Frederick Douglass, Jefferson Davis, and Abraham Lincoln
Differing Viewpoints about the Constitution, a Just War and What Freedom Means
Documents Used
From Slavery to Freedom: The African-American Pamphlet Collection, 1824-1909 <http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aapchtml/aapchome.html/>
Addresses of the Hon. W. D. Kelley, Miss Anna E. Dickinson, and Mr. Frederick Douglass, at a mass meeting ... Philadelphia, July 6, 1863, for the promotion of colored enlistments.
(Excerpt: The Speech of Frederick Douglass)
The Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress < http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/malhome.html>
Abraham Lincoln, [March 1861] (First Inaugural Address, Final Version)
The American Civil War Homepage <http://sunsite.utk.edu/civil-war/warweb.html>
The Inaugural Address of Jefferson Davis (February 1861)
Assignment
Briefly research, and then list, various definitions of freedom and characteristics of a just war.
The group will discuss the various definitions.
Individuals, or groups, will analyze each of the following documents and collect facts regarding three specific areas:
- The writer's view of the Constitution and how the Constitution supports their viewpoint
- The writer's specific reason(s) for fighting
- The writer's view of what freedom me
Assessment Ideas
- Write a newspaper editorial supporting one of the documents in the three specific areas.
- Write a newspaper editorial from one of the two opposing views, criticizing the speech using the three specified areas.
- Create a recruitment poster that illustrates one of the viewpoints in at least one of the three specified areas.
- Write an essay detailing the similarities and differences between the three viewpoints and the three specific areas and elaborate which viewpoint they agree with most and why.
- Investigate another war fought by the United States, using a presidential speech, and compare how the two wars were supported: focusing on the ideas of freedom and justification for war.
-Eliza Hamrick, Overland High School, Aurora, CO
