Battles Occurring During the Civil War

To learn about the battles during the Civil War each member of the class was assigned a battle. Once we researched our assigned battle, we created a Google doc and included the battle name, date, leaders, victor, theater, and reasons for victor. Once the Google doc was created, each student generated a QR sign so when someone approaches sign they can quickly scan in and obtain information in Google doc. Before we hung up the sign around the school we had the person whose battle was previous and had them write directions to get to your sign. Once the directions were all set each student hung up their sign around the school creating a scavenger hunt.  After the scavenger hunt was completed and each student had notes on 20 different battles;  we came back to the class room and logged onto Padlet. On the Padlet interface we made posts that were conclusive of the overall winners in certain theaters.

The ultimate victor varied in each theater. In the East theater the ultimate victor was the Confederacy. Out of the battles we studied they won seven out of the twelve battles in the East like the Battle of Fort Sumter, the Battle of Baton Rouge, the Battle of Shiloh, and others. The Confederacy won the majority of the battles in the east theater during the beginning of the war; that changed once Ulysses Grant became the new Union leader. In the West theater the Union was the ultimate winner. In the Naval theater the ultimate winner was once again the Union. The Union did not lose any battles in the Naval theater with he exception of the Battle of Hampton which was undecided.

In the East theater the Confederacy was the ultimate victor because they were mostly on home soil so they could transport supplies and troops more easily. Also in some cases the Union wouldn't surrender or they ran out of supplies which gave the Confederacy the upper hand. For example in the Battle of Fort Sumter the Confederacy beat the Union because the Union didn't have enough ammunition to defeat the Confederacy. In the Naval theater the Union was the ultimate winner, in the battle Battle of Hampton the Union damaged the Confederacy's ironclad which gave the north the upper hand. In the West theater the Union was the ultimate winner. They had more soldiers, resources and more advanced weapons. Ulysses Grant also helped the union with many victories. Overall the Union dominated in the Naval and West theaters while the Confederacy dominated the East Theater.

Picture of me at a QR sign

google doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dqjdvh935TRnjBctceCfRy8pTAIwEjoO8GRbOJpb9ZE/edit

Padlet:  http://padlet.com/wall/gblockcivilwar

Would You Fight For Your Country or Your Survival?

I am an eighteen year old currently living in Reading, Massachusetts. It is the summer of 1861 and I currently employed by a dry goods store in Reading. Many of my friends are joining the army because of the attack on Ft. Sumner and all the patriotic songs pushing enlistment.  I debated joining to serve my country and fight for whats right but I am not going to join. The new technology and tactics have improved but the treatment of the wounded still isn't superb.

I heard recently about the new type of rifled musket and minié ball ammunition that are being used. The new muskets used minié balls that are designed to tear apart limbs of soldiers, and the musket has a new type of barrel that makes the bullet spin as it leaves the rifle making it significantly more accurate. This is a major improvement from the muskets with bayonets which were meant for close range since they had poor accuracy. Technology on land not only improved on land weapons but also with the naval weapons. The wooden boats have become obsolete because of the ironclads which where extremely powerful and durable. There have been many improvements in weapon technology so more people were injured. If a soldier got injured the common procedure would for that limb to be amputated if injury is serious but if its a minor break the soldier would receive a wooden splint. Once a soldier had a limb amputated there was often a chance that they wouldn't survive. I am frightened by how easily the new technology can kill people and don't want to interfere with something that doesn't favor my life. The tactics by the Confederate and Union had improved meaning that the side with better strategic plans will win. The new tactics are very smart and well thought out. For example the Union ordered a blockade on the southern ports which prevented the south to trade cotton and export supplies. I would not want to be in the Confederacy's position where you know that the North has the upper hand and you can't back out.

I would rather be with my family and living than fighting in the war. Although I would not be enlisting I would still show pride of my country and support the war. I made my decision because of the improvements of technology and the thought of losing my life in battle. Also war can really affect a person. Some people who have fought in wars come back traumatized and aren't the same after. These factors really helped my decision on not enlisting.

This photo shows what an average hospital during the civil war looked like. 

http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war-medicine.htm

Understanding the Situations of The Confederacy and Union

Below is the infographic created by Emma and I. We decided to do start our infographic by having a map which displays the amount of railroads in the north and in the south. This was put at the top because this map is very important; transportation via railroad helped transport supplies easier. The north had many more miles  of railroad compared to the south which gave them an advantage for transporting supplies and soldiers.  Next on the infographic we made a pie chart which varies depending on which topic is selected. The pie chart helps show the statistics in a good visually appealing way. The pie chart makes it easier for the viewer since they don't have to read as much and can see the amount of change between the north, south, and border states on each topic in the pie chart. Finally at the bottom of the infographic we wrote the strategies used by the Union and Confederacy. We put this at the end because it makes it easiest for the viewer to understand because the viewer has already seen the benefits and negatives of the north and south which would help them understand the strategies that worked and didn't work. This process really helped me understand the situations that the Union and Confederacy faced at the beginning of the war. I had to thoroughly look and decide which information was the most important and what wasn't crucial to include on the infographic. Each section of the infographic needed to be analyzed which helped me understand thoroughly the situations each side faced.

Civil War: North vs. South Transportation Strategies | Create Infographics

Scrap-booking the Major Civil War Causes

For our semester research project we spent a lot of time and researched the causes of the civil war. Our class worked on this project in groups. My group included Kevin, Ronny, and I. We were assigned to research the Kansas-Nebraska Act. For our project we started off by researching the causes of the conflict, the issue, and the effects of the Act. After we had a thorough understanding of the topic, each group had to find 12 primary sources and cite each. After we cited each source we made a bibliography in alphabetical order. Once we had sufficient amount of information and primary sources on the topic we put it all into a scrapbook. My group decided to display the information we had on the Kansas-Nebraska Act in a prezi. While we were putting together our prezi my group put all the primary sources in order of happening so they told a story. Once we finished our research project; the next few days in class we spent looking at other groups projects to learn about all the events relating to the causes of the civil war. While observing the other groups projects my group made a timeline putting each event in chronological order so we have a good understanding of the causes of the civil war.


Our Prezi:
http://prezi.com/jyopz7j1tox6/kansas-nebraska-act/


Our Timeline:

EdCafe Day

This past week in class we did an activity called an EdCafe. With a partner we discussed slavery based on different narratives and sources. Together as a partnership we created questions which we would ask the attendees of our EdCafe based on an aspect of slavery. Once all the partnerships in class choose when and where they would like to hold their EdCafe, we could pick which EdCafe interested us and attend it. I really liked how each EdCafe wasn't very big unlike a socratic seminar which I dislike because there are too many people.  I also liked how the EdCafe was independent for the group presented. The group leading it had the job of keeping the group on track and keeping the session moving by not getting tied up on a single question. To make the EdCafe better next time I think that the groups should have a wider range of topics. The two EdCafe sessions I attended and the one I presented all had similar questions so it was repetitive at times.

When I presented it went well. The other students attending had very detailed answers to our questions which sparked up good discussions. With the questions we had quotes from the Solomon Northup Slave Narrative which added to the answers. To improve next time I would include more visuals since we only had a minimal amount. The visuals would help the attendees to understand the questions more or add to the answer.

I think that I was a good attendee to the sessions I attended. I contributed the best I could to the questions asked by the presenters. What helped me was my group had similar questions to the questions that were asked by the presenters. This was also not beneficial because at times I wasn’t expanding my knowledge of slavery because of the similar questions. My notes are a good representation of what I learned because on the questions that were alike I have ample notes and good notes on the topics that only came up once.

Slavery in the North

Slavery in the North was not frowned upon nor was it promoted. Inhabitants of the North knew slavery was wrong morally but knew that if it wasn't present then their business would suffer. Even though slavery wasn't allowed in the North, the people of the North still benefited greatly from slavery.  There was a cycle between the North and the South where the North needed the slaves in the South to pick cotton. That cotton is sent to the North and then cloth is sent back to the slave owners for their slaves. People from the North knew that if there wasn't slavery then they would have to pay more for cotton or not receive the amount needed to make sufficient cloth. If there wasn't slaves in the South then there would be not cheap labor to harvest the cotton. The Northers knew that slavery was wrong t they couldn't not support slavery because they had to continue to buy cotton so their business wouldn't suffer. In the "Public [Anti-abolition] Meeting" Broadside, August 21, 1835 Abbott Lawrence, mayor of Boston held an anti-abolition meeting. He said  “We believe that the sectional jealousies are thereby engendered, which threaten to disturb the harmony of our political system.” Anti-abolitionists knew that slavery should be abolished, but they didn't want to ruin their political system. The Americans in the North were only morally against slavery while they knew it had to be present so their profits didn't decrease. Recently in class we watched the movie "Traces of the Trade" which is about the DeWolf family and their slave trade. The DeWolf family was the largest slave trade in the United States. They brought over 10,000 slaves from Africa through a process of the triangular trade. The DeWolf's had a sugar plantation in Cuba where sugar was produced for the rum the made in Rhode Island. They traded rum and sugar to gain possession of African slaves. They were successful in the slave trade business and made very much money because the people in government that could put a stop to them looked the other way. Overall the Americans in the Antebellum North where only morally against slavery but let slavery help the profits of people's factories and business'. 

This is a picture of DeWolf's trade route. 

Amelia Bloomer: The Lily

Bloomer, Amelia Jenks. The Lily. Seneca Falls: Amelia Bloomer, 1849-1853.

Amelia Bloomer was a woman's rights and a temperance advocate who wrote a newspaper called The Lily that was focused mostly on temperance and then later on in publication she also wrote about women's rights.  Amelia Bloomer in The Lily wrote about how people should drink in moderation instead of banning alcohol. She also wrote about how women are victims of drunk men's behavior and that women should speak up about the men's behavior. Amelia Bloomer is a reliable source because she used true stories from women on the effects of alcohol. She also wrote her own newspaper so she could write what she wanted, and not skewed news.  Bloomer focused mostly on temperance because drinking at the time was a serious problem. Men were getting drunk very often and causing problems. This newspaper teaches the reader how excessive drinking effects families and how woman need to stick up for what is right. Bloomer's newspaper gives you a decent picture of the event, it describes the a major problem of the time. Amelia talks about how alcohol affects families in a negative way. She backs up her claims with stories from women that have been abused because of alcohol. The author is trying to convince the reader that alcohol should be used in moderation.

This picture is an ad that tries to prevent heavy drinking.

picture: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-18816576