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Big Idea Overview and ResourcesBig Idea 1: Resistance to Slavery Big Idea 3: A Poetic Revolution Big Idea 1: Resistance to Slavery Overview In the decades leading up to the Civil War, it was legal for Africans to be purchased as property throughout the North and South. In the South, the laws were the most oppressive. It was illegal for enslaved people to learn how to read or write, and many were punished or killed when they tried to escape. In the North, while slavery was still legal, some of the conditions and attitudes toward enslaved people were less restrictive. Over time, the issue of whether to continue to keep slavery legal split the North and the South. Despite their dire circumstances, many enslaved people were determined to fight for their freedom. Some disobeyed the laws and taught themselves to read and write. Spirituals that combined Christian hymns with traditional African music were written by enslaved people throughout this era. These spirituals expressed not only their religious faith but their desire for freedom. Some, like "Follow the Drinking Gourd," makes reference to the escape of enslaved persons from the South and their journey across the Ohio River. Narratives by enslaved people revealed to the nation the horrors and injustices of slavery. These writers risked their lives by submitting tales of brutality and exposing slave owners as tyrants. One such writer was Frederick Douglass. At the age of twenty, Douglass escaped a life of slavery to become a powerful orator and influential figure of the abolitionist movement. Several other writers followed in his path, including Sojourner Truth. These slave narratives spread throughout the country, encouraging people to view enslaved persons as human beings rather than property. Web Resources The African-American Mosaic: A Library of Congress Resource Guide for the Study of Black History & Culture The Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress Newspapers: Freedom's Journal Harriet Beecher Stowe Overview War pits nations against each other throughout the entire world. But imagine war within your own country, a war in which neighbors, communities, and even families fight each other. During the Civil War, battles raged between the North and the South as the issue of slavery and states' rights divided the Union . Many people in the United States—Northerners and Southerners alike—had conflicting feelings about the war. Some plantation owners hated slavery even though their families owned enslaved. One such Southerner, Mary Boykin Miller Chesnut, personally detested slavery but remained loyal to the South. She documented the details of the war in her now-famous journal, A Diary from Dixie. Chesnut's stories depicted the losses and victories of war and its toll on the economy. Most people know that President Lincoln was instrumental in abolishing slavery. What many do not know is that Lincoln's first goal was to keep the Union together, and he feared that ending slavery would tear it apart. Lincoln's fears became reality, and the Civil War began soon after he took office. Lincoln's goals to limit slavery and protect the Union gave way to public pressure to end slavery altogether. On January 1, 1863, Lincoln produced the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed enslaved people in the Southern states rebelling against the Union . Lincoln was a famous orator whose speeches reveal his desire to keep the Union together. His powerful, emotional Gettysburg Address in 1863 expressed his vision for a new United States and called for a healing of the nation's wounds. Web Resources 100 Milestone Documents First-Person Narratives of the American South The First Wave of Secession Explorations: Why Did the South Secede? Big Idea 3: A Poetic Revolution Overview During the Civil War era, many great poets emerged, including Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. Although the names and works of these two poets often appear together, their lives and writing styles of these poets differed dramatically. During his life, Walt Whitman traveled the country, working as a reporter, laborer, and teacher, as well as a nurse during the Civil War. His observations of everyday life and the experiences of common people were reflected in his poetry. Whitman cared for hospitalized Union and Confederate soldiers during the war. He developed sympathy for the Union as well as enormous respect for President Lincoln. His elegy (a poem of mourning or remembrance) to Lincoln, "When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom'd," was described once as being a tribute equal to the Lincoln Memorial. Dickinson, on the other hand, observed life from her home in Amherst, Massachusetts. Her poems were deeply introspective and focused on moments and emotions, rather than on specific events. For instance, one of her poems uses sunset and darkness as metaphors for the many deaths occurring during the Civil War. Although Dickinson wrote more than one thousand poems, fewer than a dozen were published during her lifetime. Both poets had unique, unconventional writing styles. Whitman wrote poems in free verse—long, rambling lines similar to the natural rhythms of speech—rather than in traditional poetic meter. This style may have reflected the way Whitman's thoughts unfolded during his long walks through his Brooklyn neighborhood. Dickinson chose to write in short, clipped sentences. Within these lines, however, are an intensity and depth that belie their brevity. Web Resources Poet at Work: Walt Whitman Notebooks 1850s–1860s CivilWar@Smithsonian: Abraham Lincoln The Gettysburg Address Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) Log InThe resource you requested requires you to enter a username and password below: | ||
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