The Constitution

The Constitution
The Constitution

Monday, May 5, 2014

Across Five Aprils

Across Five Aprils Project

Newspaper Webquest
Introduction:  You and a partner are reporters and editors living in southern Illinois during the Civil War.  This border territory, like Newton in Across Five Aprils, is in a turmoil of conflicting feelings.  Illinois is a Union state, but many people have family and friends in the South.  Many local men have gone off to fight for the Union, but several, like Bill, have left to join the Confederacy.

Task:  As a team, you will research, write, and edit a special edition of your newspaper that focuses on a specific battle mentioned in Across Five Aprils.  In this edition of your paper, you must include at least the following: (1) a news article about the battle (including quotes from soldiers and/or officers); (2) a human interest story (local or national, not directly tied to the war);  (3) a letter to the editor from a local resident, who may be for or against the war (politician, freed slave, soldier, wife, businessman, etc); and (4) graphics, such as political cartoons, maps, and/or photographs.  In addition, you may want to include other articles or features (true to the time period!) common to many newspapers: (obituaries, sports, classified ads, etc.).  The newspaper will be created using a Google doc.  If you do the minimum you can earn at most, a C.  If you do a little more, you can earn a B.  To get an A, your newspaper should be full of good stories, pictures, etc.   Every story, picture, map, etc. must have a live link to the url address so I can see where you got the information.  
Scoring Rubric for Newspaper Project


Process



Divide the necessary roles with your partner.  You will need an overall editor as well as reporters for each article. 

Decide whether you want to be pro-Union or pro-Confederacy, as this will determine the editorial position of your paper.

Pick a battle mentioned in Across Five Aprils.  Use the chapter resources to begin your research.

Broaden and deepen your research through general resources and listing of primary documents on the Internet.

Write the articles.
Find the answers to who, what, when, where, why, and how as necessary.
Be sure that your information is accurate - newspaper reporters always check their facts through multiple sources. 
Use illustrations to make your story clear and interesting to the reader.
Write catchy, concise headlines.
Meet your deadlines! 

Edit the articles.

Publish your paper (Don't forget to share with me!)  Remember that newspapers are printed in columns.  You will need to use the table feature of Google docs to make the columns. 

 General Civil War Resources

Primary Documents:

 Newspapers
Memoirs
Letters
Selected Civil War Photographs (searchable index at the Library of Congress)
Valley of the Shadow Images Search (searchable index of photos and illustrations of battles)
Images of Wartime at The American Civil War Homepage
Civil War Cartoons (examples of political cartoons; some are difficult to read)
Civil War Album (modern photographs of battlefields, maps & official reports)
Maps
Civil War Maps (searchable index of historical maps at the Library of Congress)
Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection (alphabetical listing of U.S. National Parks & Monuments)
Rare Civil War Map Collection at the University of Georgia Libraries
Miscellaneous (diaries, poems, sermons, legislation, etc.)
Documenting the American South (collection of electronic texts at UNC Chapel Hill)
Documentary Records at The American Civil War Homepage (public and private documents)
Digital Library and Archives at Virginia Tech (scroll down below photo for listing of documents)
Civil War Navies: Official Records (telegrams and reports about the battle at Hampton Roads)
The Official Records of the War of the Rebellion (Commanders' After Action Reports)
Confederate States of America Documents (The Avalon Project at Yale Law School)
Civil War Women On-line Archival Collections at Duke University
Clipart (modern clipart as well as historical line drawings)
Secession Related Documents





The links below are intended to be starting places for independent research, not an inclusive look at the Civil War.  Where possible, I have tried to include multiple links for some information to provide a balance of viewpoints, as well as to prepare for those inevitable days when particular websites are down.  Items marked (2) have a second link to another website.  Battle names follow those used in the text, which in general uses Union names.


Chapters 1-6

"Jethro listened with fascination to the new names of men and places.  He heard admiration voiced for a brilliant young officer named McClellan, who had been put in top command of the army in the East.  He became aware of such names as Seward and Chase; he knew who Senator Sumner was and old Thad Stevens, what such names as Wendell Phillips and Henry Ward Beecher stood for, what roles were being played by Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee."


Chapters 7-9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
         Battle of Spotsylvania
Chapter 12
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