American Civil War · 1863

1863: Emancipation and Gettysburg

In 1863 the Civil War becomes a war against slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect, Black soldiers join the Union army, and Gettysburg and Vicksburg turn the tide. Students ask how freedom and victory became linked.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 1863 to AD 1870
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

In 1863 the Civil War becomes a war against slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect, Black soldiers join the Union army, and Gettysburg and Vicksburg turn the tide. Students ask how freedom and victory became linked.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain what the Emancipation Proclamation did and did not do.
  • Describe why Gettysburg and Vicksburg (July 1863) were turning points.
  • Explain the role of Black soldiers and of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1863

The turning point

Open the map in 1863 and type "Where is Gettysburg?" in Ask the atlas. Zoom in on southern Pennsylvania. Why was Lee's army so far north?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1863

The river war

Zoom in on the lower Mississippi and find Vicksburg on its high bluffs. Why did holding this city decide who controlled the river?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1870

One day apart

Zoom out until you see both Gettysburg and Vicksburg. The two Union victories came on 3 and 4 July 1863. Why did people in the North feel the war had turned?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. The Emancipation Proclamation freed people only in areas in rebellion. Why did Lincoln not free everyone at once?
  2. Many enslaved people escaped to Union armies before 1863. How did their actions push the government towards emancipation?
  3. About 180,000 Black men served in the Union army. Why did they fight, even though at first they were paid less?
  4. The Gettysburg Address took about two minutes. Why is such a short speech remembered so well?
  5. Why did emancipation make it harder for Britain and France to support the Confederacy?
4

Game round

10 min

Play the 1862 and 1863 rounds of Rule History as Abraham Lincoln: the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address. After each one, ask: how did this decision change what the war was about?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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