University of Groningen
American History: Essays: Impact of Dred Scott: The Road to Civil War
After the Dred Scott decision by the US Supreme Court, the friction between the North and South over slavery escalated, and the North began to fear that they might not be able to prevent slavery from spreading into their states. The Dred...
Louisiana Department of Education
Louisiana Doe: Louisiana Believes: Us History: Grade 7: Sectionalism Prior to the Civil War
This sample task contains a set of primary and authentic sources about how the differences between the North and South deepened the feelings of sectionalism leading up to the Civil War.
Books in the Classroom
Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site: Civil War in Children's Literature
This page from Carol Hurst's Children's Literature offers book reviews and planning help for an upper elementary unit on the Civil War. Includes information on books for teachers, books for students, easy-purchase links, and links to...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: 19th Century: Religion in the Civil War: The Northern Perspective
An interesting look at the religious beliefs of Northerners during the Civil War. Essay discusses the main tenets of belief that basically culminated in the conviction that God wouldn't let the North win until it ended slavery. Includes...
A&E Television
History.com: How Civil War Medicine Led to America's First Opioid Crisis
During the Civil War, military hospitals considered opioids to be essential medicine. Doctors and nurses used opium and morphine to treat soldiers' pain, stop internal bleeding and mitigate vomiting and diarrhea caused by infectious...
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Freedom: A History of Us: A War to End Slavery Webisode 6
A wonderful, interactive site covering many aspects of the Civil War. See photographs, primary sources, and find interesting tidbits about the war. Included are links to lesson plans, teacher guides, resources, activities, and tools.
Huntington Library
Huntington Library: A House Divided: Slavery and the Civil War [Pdf]
In this lesson, 8th graders look at how slavery contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War, at Abraham Lincoln's efforts to save the Union, and at what impact the Emancipation Proclamation had on the North's view of the war. Includes...
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: Ap Us History: Prelude to War
AP U.S. History learning module covers Manifest Destiny, conflict over slavery and events leading to the Civil War.
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Slavery and the Making of America: Freedom & Emancipation
Using primary documents, oral histories and other historical resources, learn about the African American reaction to emancipation and to events from the Reconstruction period following the Civil War.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Ap Us History: 1844 1877: The Civil War: Emancipation Proclamation
Discusses the background to the Emancipation Proclamation and how Abraham Lincoln came to support the abolition of slavery and the difficulties that were encountered around this issue. Explains that it did not apply to all slaves as...
iCivics
I Civics: Civil War & Reconstruction
The Civil War and Reconstruction Era brought about the end of slavery and the expansion of civil rights to African Americans through the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. Compare the Northern and Southern states, discover the concepts of...
Digital Public Library of America
Dpla: American Civil War: African American Lives
Collection of digital resources gathered from public libraries, archives, and museums about African American lives in the Civil War. Here you can discover the variety of African American experiences of the Civil War.
Tennessee History For Kids
Tennessee History for Kids: Slavery and Tennessee's War
This website provides information about slavery in Tennessee.
Other
Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War: Emancipation Proclamation
Authors track the sentiments of Lincoln toward slavery from his pre-Civil War years through the Civil War. Site menu bar provides hyperlinks to information on the many facets of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Columbia University
Columbia University: Columbia University & Slavery the Civil War Era
This website was created by faculty, students, and staff to publicly present information about Columbia's historical connections to the institution of slavery. This article centers on Columbia University during the Civil War. Not all...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Slavery, Civil War, and Democracy: What Did Lincoln Believe?
Activity in which students examine the concept of democracy and the idea of a "just society" through the eyes of Abraham Lincoln. Lesson includes questions for discussion and activity in which students prepare a speech on the what they...
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Slavery & the Making of America
Using primary documents, oral histories, and other historical resources, discover how the arts of Africa, Europe, and pre-Civil War America influenced the culture of enslaved African Americans.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Lesson 2: People and Places in the North and South
Lesson explores the causes of the Civil War and the basic disagreements between North and South through the use of primary source documents, photographs, and census information. Includes two detailed student activities and resources for...
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Slavery and the Making of America: Slave Responses to Enslavement
Using primary documents, oral histories, and other historical resources, learn how African Americans responded to enslavement prior to the Civil War. Includes interactive exercise.
Other
Vox: 37 Maps That Explain the American Civil War
April 1865 was a momentous month in American history. On April 9, the Confederate army under Robert E. Lee surrendered to the Union forces of Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the Civil War. Then on April 14, the victorious President...
The History Cat
The History Cat: Countdown to Civil War
Describes the events leading up to the start of the American Civil War. Looks at clashes between pro- and anti-slavery groups, the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the fight over California, the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act,...
A&E Television
History.com: How Black Women Fought for Civil War Pensions and Benefits
In a time when military pensions were a large part of the federal budget, Black women faced unique challenges in securing compensation. Widows of Civil War soldiers could begin applying to the Bureau of Pensions during the war, and one...
TexasHistory.com
Texas history.com: The Home Front: Life in Texas During the Civil War
Looks at what life was like in Texas during the Civil War. Discusses the issue of slavery, military conscription, frontier defense, the role of women, the role of slaves, how the blockade affected exports to the South, and the...
US National Archives
Docsteach: What Else Was Happening During the Civil War Era?
The years leading up to, during, and following the Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877) are most often remembered for the tension between North and South, the question of slavery, President Lincoln, and social and political changes...