Civil War History (Teaching with Historic Places)

Recall one of the Civil War's bloodiest battles, which raged through the rocky cedar glades of Tennessee, as told in eyewitness and personal accounts.

Learn about the evolution of a system to honor and care for U.S. veterans beginning with the creation of soldiers' homes and national cemeteries during and after the Civil War.

This lesson is based on the Rivers Bridge State Historic Site, among the thousands of properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Learn how veteran soldiers adapted to the technological changes that had increased the deadliness of the battlefield, and understand the cost of the Civil War in human terms.

This lesson plan will use primary and secondary sources related to the Mumma Farm and family to help students understand how the Battle of Antietam and its aftermath had a profound and lasting impact on the Mumma family and other families near the battlefield.

This lesson is based on the Port Hudson Battlefield, one of the thousands of properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Understand the importance of the Mississippi to both the North and South during the Civil War, and the differences between a siege and a regular battle.

This lesson is based on Honey Springs Battlefield, one of the thousands of properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

High on a bluff in Stafford County, Virginia, overlooking the Rappahannock River and the town of Fredericksburg beyond, stands the 18th-century plantation house called Chatham. Use this lesson plan to learn about Chatham and its legacy.

Learn about Civil War prison camps, including the Florence Stockade in South Carolina. The Florence Stockade was constructed in September 1864 in a large field surrounded by dense pine forest and forbidding swamps near Florence, South Carolina. Built on a similar pattern to the prison at Camp Sumter in Andersonville, Georgia, the stockade consisted of a large rectangular opening surrounded by walls built with vertical logs.

This lesson is based on Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park, one of the thousands of properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

This lesson is based on Mill Springs Battlefield, a National Historic Landmark, and one of the thousands of properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places.