Curriculum

Life in the North and South 1847–1861: Before Brother Fought Brother

A romanticized drawing of the pre-Civil War South.
Photo caption

A romanticized drawing of the pre-Civil War South.

Wikimedia Commons

More Americans lost their lives in the Civil War than in any other conflict. How did the United States arrive at a point at which the South seceded and some families were so fractured that brother fought brother?

A complex series of events led to the Civil War. The lessons in this unit are designed to help students develop a foundation on which to understand the basic disagreements between North and South. Through the investigation of primary source documents —photographs, census information and other archival documents—students gain an appreciation of everyday life in the North and South, changes occurring in the lives of ordinary Americans, and some of the major social and economic issues of the years before the Civil War.

Guiding Questions

What differences existed between Americans living in the North and those living in the South in the years before the Civil War?

What important issues are reflected in the differences between life in the North and the South?

 

What kinds of changes were taking place in the United States at the time?

Learning Objectives

List three differences and three similarities between life in the North and the South in the years before the Civil War.

Discuss how these differences contributed to serious disagreements between the North and South.

Curriculum Details

Preparation Instructions

The Civil War erupted after a long history of compromises and sectional debates over representation, federalism, tariffs and territories. Though many of the political differences are beyond the scope of the intermediate curriculum, students can use their analysis of archival documents to begin to appreciate the differences between the North and South and the changes afoot in the United States that contributed to the developing conflict.

  • Before you begin to teach this unit, review the suggested activities and familiarize yourself with the websites involved. Select, download and duplicate, as necessary, any documents you want the class to use.
  • For the census activity in Lesson 3, either the teacher or students will need to keep a calculator at hand.
  • You may wish to provide students with a copy of the Document Analysis Worksheet, available through the EDSITEment resource National Archives Educator Resources, to guide them as they review the documents in this unit.
  • The purpose of this lesson is to prepare students with background information for understanding the causes of the Civil War. 

Lesson Plans in Curriculum

Lesson 1: Factory vs. Plantation in the North and South

This lesson focuses on the shift toward mass production in northern factories and on southern plantations that occurred during the first half of the 19th century. Using an economics-focused approach to examining U.S. history prior to the civil war, students examine the role of slavery, industrialization, regionalism, and political responses that ultimately led to the start of a war. 

Lesson 2: People and Places in the North and South

Students develop a foundation on which to understand the basic disagreements between North and South.

Lesson 3: A Debate Against Slavery

Sometimes, people will fight to keep someone else from being treated poorly. Disagreement over slavery was central to the conflict between the North and the South. The nation was deeply divided.

Lesson 4: Life Before the Civil War

Students demonstrate their knowledge of life before the Civil War, with an emphasis on differences between the North and South.

Lesson 5: Women's Lives Before the Civil War

What was life like for women in the first half of the 19th century in America? What influence did women have in shaping the attitudes towards slavery? Towards women's suffrage?

Related on EDSITEment

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