(Matthew Brady, National Archives)
Lesson Ideas for Teaching Lincoln as Commander in Chief During the Civil War
- As a high school American history and American government teacher, I plan to use this website to teach students about Lincoln's role as commander in chief. This will parallel with a study of his relationship with his own generals.
- My Lesson Plan:
- I will use this website as a supplemental lesson to a unit on the American Civil War in my American history class.
- After students gain an understanding of the chronology of the Civil War, students will be guided as a whole group through the important Civil War military leaders (Lee, Grant, Sherman, McClellan, etc.). This will be a broad overview of the leaders, not an in-depth study. Most of the explanations during the slide presentation will focus on Lincoln's relationship with McClellan and Grant.
- This lesson will last 1-2 days depending upon minutes in class. (Could also be a homework assignment) In a computer lab or using computers in class, students will go through the Prezi presentation on the Multimedia tab on their own. (Or you can group students)
- The students will complete a series of questions on the Prezi (located here).
- After completing the Prezi assignment, students will come into class with their completed questions. As a class, we will review any questions the students have and discuss any problems the students encountered.
- Students will watch in class the close reading video of Lincoln's letter to McClellan and Professor Matthew Pinsker's Hooker close reading video. (Both available on Close Reading tab) These will provide additional context in order to properly discuss Lincoln's job as U.S. president. As a supplement or extension activity, teachers could direct the students to watch the other McClellan close reading video on the Close Readings page or James McPherson's lecture on "Lincoln as Commander in Chief." (These could also be used as an extension activity for advanced students)
- Lastly, I will hold a whole-group discussion on Lincoln's role as commander in chief. The students will discuss the following questions:
- What was Lincoln's role as commander in chief?
- Did he overstep his war powers as U.S. president? Why or why not?
- Did he treat his generals fairly?
- My Lesson Plan:
- Included below are several websites teachers can use to create their own lessons or ready-made lesson plans.
- Lincoln Resources (Primary and Secondary Sources)
- Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History www.gilderlehrman.org/
- History Divided Project, Dickinson College, Lincoln's Writings housedivided.dickinson.edu/sites/lincoln/
- The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/
- Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/malhome.html
- Ready-Made Lesson Plans and Ideas for Lincoln
- In this PDF file there are a number of good lesson plans on Lincoln and his generals during the Civil War. www.abrahamlincolnassociation.org/Documents/Lincoln%20and%20His%20Generals.doc
- At this website there are several links for Lincoln lesson plans abrahamlincolnassociation.org/EducationalMaterials.aspx
- Stanford History Education Group sheg.stanford.edu/civil-war-reconstruction
- Lincoln Resources (Primary and Secondary Sources)