Introduction to Primary Sources

Grade Levels: 5, 8-12

Primary sources are first-hand accounts of history and form crucial pieces of evidence in historical arguments. Primary sources appear in a variety of forms, such as newspapers, correspondence, images, and diaries, etc. It is the job of the individual to use these sources to ask questions about society’s change and continuity. Primary sources represent ways that researchers, historians, students, and teachers explore events, people, and other aspects of the past. Too often students overlook the utility of primary sources, however, they are an invaluable resource. For students, primary sources help to build critical thinking skills, reading comprehension, deductive reasoning skills, and promote active learning.

Kentucky Teaching Standards

• 5.I.UE.2
• 8.I.UE.1
• 8.I.CC.1
• HS.C.1.UE.3

The Meaning of Union: Using Civil War Images

Grade Levels: 5, 8-12

Historians identify individuals’ thoughts and feelings about the Civil War through analyzing letters, diaries, books, newspapers, etc. They look for motivations, inconsistencies, and key words that explain why individuals supported one side or the other during the Civil War. Those same ideas are conveyed visually as well. The documents linked below contain images, logos, and government seals that demonstrate devotion to the Union through patriotic imagery during the war.

Kentucky Teaching Standards

• 5.C.RR.1
• 8.H.CH.2
• 8.H.CH.3
• 8.H.CO.4
• HS.C.I.UE.2
• HS.C.KGO.2

Women at War

Grade Levels: 8-12

The Civil War brought conflict to all corners of Kentucky. By their own choice or through harsh circumstances, women found themselves in new roles caused by the war. Some of these challenges were unimaginable just a few years before. Not only did women take sole responsibility for homes, farms and businesses, they also sought outside employment as nurses or factory workers and used their voices to protest conditions on the homefront and the escalating destruction of the war.

Kentucky Teaching Standards

• 8.C.RR.1
• 8.C.RR.3
• HS.C.CV.3
• HS.C.KGO.2
• HS.C.KGO.3

Religion Divided

Grade Levels: 8-12

Religion often provided comfort to communities during the war years. Both sides believed that God would protect those in battle. Yet, as the Civil War progressed individuals on both sides began to question whether their cause was divinely supported. Such questioning prompted theological disagreements, primarily regarding slavery and its congruence with Christianity. Some who supported the Union viewed the war as divine punishment for slavery while those who supported the Confederacy believed that the institution was ordained by God. The documents selected for this lesson highlight the struggles Kentuckians faced in rationalizing their religious faith with the question of slavery

Kentucky Teaching Standards

• 8.H.CO.4
• HS.C.I.UE.2

Tell the Story: Interpreting Language in Civil War Kentucky

Grade Levels: 5, 8-12

Kentuckians in the nineteenth century spoke differently than today’s Kentuckians do. Think about how the evolution of language affects the way we communicate. This lesson looks at the language of the 1860s to see this change over time. How individuals speak, read, and write reveal a tremendous amount of information about their background, political identity, etc. Consider how the skill of communication opened new doors for Kentuckians writing to their government during the Civil War and how it can do the same for you.

Kentucky Teaching Standards

• 5.I.UE.3
• 8.I.UE.1
• 8.I.CC.1
• HS.UH.1.UE.1

True Crime

Grade Levels: 5, 8-12

No period in history has been free of crime, but the brutal and chaotic conditions Kentuckians faced during the Civil War may have caused the Commonwealth’s crime rate to increase. Courts overflowed with cases, overwhelmed local justice systems could not keep up, and many people reached out to the governor as a last lifeline. More than half of each governor’s wartime correspondence dealt with pardon requests and appeals to remit (reduce) fines and prison sentences. Victims turned to the governor for help, but so did people who had committed a crime because of the hard choices the war forced them to make. The documents for this theme show the range of requests Civil War-era governors received.

Kentucky Teaching Standards

• 5.I.UE.2
• 8. I.UE.1
• HS.C.1.UE.3