This week we'll be focusing on the question: Who transformed the purpose of the Civil War? As we've discussed, although the war was clearly a war to defend slavery and its extension for the South, in the North, the war was not initially about slavery — but a war for union. This week we'll delve into how this changes over the course of the war, and ask who is responsible for that change. After a close examination of the Emancipation Proclamation and what it did and didn't do, we'll do a jigsaw on the transformation of the war drawing on several historian's perspectives to think through the dynamics that transformed the purpose of the war from union to liberation. We'll look at familiar actors — the enslaved, the Abolitionists, and Lincoln — as well as the crucial role Black soldiers play to get a better sense of how slavery came to an end. We'll end the week by working on our graphic organizer, make sure we've gathered sufficient evidence to start writing our essay when we come back from break.
