Civil War Quest - Viewing American History Through a Local Lens

Printer Friendly Version of This Lesson Civil War Quest Outline & Assessment Lesson 1:Introduction Lesson 2:Civil War in your local Cemetery Lesson 3:Using 19th century maps Lesson 4: Using the U.S. 1860 Census Lesson 5:On-line Resources Lesson 6: Secondary Sources Lesson 7: Primary Sources Lesson 8: Making a Map Lesson 9: Movement Clues Lesson 10:Teaching Clues Lesson 11:Pulling it all together Lesson 12: Testing & Editing your Quest Lesson 13: Sharing your work Lesson 14: Student products Glossary Bibliography

Preparing for your Civil War Quest project

Go on a Civil War Quest, to get a feel for the program. Options include:
1. The Fearless Fighters Quest, Woodstock, VT
  Created by the Woodstock Elementary School 4th Grade
2. Hartford in the Civil War: A Driving Tour Quest, Hartford, VT
  Created by Hartford Middle School students
3. The West Cemetery Civil War Quest, Keene, NH
  Created by Antioch New England Graduate students
You may print out and follow these Quests or go on a virtual Power Point Quest.
Review our "Annotated Quest" to see the relationship among clues, sources & lessons.
Choose your Cemetery
Most towns in our region have six to a dozen cemeteries-or more. Many of them are quite small. A few things to keep in mind when choosing a cemetery for your project:
- How close is it to your school?
- Will it be difficult to find transportation to & from this site?
- How large is it? Is there too much ground to cover? Or not enough material for your class? (1 veteran for every 2 students works well)
Your local historical society, sexton or cemetery commissioner can be a good resource when determining which cemetery may be appropriate.
Secure permission from your Cemetery Commission or sexton to use the site.
Preview the Cemetery
Make notes regarding the Civil War veterans you find.
Try looking up the veterans you find on the Vermont in the Civil War website
Bring your list of soldiers to your local historical society, and see what primary and secondary resources they have.
Pick one soldier, and using this soldier, run through all of the lessons to familiarize yourself with the process of the unit.