United States History Student Edition

TOPIC ACTIVITIES

FLORIDA SKILLS BENCHMARKS

Apply What You Have Learned

• SS.8.A.5.1

• SS.8.A.1.4 • SS.8.A.1.5 • SS.8.A.1.7

• SS.8.A.1.1 • SS.8.A.1.2 • SS.8.A.1.3

A Understanding Multiple Perspectives

Understanding Historical Eras B American abolitionists used varied tactics toward their common goal of ending slavery. Some pursued gradual change, while others demanded immediate action. Frederick Douglass used reasoning and oratory to convince the public that slavery was a moral evil. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote a novel, building sympathy for her characters to help make people understand the torment caused by slavery. Free-Soilers and Republicans such as Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner tried to pass legislation ending or restricting the spread of slavery. Harriet Tubman and others working on the Underground Railroad helped emancipate people, one or a few at a time. Read the excerpt from Walt Whitman’s poem “The Wound-Dresser.” Analyze the language of the poem. Evaluate how the language creates empathy for the soldiers and caregivers during the war. Then research other poems, photos, songs, letters, and personal writings from the Civil War era at the Library of Congress’s website. With a partner, create a slideshow presentation that illustrates how soldiers, civilians, and families were affected by the war. “ Bearing the bandages, water and sponge, Straight and swift to my wounded I go, ACTIVITY Creating a Slideshow Presentation About the Civil War’s Effects For three years during the war, Walt Whitman, who later became a famous poet, visited Union army hospitals daily to care for injured soldiers.

Where they lie on the ground after the battle brought in, Where their priceless

blood reddens the grass the ground, Or to the rows of the hospital tent, or under the roof’d hospital, To the long rows of cots up and down each side I return, To each and all one after another I draw near, not one do I miss, An attendant follows holding a tray, he carries a refuse pail, Soon to be fill’d with clotted rags and blood, emptied, and fill’d again. ” — Excerpt from “The Wound-Dresser,” Walt Whitman, 1865

ACTIVITY Writing About Abolitionists Write a skit involving abolitionists in the 1850s debating the best tactics for ending slavery. Your skit may use fictional characters, but they should be based on the abolitionists you have read about in this topic. In their discussion, your characters should present their reasoning for supporting their favored tactics. Place your characters in a realistic setting; perhaps they are trying to decide as a group on an action to take to protest slavery, or perhaps they have just returned from an event and are evaluating what they saw.

PHOTO: National Archives and Records Administration; TEXT: Whitman, Walt. “The Wound-Dresser,” in Leaves of Grass. Philadelphia: Rees Welsh & Co., 1882.

Division and Civil War 471