Teaching the Civil War

Educational Resources

Lesson plans, resources, videos, tools, tips, and strategies for teaching the American Civil War.

Classroom Resources for Teaching the Civil War

Teaching the Civil War has been redesigned to simply how we provide you with resources, tools, strategies, and ideas to improve teaching while engaging kids in what we call “Doing History.”  In the resources below, you will find lesson plans, useful websites, #edtech tools, and much more.

Soldiers and Civilians

Before the war, Northern and Southern soldiers and civilians led similar lives.  They worked, worshiped, and raised families until the American Civil War interrupted their lives.  Read More

Arms & Equipment

From rifled muskets and pistols to uniforms and accouterments, soldiers of the Civil War carried a variety of different weapons and equipment as they marched off to war. Read More

Battles

There were over 10,000 battles, engagements, and other actions during the Civil War including nearly 50 major battles and about 100 other minor battles.  Read More

Medicine

There were over 10,000 battles fought during the Civil War and these engagements were fought in 23 different states and resulted in a total of over 650,000 casualties.  Read More

Music

Music played a significant role during the American Civil War.  Instruments including bugles, fifes, drums, and banjos were played to issue orders or to raise morale. Read More

Photography

From 1861-1865, over 3,000 photographers made war-related images and documented famous people, battlefields, soldiers, and the devastation of the Civil War. Read More

Primary Sources

Exploring various primary sources for learning more about the Civil War. Read More

Famous People

From Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis to Clara Barton and Dorothea Dix, there were many who became famous as a result of the Civil War.  Read More

The Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad was a system of routes, locations, and people that assisted enslaved people in the American South in escaping to the North during the time of slavery.  Read More

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