Making a Change

In class this week we discussed a lot about how enslaved people gained their freedom.  We discussed whether their freedom came from above which is people that had higher ranks in society or whether it came from below which is people of the lower classes.  We did many activities like discussing the social pyramid and watching Ken Burns Civil War Clips.  Also we were all assigned different documents to analyze and find quotes to answer various question. Also we analyzed this pictured of a slave kissing Abraham Lincolns hand.  Abraham Lincoln gave freedom to enslaved people by passing the emancipation proclamation.  I believe that freedom ultimately came from above because they passed laws to legal make enslaved people free.  On the other hand the people "below" forced their hand.  They stood up for what they believed in and they wanted freedom.  If it wasn't for the people below it would have taken a lot longer for enslaved people to become free.  I believe Lincolns actions were greatly impacted by the actions of the enslaved Americans.  They fought for their freedom and Lincoln the only right thing to do was pass the emancipation proclamation and make them free.  Lincoln was very fair to all people.  Overall freedom was granted by people from above but the people from below really forced the decision and that was the right thing to do.

Searching for a Victor

In class we all picked a battle that we would like to research. We then made a google document and it included the battle name, date of the battle, where it took place, the theater, and reasons for the results. After that we all made a QR code and a bitly and printed it out. The QR code would lead to the google document for your battle.  We went on a scavenger hunt scanner all the QR codes and copying the information about the battles.  Finally we went on a website called padlet and found trends on the theater of the battle and who was victorious.


The union was the ultimate victor in the western and naval theater, but the confederacy was the victor in the eastern theater.  For example in the battle of Baton Rouge, Louisiana which took place in the western and naval theaters in 1862 the union was victorious. The confederates had to separate into two divisions and the union was held at the center of Louisiana. The union army was successful in almost all of the battles in the western and naval theaters. Also the confederates won most of the eastern battles. For example in the second battle of Bull Run on August 28-30 in Prince William County, Virginia the confederates were the victors. The union attacked but were devastated by the confederate artillery then the confederacy also counter attacked with 28,000 men. The battle led to a ratio of 13,830 dead union men and 8,350 dead confederate men. The union overall was the dominant force even though the confederacy showed resilience.


One commonality in the reason for the results is that the union had a lot more men then the confederacy. For example, in the battle of Spotsylvania on May 8th and 19th 1864 in Virginia  there was not clear victor but the confederacy failed to stop the union army. An estimated 18,000 men were killed from the union army and 12,000 from the confederacy. This shows that the unions numbers were just too much. Even though the confederacy killed more union soldiers than the number of soldiers they lost they still couldn't stop the union soldiers.  One commonality the confederacy had was most of the time they won it was from unexpected attacks. For example the battle of Chancellorsville on May 1 and 4th of 1863 confederate troops flanked the right side of the union army while they were still woods, while the union army was stunned they were able to kill stonewall Jackson.   This is one of many examples.


I had a lot of fun with all the activities that we did in class. I learned a lot about the civil war and the scavenger was a lot of fun.  I also learned a lot about technology by making a QR code and a bitly. I enjoyed walking around the school scanning the signs and copying down the information. I learned a lot about the union army and the confederate army. We learned a lot about the battles and the victors of them. Overall the Union was more dominant than the Confederacy. I really enjoyed this week of class.



Picture of the battle of Fort Donelson

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Donelson