Focus: This unit (Unit 11 for schools using the CKHG series in Sequence grade-level order) explores the causes and consequences of one of our nation’s greatest crises, the Civil War. Students learn how arguments over slavery and states’ rights, and the election of Abraham Lincoln, led to Southern secession and armed conflict. Students consider the influence of Frederick Douglass and other abolitionists, the Dred Scott decision, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and the Emancipation Proclamation. Students explore important battles, new technologies (such as ironclad ships), and major leaders, including Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, and especially President Lincoln. Students engage with selections from primary sources, including the Gettysburg Address and Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address. Students learn about Lincoln’s assassination and the divisive struggles of the Reconstruction era. Some content is tied to the “Pathway to Citizenship,” an array of civics-focused knowledge, questions, and activities.
Number of Lessons: 28
Lesson Time: 45 minutes each daily. Each lesson may be divided into shorter segments.
Additional Search Terms: social studies • map skills • nonfiction • informational text • Mason-Dixon Line • John Brown and Harpers Ferry • Lincoln-Douglas debates • Yankees and Rebels • Jefferson Davis • Stonewall Jackson • Robert Gould Shaw and Massachusetts 54th Regiment • William Tecumseh Sherman • Andrew Johnson • Freedmen’s Bureau
CHKG Grade Levels: CKHG units are correlated to topics at the grade levels specified in the Core Knowledge Sequence, which allows students in schools following the Sequence to build knowledge grade by grade. In other settings, individual CKHG units may be used as supplemental resources. In general, the content and presentation in the CKHG units for Grades 3-5 are appropriate for young readers from the upper elementary grades through middle school.
