Collected for US History classes by Mr. Michael Hutchison, social studies teacher, Lincoln High School, Vincennes, Indiana.

Use these sites to help you develop your projects.  Some of these sites were specifically created for the Civil War series, others have resources you may want to use.  Of course, you should also plan on finding your own resources as well.

Project timeline:

September 15, 2008: Select topics and assign groups.

September 19-26, 2008: Student groups invited to view segments of Civil War series to prepare for research.

September 19, 2008 : Classes begin work in Media Center on research and developing Power Point presentations. (Mrs. Wagler will do a library orientation on the 21st.)

September 23, 2008: HARD COPY BRIEFING (Groups turn in portfolios for preliminary evaluation.)

September 25, 2008: Groups informally present presentations during class time to Mrs. Wagler and I.

Civil War series resources

This is the "official" web site for the PBS Civil War series.  The site includes important information about the film and filmmakers, including photos, background information on many of the major figures of the war, and battles.  You will want to refer to this site frequently.

Ken Burns, creator of the Civil War series, as well as many other outstanding documentaries, participated in an online conversation with teachers during September, 2002, in TAPPED IN.  Click on the graphic to read the transcript.

The Sullivan Ballou Film Project includes information about Sullivan Ballou, whose letter is mentioned in the first part of the Civil War series.  (Also includes other information about him.)

The "Jay and Molly Homepage" is the website of Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, who perform some of the music in the series, including "Ashokan Farewell", which is the basic theme for the series.  You can listen to a MIDI file of the song here.

Check out Florentine Films (Ken Burns's film company) for more information about the Civil War series as well as other projects he's working on.

The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) web site contains a lot of information about PBS programming, including the Civil War series.

PBS's TeacherSource resource site is a good information source for teachers and students looking for information regarding PBS programming.  (Included are many lesson plans geared to state and national standards.)

Research links (some may only be available in the LHS Media Center):

See Mrs. Wagler or Mr. Hutchison for assistance/details!

Inspire-Indiana (INSPIRE offers electronic magazines, encyclopedias, and other resources to all Indiana residents for your information needs. Research current events, science, business, health, notable people, hobbies, and much more from your library, school, home or office.)

NewsBank (NOTE:  You may need a user name and password to access NewsBank.  Check with Mrs. Wagler for details.)

Search engine resource:

is probably the best search engine available today.  You should be able to find a great deal of information about the war as well as your selected topic here. 

Power Point resources:

Stuck on doing something in Power Point?  Want to do a quick tutorial?  Check out the following links!

Power Point in the Classroom

Florida Gulf Coast University Microsoft Power Point 2000 Tutorial 

Power Point Links (many resources to help you make better presentations)

Cyber-Sleuth Kids Power Point resources

Examples of Power Point presentations done by 1997 Lincoln High School Government students (The Modern Presidency)

(Note:  These are selected resources to assist you in developing your projects.  Of course, you will want to do your own research using print and video resources, as well as web-based searches. 

Fort Sumter resources:

Use this link for information regarding the personal account of Major Robert Anderson, Union commander who surrendered Fort Sumter in April 1861.  

  Use this link for information regarding the personal account of General G.T. Beauregard, who was the Confederate commander who captured Fort Sumter.

  Use this link for general information about the capture of the fort, as well as other links you might want to use for a project.

  This link will take you to the National Parks Service Fort Sumter page.

"Billy Yank and Johnny Reb" (Ordinary Soldiers in the Civil War):

  One good resource for the life of an ordinary soldier are the memoirs of Daniel Crotty, who was a soldier in the Third Michigan Volunteer Infantry.  

  Sam Watkins was a Confederate soldier who wrote a book about his experiences during the war called "Company Aytch:  A Sideshow of the Big Show".  His memoirs can be found here.  (Watkins's experiences are chronicled in The Civil War.)

  Union soldier Elisha Hunt Rhodes, along with Watkins, is featured prominently in The Civil War.  No real web-based memoirs of his experiences exist, so a web page with some of his diary entries was created for this project. (Note:  all entries for this web page were used from the companion book for The Civil War, (Ward, Burns, Burns) and are all works are cited on the page.  Also, check a lesson prepared for the The Civil War web site that wasn't used.

   You can find many "life stories" of many Civil War era persons (both military and civilian), at the Life Stories of Civil War Heroes web site.

Letters by Civil War Soldiers:

  This lesson included on The Civil War  web site highlights letters sent home by ordinary soldiers during the war.  It's written by Joan Brodsky Schur.

Battle of Antietam:

This is the link for the PBS Civil War series Battle of Antietam lesson.  The lesson includes various links to sites about the battle and the aftermath.

Union's Grand Strategy:

This is the link for the PBS Civil War series "Grand Strategy" (map) lesson.  The lesson includes links about how the Union considered they would subdue the Confederacy.

Emancipation Proclamation:

  This link will take you to the "Emancipation Proclamation" section of the Abraham Lincoln Papers online exhibit in the Library of Congress.

  This link will take you to the "transcription" of the Emancipation Proclamation located on the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) web page.  (You can also click on the pages located on the side of the transcript page in order to see the proclamation as written in President Lincoln's own handwriting.

  This link will take you to the Emancipation Proclamation Page located on the American Memory (Library of Congress) web site.  (The site includes further information about the Proclamation.  The entire Abraham Lincoln Papers site on American Memory has many resources you might want to use for a variety of projects.)

Gettysburg Address and Battle of Gettysburg:

  This link will take you to the Library of Congress web page for the two different drafts of the Gettysburg Address (the Hay and the Nicolay versions).

  This link will take you to the Library of Congress's Gettysburg Address web page.

  This link will take you to the text of the invitation sent to Lincoln by David Willis to give "a few appropriate remarks" at the consecration of the Gettysburg Military Cemetery.

This link will take you to the Gettysburg National Military Park (National Park Service) web page.

This link will take you to a proposed lesson for The Civil War  series web page which includes Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and Little Round Top.

Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts:

This lesson involves a letter by the commanding officer of the all black regiment to his wife describing the burning of the town of Darien, Georgia.

Civil War Music:

This link is for the lesson for the PBS Civil War series which compares various northern and southern songs.  (Includes lyrics for songs as well as MIDI files to allow students to hear the music.)

Andersonville Prison:

This site is a student-created site of the war crimes trial of Henry Wirz, commandant of the Andersonville (Georgia) Prison Camp.  Wirz was the only person (on either side) convicted and executed for "war crimes".

Sherman's March to the Sea:

This site is the lesson for the PBS Civil War series that uses correspondence from General William Tecumseh Sherman to General US Grant.

Surrender at Appomattox:

This "Eyewitness" site gives details of the surrender at Appomattox.

This link is for the PBS Civil War series lesson on Lee and Grant at Appomattox.

Other Civil War links

Check out the Civil War Preservation Trust website. The CWPT does a great job of protecting Civil War battlefields and related sites, and the site also has a large number of related resources you can use for your project.

This link will take you to the National Archives and Records Administration Exhibit:  American Originals, Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)

  This link will take you to the National Archives and Records Administration Exhibit on Women Soldiers in the Civil War. 

This link will take you to Mr. Lincoln's Virtual Library (Lincoln Papers) in the Library of Congress web site.

This link will take you to "We'll Sing to Abe Our Song":  Sheet Music About Lincoln, Emancipation, and the Civil War.  (From the American Memory site, Library of Congress.)

This link will take you to Professor Bernie Dodge (San Diego State University)'s American Civil War Home Page.

This link will take you to the American Memory, Library of Congress Civil War Treasures from the New York Historical Society, which includes stereographic views, recruitment posters, drawings and writings of soldiers.

This link will take you to the Civil War Cartoons site (from the American Studies Department of the University of Virginia).

This link goes to the "Valley of the Shadows" web page from the University of Virginia.  This University of Virginia project analyzes the Civil War through the eyes of residents of two counties, one Northern, the other Southern (Augusta County, Georgia, and Franklin County, Pennsylvania).  The project includes photographs, census information, newspapers, letters, diaries, and other pertinent information that brings the war to a personal level to these two areas.

This link will take you to the Hargrett Rare Map Collection (Civil War Maps).

This link will take you to Cyndi's Civil War list, with a substantial number of good resource links.

This link will take you to the American Civil War web page, including several pages of photos, battle information, Civil War re-enactor websites, regimental history, biographies of major persons in the conflict, as well as other information.

This link will take you to the "Selected Civil War Photographs" page from American Memory, Library of Congress which includes a compendium of photographs from the Print and Photography Section of the Library of Congress.  Pictures are separated by year, and include works of Matthew Brady and Alexander Gardiner.  Photos include sets from several battles, including Gettysburg, Vicksburg, the Wilderness Campaign, as well as sets involving the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, the “Grand Review” of the Army of the Potomac, and views after the fall of the Confederate capital of Richmond.

This link will take you to The American Civil War web site (different than the one mentioned above), which contains a varied number of resources, including a chat room (registration required), links to Civil War “web rings”, biographies of various leaders, a calendar which students can see what happened on that date in Civil War history, as well as concise capsule views of various battles and various events that occurred during the war years.

Other related links of interest

  Catch a "sneak peek" at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, which opened in 2003.

Visit the Abraham Lincoln Home National Historic Site, located in Springfield, Illinois.

The Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site is located near Hodgenville, Kentucky.

The Abraham Lincoln Boyhood Home National Historic Site is located near Vincennes in Spencer County, Indiana (Lincoln City).

The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System is a National Parks Service database with a great deal of information about Civil War combatants, as well as National Parks Service Civil War Historic Sites.

Abraham Lincoln Online

Alton, Illinois in the Civil War (where Elijah P. Lovejoy was killed)

Lincoln Collection, Illinois State Historic Library

Lincoln's New Salem Historic Site

Related Civil War Student files

(Access these files whenever you need new materials for the projects)

 (Fall, 2002) Civil War Project criteria sheet

(Fall, 2006) Civil War Project criteria sheet

Tentative project list

Notes sheet

Parental Permission form/Acceptable Use Policy Statement (Fall, 2006)

Project checklist

Project evaluation form

Have resources you'd like to share with us?  Want to comment on our page?  Feel free to e-mail us and let us know!

Click on the graphic to mail the classes.