Brother Against Brother

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

Disagreements happen all the time!

Usually, they happen when two people see a situation differently.

For example, you might disagree with your sibling about a toy. You had the toy first, then went to eat something. When you returned, your sibling was playing with it.

You believe you should get the toy back because you were only gone for a minute, but your sibling sees the situation differently. They say you put the toy down, so now they can play with it.

Both of you think you should get to play with the toy because both of you see the situation differently. You both believe you are right in your point of view, which is called perspective.

Different perspectives have caused many disagreements and wars in history.

This lesson is about the Civil War, also called the War Between Brothers, because brothers fought against each other. This war divided families, communities, cities, and the whole country.

Each side was fighting for what they thought was freedom.

Think over these questions.

• What is your understanding of freedom?

• Why do you have that perspective?

• Are you influenced by what your parents think, what you see on TV, or the thoughts of your friends?

It is hard not to be influenced by all those factors. They help form your perspective and that of others. Where you live, what your family believes, and what you are taught go into your perspective.

A Nation Divided

The American Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865 between the Union, made up of states that remained in the United States, and the Confederacy, made up of 11 Southern states that left the Union.

Slavery was the central cause of the conflict. Southern states depended heavily on enslaved labor and wanted to protect and expand slavery.

Many Southern leaders also argued that states should have the power to make their own decisions. However, the main right they sought to protect was the right to continue slavery.

Abraham Lincoln won the presidential election of 1860. Although Lincoln had not promised to immediately end slavery where it already existed, Southern leaders feared that his election would prevent slavery from spreading into new territories.

South Carolina seceded first, followed by ten other states. They formed the Confederate States of America and selected Jefferson Davis as their president.

The war began in April 1861 when Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina.

During the war:

• Union forces fought to preserve the United States.

• The Confederacy fought to establish a separate country that protected slavery.

• Enslaved people escaped to Union-held areas, provided information, supported Union forces, and pushed the nation toward emancipation.

• After the Emancipation Proclamation took effect in 1863, ending slavery became an official Union war goal in the states still rebelling.

• Nearly 180,000 Black soldiers served in the United States Army, and thousands more served in the Navy.

• Major Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg in 1863 weakened the Confederacy.

• Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant in April 1865.

The Union victory preserved the United States and led to the abolition of slavery through the 13th Amendment. However, freedom did not immediately bring equal treatment or equal rights.

The struggle for full citizenship continued long after the fighting ended.

The Civil War caused enormous suffering. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers died, and many more were wounded. Homes, farms, towns, and families were also deeply affected.

Consider these questions:

• What is one fact you learned about the Civil War?

• Why was slavery central to the conflict?

• How did the war change the meaning of freedom in the United States?

Look again at perspective, but this time look into the perspective of the main groups — the majority groups — around the time of the Civil War.

• the Southern Whites

• the Northern Whites

• the abolitionists

• the Southern Blacks

The South is where slavery was most prevalent because property owners wanted free labor to work on their large farms, called plantations.

• So, how do you think the Southern Whites felt about freedom?

They believed freedom only belonged to the White man, and slavery should be preserved because that was the sole purpose of Blacks. They thought the government and the Northerners were trying to interfere too much in their lives and abolish slavery.

Many Southerners strongly believed states had the right to decide the issue of slavery for themselves and did not believe the federal government should decide for them.

So, the only way to keep their life the same and be free was to secede — separate — from the Union.

• What do you think the Southern Blacks — the enslaved men and women — believed freedom meant?

They believed that to be free, slavery should be abolished, and they should have the same rights as White men: owning land, freedom to vote, receiving pay for working, etc.

The Northern Whites believed slavery should not be allowed, but they did not believe Blacks were equal to Whites. To them, freedom was about money. Slave labor was cheap, so the Southerners were very wealthy, and the Northerners did not like that.

If slavery were abolished, there would be economic freedom in the job market.

The Abolitionists were considered a radical group in the Civil War era. They were Blacks and Whites who believed slavery was a horrible thing and that all men were equal, no matter what color.

To them, freedom was equal rights for all men and the abolishment (outlawing) of slavery.

Understanding the Causes

The Civil War did not begin because of one sudden disagreement. Tension had grown for decades over slavery, political power, and whether slavery would spread into western territories.

Several events increased the conflict:

• The publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin helped more readers understand the cruelty of slavery.

• Abolitionists spoke, wrote, organized, and sometimes took direct action against slavery.

• Violent conflicts broke out over whether new territories would permit slavery.

• Abraham Lincoln’s election in 1860 convinced many Southern leaders that slavery’s future was threatened.

• Southern states began leaving the Union and formed the Confederacy.

Southern leaders often used the language of states’ rights, but their own declarations and political actions show that protecting slavery was their chief concern. The conflict was therefore about both federal and state power, with slavery at the center of the dispute.

Think about the perspectives described in this section.

• How did slavery shape each group’s idea of freedom?

• Why might two people living at the same time have understood freedom very differently?

After some thought, move to the Got It? section to meet individuals connected to these groups.