emancipation_proclamation_-_final_draft

OUSD 8th Grade U.S History Writing Assessment- Spring, 2012 Introduction On this assessment you will be asked to write a response to the following historical question: Did President Lincoln issue the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863 primarily for humanitarian reasons or primarily for military necessity? To assist you in developing your answer to this question you will learn about the historical period that brought about the Civil War and the Proclamation You will also learn about President Lincoln, his beliefs on slavery, his actions as president of the United States, and what other people said about Lincoln and his actions In addition, you will learn about the Emancipation Proclamation itself – what it did and did not accomplish, and who it and did not affect In addition to learning this background information and in order to develop a thoughtful response you will have to decide whether Lincoln’s primary (most important) reason for issuing the Emancipation Proclamation was a humanitarian concern for those held in slavery, or whether his primary (most important) reason was a military necessity What is the question asking you to consider? If you argue that the primary reason was humanitarian you need to include evidence that supports the position that Lincoln was primarily motivated by his opposition to slavery and a goal of improving the lives of those held as slaves If you argue that the primary reason was military necessity you need to include evidence that supports the position that Lincoln was primarily motivated by his desire to win the Civil War and preserve the United States as one country OUSD 8th Grade U.S History Asseesment / Spring Semester, 2012 / page # Part I– Identifying and Representing Multiple Reasons for Actions Introduction What motivates people to take an action or make a decision? Often, this is not an easy question to answer, especially when the question involves an historical figure who you can’t ask in person This lesson is the first step towards developing your response to this spring’s th grade U.S History writing assessment On this assessment you will be asked to identify the primary reason President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863 In asking “what was the primary reason,” this question tells us that when we explain why Lincoln issued the Proclamation we will need to consider more than one reason and then identify the most important one An Example Having more than one reason for our actions is very common We it all the time Consider the following explanation of why one person, Anita, chose to become a doctor “Although I chose to become a doctor because it is a profession in which I can earn a good income, the primary reason I chose to become a doctor is to help people.” One way to represent her reasons for becoming a doctor graphically is to create a two section circle graph – one section representing “helping people” as the primary reason (taking up more than half the circle) and one section representing “earning a good income” and as a secondary reason (taking up less than half the circle) A circle graph that represents Anita’s answer to why she became a doctor might look like this To earn a good income To help People OUSD 8th Grade U.S History Asseesment / Spring Semester, 2012 / page # 2 Identifying your own multiple reasons– consider the two following situations It is test day in history class and you studied hard the night before When you get to class the student sitting next to you asks if he could copy your paper during the test because he didn’t study There are two good reasons to say “no.” One is that you think it is wrong to help someone cheat A second reason is that you fear getting caught by your teacher and having your paper taken away For you, what would be the primary reason? Complete the following sentence and then divide up the circle into two parts – the larger part representing the primary reason and the smaller part representing the secondary reason Although I reason I would not help my classroom cheat is (secondary reason), the primary This spring you are in the process of identifying what high school you will attend next fall There are many reasons to consider in making this choice These include: • I will choose the school that will provide me the best education • I will choose the school where most of my closest friends are going • I will choose the school that is closest to home For you, what would be the primary reason? Complete the following sentence and then divide up the circle into three parts – the largest part representing the primary reason and the smaller parts representing the secondary reasons OUSD 8th Grade U.S History Asseesment / Spring Semester, 2012 / page # Although and (secondary reasons) are important reasons for choosing a school, my primary reason for choosing a high school is Conclusion As mentioned previously, understanding what motivates people to take an action is not easy, especially when the question involves an historical figure This lesson was designed to help you better understand the question you will investigate and answer on this assessment: Did President Lincoln issue the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863 primarily for humanitarian reasons or primarily for military necessity? OUSD 8th Grade U.S History Asseesment / Spring Semester, 2012 / page # Part II – Background Essay “President Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863” Read the following account of how President Abraham Lincoln decided to issue the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863 Answer the questions following each of the paragraphs (paragraph 1) During the Civil War the states that joined the Confederacy fought for southern independence from the Union The Southern motivation for independence was to protect their states’ rights to maintain slavery Many in the south feared that the Union wanted to take states’ rights away in regard to slavery, especially following the election of Lincoln who opposed the expansion of slavery into new states and territories Interestingly, President Abraham Lincoln had begun his inaugural address of 1861, by stating, “I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the states where it exists…I believe I have no lawful right to so, and I have no inclination to so.” In addition, Lincoln stated that he would enforce the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 Nonetheless, Southern states could not get over their distrust of Lincoln and decided to secede Why were the southern states afraid of Lincoln becoming President? Explain (paragraph 2) At the beginning of the Civil War in 1861, both the Union and the Confederacy felt confident that they would win a swift victory However, by the summer of 1862, the war caused its participants costly victories and brutal defeats in battle The North lost most of the battles in these initial chapters of the war It became evident that the conflict would continue for a long time and cost many more lives The popularity of the war began to decrease in the North and it seemed that the Confederacy might actually win if they could hold out long enough Lincoln was concerned that France and Britain might come to the aid of the Confederacy Why were Northerners discouraged about the war in the summer of 1862? (paragraph 3) Leading up to the Civil War, many slaves had been able to gain their freedom through the Underground Railroad However, with the outbreak of the Civil War, even more slaves began to free themselves by escaping to Union camps, forts and to the North Union troops also freed slaves as they marched through the South Southern slaveholders OUSD 8th Grade U.S History Asseesment / Spring Semester, 2012 / page # demanded the return of their slaves However, Northerner officers called these newly freed slaves contraband Why? The term stuck because as “property” these escaped slaves were no longer helping the southern war effort Many contraband worked with Union forces in the camps and on the march Some Northerners began to suggest that contraband be allowed to serve as Union soldiers Would allowing newly freed slaves and contraband to fight for the Union give them a major advantage? Why or why not? Explain (paragraph 4) President Lincoln was personally opposed to slavery but initially did not want to make emancipation a goal for fighting the Confederacy He stated that the purpose of the war, “is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery.” As the Civil War dragged on, President Lincoln seemed to change his mind on the slavery issue After the Union victory at the Battle of Antietam, where thousands of soldiers died on both sides, in September 1862, Lincoln introduced his draft for a document that is now known as the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation In this document, he declared a warning to the rebellious Confederate states: return to the Union by New Year’s Day or all slaves in Confederate borders would be freed The Confederacy ignored his warning On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation It declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." The document also authorized African Americans to participate in military service in the Union army By the end of the war, nearly 200,000 African Americans fought as soldiers and sailors (a) How did the Emancipation Proclamation affect the war efforts of the North? _ _ _ (b) How did the Emancipation Proclamation affect the war efforts of the South? _ _ (paragraph 5) The proclamation did not immediately affect slavery in the South because the Union could not enforce the law until they defeated the Confederacy However many more slaves ran away when the Union troops marched through the South In addition, the proclamation did not end slavery in the slave states that were still loyal to the Union OUSD 8th Grade U.S History Asseesment / Spring Semester, 2012 / page # (Border States) But the Emancipation Proclamation was important because it shifted the original goal of the war from a fight to solely preserve the Union Now the Civil War was also being fought to free African American slaves Historians today argue about Lincoln’s motivation to issue the Emancipation Proclamation Lincoln himself considered the Emancipation Proclamation as the greatest of his accomplishments He called it, “the central act of my administration and the great event of the nineteenth century" Did Lincoln have a genuine change of heart (Humanitarian) about African Americans or was he solely playing the part of a master military planner (Military necessity)? _ _ _ Source Materials: http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/emancipation-proclamation-freedoms-first-steps#sectbackground Goodheart, Adam, How Slavery Really Ended in America, April 1, 2011 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/magazine/mag-03CivilWar-t.html? _r=1&pagewanted=all OUSD 8th Grade U.S History Asseesment / Spring Semester, 2012 / page # Part III - Evidence: Seven Primary Sources - What was said by Lincoln and others about the Slavery and the Emancipation Proclamation To Do: Read the six primary source documents on the following pages and then answer the questions that follow each source Each questions asks you to think about the source in a very specific way Below are explanations of what each question is asking.*  When the question asks about “context” it is asking you to think about: o What was going on during the time this was written? o What was it like to be alive during that time? o What things were different from and similar to our time?  When the question asks about “close reading” it is asking you to think about: o What is the author saying or what claims does the author make? o What evidence is the author using?  When the question asks about “sourcing” it is asking you to think about: o Who wrote the source and when was it written? o Why was it written and who was the audience? o What is the author’s point of view? o Is the source believable? Why? Why not?  When the questions asks about “analysis” it is asking you to consider: o Whether it suggests that Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation for humanitarian reasons or out of military necessity? For source #1 the questions are already answered so you have a better idea of how to respond to each question Questions and explanations are adapted from Stanford History Education Group, “Reading Like an Historian,” http://sheg.stanford.edu * OUSD 8th Grade U.S History Asseesment / Spring Semester, 2012 / page # Source – In 1858 Illinois Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln for the U.S Senate His opponent was Democrat Stephen Douglas, who had represented Illinois in the Senate since 1847 As part of their campaigns, Lincoln and Douglas engaged in a series of debates In the debates, Lincoln stressed that the central issue of the campaign was whether slavery would spread into new territories west of the Mississippi River He opposed the spread of slavery and said that Democrats were trying to spread slavery across the nation (Holt Textbook, US History Independence to 1914, p 437) “I should like to know if taking this old Declaration of Independence, which declares the principle that all men are equal, and making exceptions to it – where will it stop? If one man says it does not mean a Negro, why wouldn’t another say it does not mean some other man? If the Declaration is not true, let us tear it out [Cries in the audience of “No,no!”] Let us stick to it then, let us stand firmly by it.” Abraham Lincoln, July 10, 1858 - from “Lincoln and Slavery, http://lincolnandslavery.com/lsjom/events/landmarkevents/118-the-lincoln-douglas-debates.html Questions to consider*: Context: Was Illinois a free state or a slave state in 1858? Illinois was a free state, slavey was against the law What phrase in the Declaration of Independence you think Lincoln was referring to? I believe he was referring to the phrase from the Declaration that said “all men are created equal.” Sourcing: Who was the audience for this statement? The audience for this statement were people listening to Lincoln and Douglas debate over the spread of slavery Many in the audience were probably men whose votes Lincoln and Douglas were trying to win Close reading: Summarize Lincoln’s main point in this excerpt Lincoln’s main point is that if the idea of equality from the Declaration of Independence can be denied to a “Negro” then it is possible the idea of equality could be denied Questions and explanations are adapted from Stanford History Education Group, “Reading Like an Historian,” http://sheg.stanford.edu * OUSD 8th Grade U.S History Asseesment / Spring Semester, 2012 / page # someone else for a different reason He is arguing they should stick to the idea of equality from the Declaration of Independence Analysis: Does this document suggest that Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation five years later for humanitarian reasons or out of military necessity? Why? It could be used to support the view that he issued it for humanitarian reasons Why? Although this is five years before Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation and he couldn’t have know he would be President during a Civil War over slavery, the document suggests Lincoln does believe slavery is wrong OUSD 8th Grade U.S History Asseesment / Spring Semester, 2012 / page # 10 OUSD 8th Grade U.S History Asseesment / Spring Semester, 2012 / page # 42 OUSD 8th Grade U.S History Asseesment / Spring Semester, 2012 / page # 43 OUSD 8th Grade U.S History Asseesment / Spring Semester, 2012 / page # 44 OUSD 8th Grade U.S History Asseesment / Spring Semester, 2012 / page # 45 OUSD 8th Grade U.S History Asseesment / Spring Semester, 2012 / page # 46 OUSD 8th Grade U.S History Asseesment / Spring Semester, 2012 / page # 47 OUSD 8th Grade U.S History Asseesment / Spring Semester, 2012 / page # 48 OUSD 8th Grade U.S History Asseesment / Spring Semester, 2012 / page # 49 OUSD 8th Grade U.S History Asseesment / Spring Semester, 2012 / page # 50 OUSD 8th Grade U.S History Asseesment / Spring Semester, 2012 / page # 51 OUSD 8th Grade U.S History Asseesment / Spring Semester, 2012 / page # 52 OUSD 8th Grade U.S History Asseesment / Spring Semester, 2012 / page # 53 OUSD 8th Grade U.S History Asseesment / Spring Semester, 2012 / page # 54 OUSD 8th Grade U.S History Asseesment / Spring Semester, 2012 / page # 55 Name: School: Teacher: Period: _ Grade: Date: OUSD 8th Grade U.S History Asseesment / Spring Semester, 2012 / page # 56