Lesson 4
April 15, 1861 Presidential Proclamation
Essential Question: How does the April 15, 1861 Presidential Proclamation express the internal conflict of Abraham Lincoln as a man divided?
Notes to Instructor:
- This lesson should be adapted to a manner of your choosing depending on your class level and student composition. You know your class best. Some teachers may choose to do independent reading and analysis, peer to peer, teacher led, or entire class working together. The model should be what is most conducive to the benefit of your students and your classroom.
- This lesson is intentionally designed in the same manner as Lesson 1 to build on the foundation provided in that lesson. This lesson uses the same mechanisms of instruction, but uses more complicated material. The student familiarity will be advantageous in completing the lesson.
Directions:
- Review with students the events at Fort Sumter that led to President Lincoln being forced to take action. Teachers may want to also review the student generated questions on the anchor chart created at the end of Lesson 3.
- Have students analyze the text of the April 15, 1861 Presidential Proclamation using the Close Read Form, located in the resources section, to complete the analysis. This can do done independently or as a whole class. If the close read is completed independently, include time to discuss the students' analysis of the proclamation.
- After whole class discussion of the students' analysis of the proclamation, show and/or provide the students with a copy of President Lincoln's original draft of the proclamation. Analyze this document as a whole class to illustrate specific points and engage the students in critical thinking and analysis of the text.
- Draw student focus to the corrections and rewrites that Lincoln made. Facilitate and direct student discussion toward questioning why he made so many changes and examine how that relates to the essential question, "How does the April 15, 1861 Presidential Proclamation express the internal conflict of Abraham Lincoln as a man divided?"
- Provide students with a copy of the text "Close Read of Presidential Proclamation April 15, 1861" to guide their viewing of the video documentary, "Documentary of Presidential Proclamation April 15, 1861 Reviewed."
- While watching the documentary, students may want to add questions, thoughts, inferences, or connections to their copy of the accompanying text.
- After watching the documentary, have students share any of their questions, thoughts, inferences, or connections. Facilitate a discussion that challenges the students to compare their individual close read analysis of the proclamation to the author's close read analysis of the proclamation.
- Add any student generated questions to the anchor chart from Lesson 3 that were unanswered.
- After thorough whole group discussion, have the students work independently on a written response to the essential question, "How does the April 15, 1861 Presidential Proclamation express the internal conflict of Abraham Lincoln as a man divided?" Teachers should use their discretion on setting the requirements for this assignment.
Library of Congress - Abraham Lincoln's Original April 15, 1861 Presidential Proclamation
Lincoln, Abraham. "April 15, 1861: President Lincoln Calls Congress into Emergency Session." The Civil War The Senate's Story. United States Senate, n.d. Web. 1 Aug. 2016.
Abraham Lincoln's April 15, 1861 Presidential Proclamation:
Lincoln, Abraham. "Abraham Lincoln, Presidential Proclamation, April 15, 1861, Washington , DC." House Divided. Dickinson College, 20 Feb. 2011. Web. 01 Aug. 2016.
Daniel Caudle's Close Read of Presidential Proclamation of April 15, 1861:
Daniel Caudle's Documentary of Presidential Proclamation of April 15, 1861 Reviewed:
Complete Citation List For All Images in Documentary Found in Resources