Introduction
By:Aliyah Gilenson
In this webquest you will take on the role of an important historical figure from the Civil War. You will first take on the role of real historians and research to learn all about your person. Then you will write an autobiography as if you were the person you researched which will focus on their role in the Civil War.
Try to really understand who your person was and how they would approach the difficult decision of going to war with their own people. The Civil War divided families and had a lasting impact on our nation. One of the reasons to study history is to understand why people and societies made the decisions they did. If any one person had acted differently, it could have changed everything. Take this as a chance to become a historian by understanding the life and views of your historical figure and the challenging world they lived in.
Task
Process
Part One:
Civil War Research: Get To Know Your Character
Assignment: Everyone has been given a person to research who was important before and/or during the Civil War. Today you will be learning all about your person by acting like real historians and researching. Use reliable websites to find out about your person’s life. This includes: political views, religious views, job, stance on slavery, and opinion about going to war. Make sure to include quotes from writings or speeches as evidence for your person’s opinions.
Make sure to focus most of the research and the paper on your person's role during the and before the Civil War. One one or two paragraphs should be on their background.
Step one: Answer the questions below as your historical person
- Where and when were you born? Are you Northern or Southern?
- What lifestyle were you born into (slave, plantation owner, merchant, etc)?
- What were your most important works before or during the Civil War? If you are not a writer, what are you most known for (specifically the war heroes)?
- What are your views on slavery?
- Do you think war could have been avoided? If so why? If not, how could it have been avoided?
- Besides slavery, what other tensions do you think led to the Civil War?
Step two: Find at least one primary document written by your person.
Include the name, date it was published or originally given as a speech, what it was about, and at least two quotes that you feel are important.
Part Two:
Write Your Autobiography: What to Include
- The page limit for this paper is 3-5 pages.
- It needs to quote at least two primary documents and one secondary source.
- Write in first person ( You are the historical figure. Use "I" and write as if the thoughts and actions of your historical figure were your thoughts and actions.)
- Focus on their life and controbutions during the Civil War
- Have a solid conclusion that sums up the influence your person had on history during the Civil War
This is a major assignment that we will a large part of the semester on, so make sure you put a lot of effort into your paper. Be creative and have fun!
Evaluation
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Civil War Discussion |
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Student Name: ________________________________________ |
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CATEGORY |
4 |
2 |
0 |
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Role |
Point-of-view, arguments, and/or solutions proposed were consistently in character. |
Point-of-view, arguments, and/or solutions proposed were often in character. |
Point-of-view, arguments, and/or solutions proposed were not in character. |
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Historical Accuracy |
All historical information appeared to be accurate |
Almost all historical information appeared to be accurate. |
Little to none of the historical information was accurate. |
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Formatting |
Essay was well written with no grammatical or spelling errors. |
Essay was formatted correctly for the most part, but contained some grammatical or spelling errors. |
Poorly formatted with many grammatical and spelling errors. |
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Sources |
Included a minimum 2 primary sources and 1 secondary. |
Included at least 2 sources, 1 primary and 1 secondary. |
Included 1 or no sources. |
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Total points x/20 |
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% Total |