Last updated: October 12, 2021
Lesson Plan
1st Kansas Colored Infantry 7th & 8th Grade
- Grade Level:
- Middle School: Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade
- Subject:
- Social Studies
- Lesson Duration:
- 60 Minutes
- State Standards:
- Missouri: #1History: Continuity & Change, Theme 1 D - Develop a research plan, identify resources for investigating social studies topics, create a research product which applies an aspect of American history prior to c.1870 to a contemporary issue.
- Additional Standards:
- Kansas: March to War, 1850's-1861: various events to Civil War
Oklahoma: 8.9.3 - Compare perspectives & experience of both free & enslaved blacks: everyday life of free; everyday acts of resistance to slavery - Thinking Skills:
- Remembering: Recalling or recognizing information ideas, and principles. Understanding: Understand the main idea of material heard, viewed, or read. Interpret or summarize the ideas in own words. Applying: Apply an abstract idea in a concrete situation to solve a problem or relate it to a prior experience. Analyzing: Break down a concept or idea into parts and show the relationships among the parts. Creating: Bring together parts (elements, compounds) of knowledge to form a whole and build relationships for NEW situations. Evaluating: Make informed judgements about the value of ideas or materials. Use standards and criteria to support opinions and views.
Essential Question
Where does the military stand today in the makeup of its people? How can the military better reflect diversity?
Objective
Students will be able to determine the relationship between past events and current realities in order to see the progression that has been accomplished and the work that is yet to be done.
Preparation
Fort Scott National Historic Site video: 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 4:23
Read article in American Heritage magazine, 1992, Volume 43, Issue 1.
Read biography of James Henry Lane from the Kansas State Historical Society.
Show students the various quotations from the following: Major General James G. Blunt, July 26, 1863; Lt. Colonel John Bowles, July 20, 1863; Brigadier General John McNeil, November 2, 1863; Colonel James M. Williams, April 24, 1864.
Share: Teaching students how to work with primary sources:
Four Steps: 1) Meet the Document 2)Observe its parts 3)Try to make sense of it 4)Use it as historical evidence.
You can find downloadable worksheets that walk elementary students through these exact steps to analyze various types of primary sources at National Archives . Worksheets are available for the following primary source types (PDF files):
You can find many primary sources to choose from on - our online tool for teaching with documents from the National Archives.
For online history, civics, and primary source-analysis activities for K-5 students, check out Docs Teach. These resources focus on skills like sequencing and finding clues in historical objects, and topics like symbols and national monuments. You can ask students to work on them independently, or use them in a full-class or virtual meeting setting by sharing your screen and walking through activities together.
Find activities such as:
Analyzing a Photograph of Amelia Earhart
National Monuments Express National Values
Analyzing a Student's Letter About the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
Analyzing a Photograph of Jackie Robinson
Evaluating a Needlework Sampler as Historical Evidence
Analyzing a Photograph of Sally Ride
Examining Where Rosa Parks Sat
Finding American Symbols
Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Fight for Civil Rights
How Can People Make a Difference?
Patent Analysis: Thomas Edison's Lightbulb
Read background information about the 1st Kansas Colored in article from American Heritage magazine, 1992, Volume 43, Issue 1.
Read short biography to class of James Henry Lane
Share quotations from various military leaders concerning the 1st Kansas Colored. Looking at the picture in the link below, what is the significance of the names added to the flag?
Flag
What is depicted in the pictures show in the following link?
Pictures
Battle History of the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry Regiment
a. Island Mound, near Butler, Missouri (October 28, 1862)
b. Reeder Farm, near Sherwood Missouri (May 18, 1863)
c. Cabin Creek, Indian Territory (July 1-2, 1863)
d. Honey Springs, Indian Territory (July 17, 1863)
e. Poison Springs, Arkansas (April 18, 1864)
f. Flat Rock Creek, Indian Territory (September 16, 1864)
g. Timber Hills, Indian Territory (November 19, 1864)
Materials
Lesson Hook/Preview
Ask students to name something that they can do that younger students can not. Record and discuss their list. Then ask students to name something that they are not able to do yet. Ask them what barriers are in their way? What is stopping them from being able to do the things that they cannot yet? Is there anything that can be done to fix those issues?
Procedure
Show the NPS/FOSC video: 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 4:23
Read article in American Heritage magazine, 1992, Volume 43, Issue 1.
Read short biography of James Henry Lane to class.
Share quotations from various military leaders concerning the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry.
Quotes about 1st Kansas Colored: Union officers recognized the excellent combat reputation of the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry Regiment:
Major General James G. Blunt - July 26, 1863:
"The First Kansas (colored) particularly distinguished itself, they fought like veterans and preserved their line unbroken throughout the engagement. Their coolness and bravery I have never seen surpassed."
Lt. Colonel John Bowles - July 20, 1863:
"In conclusion, I feel it just justice and my duty to state that the officers and men throughout the entire regiment behaved nobly, and with the coolness of veterans. Each seemed to vie with the other in the performance of his duty, and it was with the greatest gratification that I witnessed their gallant and determined resistance under the most galling fire."
Brigadier General John McNeil - November 2, 1863:
"On Saturday I reviewed the First Arkansas Volunteers, First Colored Infantry Kansas Volunteers, and Rabb's Battery. The negro regiment is a triumph of drill and discipline, and reflects great honor on Col. Williams, in command. Few volunteer regiments that I have seen make a better appearance. I regard them as first-rate infantry."
Colonel James M. Williams - April 24, 1864:
"The officers and men all evinced the most heroic spirit, and those that fell died the death of a true soldier."
Sources: U.S. National Park Service, U.S. Library of Congress.
Have students examine the role of African Americans in the Civil War from the lens of the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry of the Civil War. Have students investigate and create a presentation of their findings of the following aspects:
1) Why was the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry create?
2) How did the people of Kansas and Missouri react to the creation of this infantry?
3) Have them plot on a Google map the locations of the battles that 1st Colored Infantry of Kansas fought in.
4) Have students speculate why the Battle of Island Mound made national news: what was it about this battle that caught people's attention? Was this coverage negative or positive?
5) Have students then examine the demographics the current military force using this link: and
a) Have students choose three components to relate to 1st Colored Infantry of Kansas
i) Race
ii) Age
iii) Gender
iv) State of Enlistment
v) Affluency
vi) Level of education
b) Once the comparisons have been made, ask students to construct themes based on the evidence they have discovered. The themes should be related to the following topics:
i) Diversity: More, Less, Same?
ii) Public Perception
iii) 2 similarities between the Army and the 1st Colored Infantry of Kansas
iv) 2 differences between the Army and the 1st Colored Infantry of Kansas
Discuss: How has the Army changed since the inclusion of the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry? How is the U.S. military better off because of the actions of the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry?
Concluding Discussion: What is the best way to honor trailblazers that have normalized inclusion of formerly excluded groups?
Supports for Struggling Learners
Reduce the amount of categories in steps 5 and 6 that students are to complete.
Ask them to compare a recent battle that was in the news with that of the Battle of Island Mound. What did they have in common and how were they different?
Enrichment Activities
Have students guess as to whether those that served were able to be included and productive as their peers after the Civil War. Ask them to researchy the life of those that served during the Civil War after the war ended. What was their life like? How were they treated? How did they feel about serving later on?