Hayes and the Civil War

Grades: 9-12                                           Time: 80-90 min

Topics: Race, Slavery, Civil Rights, Justice, Civil Discourse, Sectionalism, The Civil War, 19^th Century Politics…

Goal/Central Focus Question: How did northern views on abolition and slavery evolve during the Civil War?

Learning Objectives:      

1. Students will analyze multiple primary sources, contextualizing the sources and creating interpretations supported by evidence from the text.
2. Students will explain how northern views on slavery and abolition evolved during the Civil War.
3. Students will connect historical themes to current topics and discuss the Civil War’s legacy today.

Lesson Overview: Welcome back to a new 4-lesson unit that focuses on Rutherford B. Hayes and his evolving views on anti-slavery as he transformed from an anti-abolitionist to a defender of freedom seekers. This fourth and final lesson provides students with the contextual knowledge to understand the fundamental issues related to race, slavery, and civil rights that led to the Civil War with a specific focus on the changing nature of the war as well as the evolving views on slavery and abolition in the North. It also offers students an opportunity to take an active role in history and practice their historical analysis skills of multiple sources. The primary source analysis serves as a lens to explore these larger historical themes while also presenting a unique window into the lives of people at this time, engaging students in a conversation with those in the past and enabling further conversation in the present.

(Note- This lesson builds off skills, content, and themes from the previous lesson but can also be used on its own.)

Primary Sources

1. Hayes, Rutherford B. “Collection of Excerpts: 1861-1862” from The Diary and Letters of Rutherford B. Hayes, Nineteenth President of the United States. Edited by Charles Richard Williams. Columbus: Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, 1922. 

Optional Primary Sources

2. Hayes, Rutherford B. “Letter to Guy Bryan: May 8, 1861” in The Diary and Letters of Rutherford B. Hayes: Nineteenth President of the United States. Edited by Charles Richard Williams. Columbus: Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, 1922. 

Optional Secondary Sources

1. McLochlin, Dustin. “Hayes’s Views Evolved Towards Anti-Slavery During the Civil War.” The Statesman XXXV, no. 3 (Summer 2022): 6-9.

Pre-work

Students may read information in their textbooks or additional classroom materials regarding the growing sectional crisis in the U.S. and key events that led to the Civil War (e.g. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, and the Dread Scott decision). Ordering these events should help students understand how the division between the North and South solidified and how the sectional crisis over slavery finally erupted into war.

Contextual Reading Suggestions

1. “Trigger Events of the Civil War.” org. American Battlefield Trust. Accessed August 11, 2023. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/trigger-events-civil-war
2. Kiger, Patrick. “9 Events That Led to the Civil War.” com. A&E Television Networks. Published January 17, 2023. Accessed August 11, 2023. https://www.history.com/news/civil-war-causes-issues

Timeline Activity

1. An interactive timeline and companion to Ken Burn’s documentary on the Civil War is available at (https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-civil-war/timeline). Students may interact with the timeline individually, in groups, or as a class, making connections between the key events that led to the Civil War.

Students may record these vocabulary words in their notebooks for reference throughout the class. These words can also be displayed on a classroom board to support student learning. Or, if time allows, students may be provided with the words and asked to research and develop their own definitions.

Vocabulary

*Note- some definitions adapted from “Glossary of Civil War Terms.” Battlefields.org. American Battlefield Trust. Accessed August 11, 2023. https://www.battlefields.org/glossary-civil-war-terms#:~:text=Union%3A%20Also%20called%20the%20North,government%20during%20the%20Civil%20War

Opening (5 min)

Ask students “Have you ever experienced a time when it was worth taking a stand on something rather than compromising?” Students can discuss issues that are important to them and share how they chose to take a stand when it mattered. If students have a hard time coming up with examples, draw from popular media or history to discuss a moment when someone stood up for something they believed in. Discuss what this looks like in our world today.

Connect to previous learning and today’s lesson on the Civil War.

• The U.S. was at an impasse leading up to the Civil War. Years of compromises had not solved decades of tension over the sectional issue of slavery in the U.S., and following the Compromise of 1850, the sectional crisis only worsened. Abolitionist support and anti-slavery sentiment continued to increase in the North while the South hardened their stance on slavery to preserve its existence and advocate for its expansion into western territories. By the 1860 election, the country was divided along regional lines with a majority of anti-slavery Republicans in the North and a majority of pro-slavery Democrats in the South. After Abraham Lincoln was elected President, South Carolina became the first state to act on years of threats when they issued a declaration of secession on December 20, 1860. President Lincoln alongside the rest of the Union refused to recognize this declaration, deeming it unlawful and unconstitutional, but to little effect. Within a month, five states joined South Carolina. Southern secession had started, and war would soon follow.

Introduce today’s central focus questions and learning objectives to students: “How did northern views on abolition and slavery evolve during the Civil War?”

Student Activities (60-70 min)

Introduce the analysis activity to students. The activity features a collection of primary sources from Rutherford B. Hayes’s personal diary entries and letters, which he maintained and collected throughout his life. Despite having a young family at home, a successful career as a lawyer, and no military experience, Hayes was one of the first to answer President Lincoln’s call for volunteers in 1861.This compilation of Hayes’s first-hand accounts spans from 1861-1862 in the lead up to the Civil War and during Hayes’s first year and a half as a Union soldier. As such, Hayes’s work serves as an excellent case study into the North’s reaction to southern secession and evolving views on abolition and slavery during the war.

Students will continue the analysis work from previous lessons, contextualizing multiple primary sources and synthesizing their analyses to create historical interpretations supported by evidence from the text. If students are familiar with analyzing multiple sources, they can begin the activity. If more support is needed, teachers may guide student learning by modeling the analysis.

Pass out the primary source, “‘Collection of Excerpts: 1861-1862’ from The Diary and Letters of Rutherford B. Hayes, Nineteenth President of the United States” and the Analysis Handout listed in attachments below. Copies of these resources may also be posted to an online class forum like Google Classroom.

• Note for Differentiated Instruction: The Analysis Handout provides a graphic organizer with instructions for annotating primary sources and guiding questions to support student analysis. Please feel free to use and/or adapt any of these tools to best support student learning in your classroom context.
• Teacher modeling may be used to support student analysis. Model how to analyze the primary source, using the graphic organizer to identify an historical term, person, or event that requires more context to understand. Research the topic briefly as a class and create a short summary together, being sure to cite the source with enough information to locate it again. If more support is needed, this activity can be completed as a class. If less support is needed, this step may be skipped to provide a challenge for students. Students who have substantial experience analyzing primary sources may complete the analysis activity without the help of these tools.

Review the materials and instructions with students. This activity can be completed by individuals, pairs, or in groups. It can also be completed together as a class. Encourage students to be curious analyzers by asking questions of the source and investigating unfamiliar topics. Students may also be reminded to follow the main ideas of analysis: “observe, reflect, question.”

Have students read through the primary source and complete their analyses. Once students have completed their analyses, review student work as a class, summarize key learning, and connect to future projects.

• When the Civil War broke out in 1861, the North prioritized one goal: to reunify the Union. Although abolition support and anti-slavery sentiment was prevalent in the North when South Carolina first seceded, many individuals like Hayes did not want a “war of conquest.” The North was willing to use military force to preserve and strengthen the Union if necessary but not necessarily to reshape the country. After a year of combat, this goal started to shift as the North moved closer towards anti-slavery. This evolution did not happen in isolation but was rather the culmination of a decades long transformation that had been occurring in the wider society. By studying Hayes and his writings, we see this transformation take place over the course of his life.
• Influenced by his Uncle Sardis and upbringing in Ohio, Hayes was initially an anti-abolitionist. Yet, after the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was passed, Hayes defended freedom seekers on at least two known occasions, a decision that demonstrated a change in views on abolition and slavery for both himself and his wider society. However, it was not until the Civil War that Hayes’s anti-slavery views cemented and he fully committed to the total abolition of slavery. By January of 1863, when President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, Hayes, like the majority of the North, saw the abolition of slavery as the war’s primary goal and only conclusion, and while this proclamation may not have been sufficient alone, it was the first step in fulfilling the work abolitionists and anti-slavery individuals had pursued for decades. These freedoms and civil liberties were eventually established in the U.S. Constitution through the 13, 14, and 15^th amendments, but only after another two years of the deadliest war in U.S. history.

Closing (10-15 min)

Hold a large group discussion on the Civil War’s legacy today, connecting historical themes to current topics in U.S. government. If helpful to increase student engagement, these discussion questions can be given ahead of time to allow students an opportunity to consider their responses and record their answers. Discussions can also be held in pairs and small groups.

Discussion Questions

• Before the Civil War, Congress passed and attempted to pass multiple compromises to prevent a conflict over the issue of slavery in the U.S. (Missouri Compromise 1820, The Compromise of 1850, and Crittenden’s Compromise). In your opinion, were these compromises successful? Did they help prevent war? Did they make issues worse?
• In your opinion, what is the legacy of the Civil War today? Do you think sectionalism still exists in the U.S. today? If so, why?
• In his diary, Hayes referred to the Civil War as a “Just and necessary war.” Do you agree with his statement? Why or why not?
• How do we balance basic principles of democracy, like civil discourse and compromise, while also taking a stand on issues we find just today?

Contingencies

Shorten: The collection of diary entries and letters can be used as a class reading assignment in any lesson related to the Civil War. The analysis activities can be saved for a future primary source. If analysis activities are completed but time is short, student findings and discussion questions can be reviewed the following class day.

Lengthen: Students may read additional primary sources in Optional Primary Resources. This source is a letter from Hayes to his friend Guy Bryan, who fought as a Confederate soldier during the Civil War. If lesson two was completed on the annexation of Texas, students will recall two letters from Guy Bryan to Hayes. This letter serves as a companion piece that places their friendship and human connection at the heart of the developing conflict. It also reveals further insights into Hayes’s personal views on the war, southern secession, and general attitude towards the South that reflect his future reconciliation policies while in office.

An optional secondary source is also located in Optional Secondary Sources. This academic article also analyzes Hayes’s changing views during the Civil War and can be used as a supplemental material to expand upon these ideas and improve student analysis skills of secondary sources.

Attachments

Primary Source(s)

Analysis Handout

References and Additional Reading

1. Arrington, Todd. “Was the Civil War a ‘War of Choice?’ Nps.gov. National Parks Service. Last updated August 2012. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/was-the-civil-war-a-war-of-choice.htm#:~:text=It%20was%20a%20war%20of,feature%20films%2C%20the%20question%20Goldfield
2. “Glossary of Civil War Terms.” Battlefields.org. American Battlefield Trust. Accessed August 11, 2023. https://www.battlefields.org/glossary-civil-war-terms#:~:text=Union%3A%20Also%20called%20the%20North,government%20during%20the%20Civil%20War
3. McPherson, James M. “Out of War, a New Nation.” Archives.gov. National Archives. Spring 2012, Vol 42, No. 1. Accessed 02/05/2024. https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2010/spring/newnation.html
4. Rulison, Duane. “National Political Chart & Map of the United States.” Loc.gov. King & Baird. Accessed August 11, 2023. https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3701f.ct003590/?r=-0.628,-0.177,2.256,1,0
5. “The Changing War.” Nps.gov. National Parks Service. Last updated April 23, 2015. https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/changing-war.htm
6. “The Civil War and Emancipation.” Pbs.org. Public Broadcasting Service. Accessed August 11, 2023. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2967.html  
7. “The Crittenden Compromise.” Senate.gov. United States Senate. Accessed August 11, 2023. https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Crittenden_Compromise.htm