Nov. 14-20, 2013, Current Events Lesson Plan
Current Event:
The United States recently commemorated the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address. On Nov. 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address at the site of the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. He was attending ceremonies to dedicate a part of the battlefield as a national cemetery for those who had lost their lives there. Lincoln wrote the address to help ensure that the battle would be seen as a great Union triumph and to define for the people of the Northern States the purpose in fighting the war. Lincoln wrote five different versions of the speech. He wrote most of the first version in Washington, D.C., and probably completed it at Gettysburg. He probably wrote the second version at Gettysburg on the evening before he delivered his address. He held this second version in his hand during the address. But he made several changes as he spoke. The most important change was to add the phrase “under God” after the word “nation” in the last sentence. The fifth version, which differed somewhat from the speech he actually gave, is carved on a stone plaque on the Lincoln Memorial.
Objective:
Abraham Lincoln was one of the greatest presidents in American history. He led the United States during the American Civil War (1861-1865), which was the gravest crisis in U.S. history. Lincoln helped keep the American Union from splitting apart during the war. Lincoln thus believed that he proved to the world that democracy can be a lasting form of government. In conducting a bitter war, Lincoln never became bitter himself. Lincoln closed his second inaugural address, given near the end of the Civil War, with a moving plea for “malice toward none” and “charity for all,” North and South alike. During the Civil War, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which led to the end of slavery in the United States. For his effort in freeing the slaves, Lincoln is known as the “Great Emancipator.” Lincoln was assassinated about a month and a half before the last Confederate forces surrendered. The Behind the Headlines news stories and related World Book articles explore the Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln, and the American Civil War.
Words to know:
- Abraham Lincoln
- American Civil War
- Battle of Gettysburg
- Emancipation Proclamation
- Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site
- Gettysburg Address
- Lincoln-Douglas debates
- Lincoln Memorial
- Mount Rushmore National Memorial
- Pennsylvania
- Slavery
Discussion Topics:
1. Ask your students what they know about the American Civil War. (Students might say it was fought over slavery and to maintain the union; it was fought between the Union, or the North, and the Confederacy, or the South; some of its notable generals include Ulysses S. Grant, Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and William Tecumseh Sherman; major battles include Antietam, Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, and Vicksburg; about as many American soldiers died in the Civil War as in all other American wars combined.)
2. Abraham Lincoln is one of the four presidents on the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Ask your students, “If you were to choose the four greatest people from your country, who would you choose and why?”
3. Sherman’s March was a controversial military campaign at the end of the American Civil War. Union General William T. Sherman marched his troops through the South and destroyed much of the military and economic resources. Some believe that Sherman and his men terrorized civilians, while others believe that Sherman’s March helped bring about the end of the war. Ask your students to debate, “Since civilians help supply a country’s war effort, it is acceptable to target civilians during war?”
4. Ask your students to use World Book’s Timelines feature to create a timeline of Abraham Lincoln’s life. (Students may wish to use World Book’s Abraham Lincoln article for help.)