Reconstruction reading, Civil War project, study questions for test and other resources

Reconstruction response:  Instead of chapter 15 from the Brinkley book, please read this by Friday June 6 (and pace yourselves - you will be very unhappy with yourself--and won't learn it as well--if you try to do it all in one night).  Instead of notes, please write a thoughtful, well-organized and edited 1-2 page typed, double spaced (12 pt font, 1" margins) response to the following prompt:  overall, was Reconstruction a success or a failure?  Be sure to show that you've read by using specific evidence from the chapter to support your overall conclusion. This is not an essay assignment, but you do need to follow the rules for formal writing.  Grading (out of 20 points) will be based on the quality of your writing and the depth of understanding you demonstrate.  Responses are due in hard copy at the start of class on Friday June 6th.

Your Civil War website project is due next week - by 10 p.m. Monday 6/9 for A block and 10 p.m. Tuesday 6/10 for C and E blocks.  The assignment description is here.

Your last test (!!) on the Civil War and Reconstruction is Thursday June 12th.  Here are the study questions. You may also find these short summaries of the war and Reconstruction era helpful as you're reviewing: Chester the Crab and Mental Floss's History of the U.S. (relevant pages are 115-130)

Other items of note:
Here's a link to the Gettysburg Address editorial retraction, and here's the brief article with highlights from Edward Everett's speech and the mixed reviews of the address from newspapers of the day.

Civil War reading assignments and Lincoln docs

You can find the documents that reveal Lincoln's changing public stance on slavery here.  You should be familiar with all of them except the fourth debate between Lincoln and Douglas, "Appeal of the Colored Men of Philadelphia to the President of the United States," and the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

A block:
371-375 due Thursday 5/22
375-383 (skip the "where historians disagree" blue pages; stop at "politics of emancipation") due Friday 5/23
383-392 due Tuesday 5/27
392-398 due Wednesday 5/28
398-404 due Thursday 5/29

C block:
please read through p. 383 (stop at "the mobilization of the South") for Friday 5/23
383-388 due Tuesday 5/27
388-398 due Wednesday 5/28
398-404 due Friday 5/30

E block:
371-380 (skip the "where historians disagree" blue pages; stop at "politics of emancipation") due Thurs 5/22
380-388 due Friday 5/23
388-398 due Wednesday 5/28
398-404 due Thursday 5/29

Story of US clip for review

The last 15 minutes (minutes 30-45) of The Story of US:  Division are a great recap of the events of the 1850's.  You can find the entire episode here.

upcoming due dates (through Tuesday May 20th)

Please read and take 1 or more pages of notes on p. 363-368 for Wednesday 5/7.  As with the earlier section on the 1850's, please read especially carefully and be very mindful of detail.

Here's the Antiques Roadshow assignment (due Friday 5/16), and here are the documents on the Texas war for independence and its impact.

Your chapter 13/impending crisis test will be Tuesday 5/20.  The format will be multiple choice with a document-based free response question.  You can find the study questions here.

Also, you may find these very short chapters from The Secret Lives of the American Presidents helpful for review - they cover the presidents of the 1840's and 1850's.

Due Monday 5/5 for all classes

Please read and take notes on 359-362. I'll be looking for a full page of notes, even though this is a short am reading assignment, because there's a lot of important detail in this section.