland “business community” remain loyal to the Union?
  • Based on the clip, which other groups and individuals in Maryland remain loyal to the Union?
  • What occurred in September of 1862 that serves as additional “evidence” that Maryland remained loyal to the Union?

• OPTION #4: Clip #13: Geography (2:09).

  • What are the three geographic “sections” of Maryland?
  • Based on the clip, what played a role during the Battle of Antietam?
  • What were “extremely important” during the Civil War?
  • What was the goal of the Confederate “incursions?”

• OPTION #5: Clip #14: African American Women (3:37).

  • Summarize the quote about Charity Folks, a formerly enslaved women in Maryland, as read in the clip.
  • According to Charles Mitchell, what options did African American women have during the Civil War?
  • How could a role of “domestic servant” impact the agency of African American women?
  • Based on the clip, what roles did Harriet Tubman serve?

• OPTION #5: Clip #15: Lee and Jackson Monument (2:07).

  • What is an “important piece” of all wars?
  • According to Charles Mitchell, who was responsible for the construction of the Lee Jackson Monument?
  • View this image (Maryland Center for History and Culture) of the Monument and describe what you see.
  • Based on the clip, for what purpose are stories passed through generations?

• OPTION #5: Clip #16: Confederate Memories (2:27).

  • Of what were the Confederates “very effective” in the post-war period?
  • How did the Confederate accomplish their post-war goal, according to Charles Mitchell?
  • Based on the clip, who was Bradley Tyler Johnson and what did he do?
  • According to Mitchell, in what other ways did the Confederates achieve their goal?

• REFLECTION

  After your students finish sharing their findings from the choice board in a jigsaw activity, direct them to the twenty-seventh slide of the Google Slide document.

  Instruct your students to view the following final video clip in which editor Charles Mitchell discusses the legacy of the Civil War. Direct your students to answer the related questions in the Google Slide document and share their findings with a partner, small group, or the class when finished.

  Clip #17: Legacy of the Civil War (3:38).

  • Describe the purpose and effect of Maryland’s “apprenticeship laws.”
  • According to Charles Mitchell, what other changes occurred in the post-war period?
  • What occurred in 1964, nearly “100 years” after the conclusion of the Civil War?
  • Of what are we “dealing with” in contemporary times?

• CLOSURE

  After your students are finished sharing their findings from the lesson, direct them to complete the final culminating writing prompt on the final slide of the Google Slide document, and have students share their responses, comparing their perspectives with their classmates' perspectives: Having now learned about the history of Maryland during the Civil War, describe why the state opted to remain as part of the Union during the conflict. Be sure to include evidence from the video clips in the lesson to support your argument.