Understanding by Design:
Model Stage 1 for the Lead-up to the American Civil War
Chris M. Stewart
Montana State University, Northern Plains Transition to Teaching.
The Civil War was
inarguably one of the most pivotal and defining periods in the history of the
United States. Not only did it
ultimately secure the emancipation of the enslaved African population and
resolve many of the dissonances that the Constitutional Convention had left
unresolved, but ultimately decided the fate and direction of the Union
itself. Point in fact: we are
still feeling its ramifications to this day. In terms of a US history course, it stands as one of – if
not the – most important units one can cover; explaining not only the final
resolution to the questions left unanswered four score and seven years (or so)
prior, but also the idea of the subsequent “solid South” voting bloc, and the
enduring culture and cultural fictions of the postbellum South. By using the Understanding by Design
template (appendix), the unit could be viewed first as a thematic whole. As such, the details and narrative
sweep of the era came into sharper focus than merely viewing it
lesson-to-lesson.
While
the war itself is thrilling, it is best viewed in the context of the escalating
dissonance in the acrimonious decades leading up to the Fort Sumter Crisis and
secession. Processions of battles
are well and good, but only begin to mean more than the textual equivalent of a
summer blockbuster war film when it is understood why those battles would eventually come about. While an overview of the war itself is
also important, it is more crucial for students to understand and relate to why
events in 19th century America took that turn in the first place.
In
developing the Stage 1 iteration of the curriculum, the primary difficulty was
finding the essential questions, or “bones,” of the wealth of information. The Civil War was a massive undertaking
by both sides, but its buildup even more so, and stretched out over more than
half a century. With so much data,
it becomes more difficult to determine what is truly essential, and what is
merely detail. Using the layout
from California’s Common Core guidelines, it became significantly easier to
determine the true foci of the units and lessons, without getting “lost in the
woods” of minutiae (History Blueprint, 2012). Another question, as yet unresolved, is how to ultimately
approach the material’s presentation to a class. Many sources, justifiably, present the information
chronologically from the enshrinement of “the curious institution” in the
Constitution all the way through the establishment of the Confederacy (US
History, 2012). Both in
presentation and thematically, this works. However, a reverse chronology could also, perhaps, fulfill
the same function, while providing an increased sense of context and gravity to
the events leading up to secession.
One
could possibly begin with at the turning point of the war: the Gettysburg
Address. With President Lincoln
solemn vow to honor the soldiers who had given their lives for their
countr(ies) by finishing what he had started. In hearkening back to
“four score and seven years ago,”
the teacher could present this as kind of a hook, a mystery. What could have happened in that period
to lead to such bloodshed? How had
America gone from thirteen ostensibly united colonies victorious, to a greatly
expanded, yet bitterly acrimonious “house divided?” The class could then “flash back” in time and begin
understanding the period leading up to the civil War. In exploring that gap in time, students will find that the
question of slavery is the central pivot around which the entire conflict will
ultimately develop. The Founding
Fathers’ had needed the southern states to assent to union, and thus had
allowed slavery to survive as a “necessary evil.” The following decades, however, had turned what had been
considered at the time a dying practice, into a self-sufficient and
self-justifying institution around which the entire southern culture had molded
itself.
By
seeing the outcome first, a bloodstained and divided nation pitting brother
against brother, the details of the build toward civil war could be all the
more interesting. The causes of
the Civil War are many, and there was (and still is) considerable effort to
re-write the origins of the conflict in some circles. By allowing students to “evaluate various explanations for
actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual
evidence,” deeper understanding can be achieved (Common Core State Standards,
p. 61). The exploration of the question “how had it come to this?” becomes far
more relevant if students are clear from the outset just what it had come
to. With such context, the
exploration of the period become more than just an interlude between wars, but
allows students to authentically apply the ideas and question of the time
toward the “meaningful and challenging tasks and problems” of finding out
exactly how things had gone so horribly wrong (Tomlinson and McTighe, 2006, p.
126).
Resources
Common Core State Standards for
English Language Arts & History/Social Studies. Retrieved from: http://www.corestandards.org/assets/CCSSI_ELA%20Standards.pdf
on July 1st, 2012.
History Blueprint (2012). Civil War Unit. Retrieved from: http://historyblueprint.org/site/unit/
on Sunday July 1st, 2012.
Tomlinson, C.A., and McTighe, J. 2006. Integrating Differentiated
Instruction and Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
U.S. History (2012). American History: From Pre-Colombian to the
New Millennium. Retrieved from: http://www.ushistory.org/us/index.asp
on Sunday July 1st, 2012.
Appendix
Backward Design Unit Plan Template
Stage 1 – Desired
Results
|
Content
Standard(s)/Overarching Performance Goals
Topic: The Causes of the
American Civil War & Secession
|
Understanding(s)
Students will understand that…
Though the question of slavery was the central
component to the conflict, the Civil War was also the result of a myriad of
events, societal tensions/sectionalism, and unresolved questions about the
powers of government and the fundamental nature of a united federation of
states.
|
Essential
Question(s)
·
How had the drafters of the US Constitution left open the question of
slavery? Why?
o How did the societies of
the North and the South differ in the early- to mid-19th
century? How would those
differences affect the eventual outbreak of hostilities between the two
societies?
o What were the respective
arguments for and against the ideas of States’ Rights and Federalism?
·
How had the justifications for and against the continuation and
expansion of slavery shifted from the 1780’s?
o How had the abolition of
the Trans-Atlantic slave trade changed the conditions for slave owners in the
South?
o How did the
establishment of the Mason-Dixon Line and Manifest Destiny exacerbate rather
than quell tension between the North and South?
·
How and why would the election of Abraham Lincoln be the final
breaking point between the two societal factions, ultimately leading to civil
war?
|
Students will know…
o
The questions surrounding slavery had been
deliberately left unresolved by the Founding Fathers, figuring that they
institution would naturally die out over time.
o
The North and South differed wildly in
their societies. While the North
rapidly pursued urbanism and industrialization, the South remained committed
to the rural, agrarian lifestyle made possible by slave labor.
o
While the proponents of federalism held
that once entered into, union between states was irrevocable and perpetual,
advocates of the states’ rights argued that states were sovereign and union
was by its very nature voluntary and dissolvable through popular consent.
o
While the question of slavery had in the
1780’s been thought – and argued – to be a temporary phase that would die out
over time, by the mid-1800’s with the abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave
trade, it had become a self-sustaining industry. Further, popular opinion in the South had transformed from
viewing slavery as a necessary evil, to viewing it as a societal good.
o
In the northern states, an abolitionist
movement had taken hold. It
sought to limit the expansion of the slave-based industry as the United
States expanded westward.
Students will be
able to…
|
Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence |
Summative
Performance Task(s) & Product(s)
|
Key
Criteria for use in evaluating performance/s listed above:
|
Other
Evidence (tests, formative and non-performance assessments)
|
Stage 3 – Learning Plan
|
Learning Activities: (utilize the WHERETO ideas)
|
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