• Printer Friendly Version

Course, Subject

United States History and Government, Social Studies (NYS K-12 Framework Common Core)

Overview

This lesson will analyze Civil War photographs and explore how and why the American Civil War was photographed.

Topic

•  Civil War
• Arts & Culture

Era

•  Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877

Objectives

Students will be able to:

• Explore who has photographed war and why
• Learn about Mathew Brady's process for photographing the Civil War
• Learn how photographic equipment has improved through time
• Analyze Civil War photographs

Duration

Two to three weeks

Preparation

Materials

For the photograph analysis activity (Procedure, step 3), copy for each student:

• [Johnsonville, Tenn. Camp of Tennessee Colored Battery] from Selected Photographs from the Civil War, 1861-1865

• Primary Source Analysis Tool

Resources

• Civil War images page
• Taking Photographs at the Time of the Civil War
• Mathew B. Brady: Biographical Note
• Selected Civil War Photographs, 1861-1865
• Touring Turn-of-the-Century America, 1880-1920

• Analyzing Photographs and Prints

Procedure

Lesson Procedure

1. Introduce the unit by displaying the "Civil War images page". Students will then write a rough piece (2 - 3 paragraphs) entitled "Why Photograph War?"
2. Discuss the progress of the process of photography. Start with Taking Photographs at the Time of the Civil War. Mathew B. Brady: Biographical Notehas information on his work photographing the Civil War. Other American Memory collections with information are:
   • America's First Look into the Camera, 1839-1864 - The Daguerreotype Medium and Timeline of the Daguerreian Era
   • Taking the Long View, 1851-1991 - A Brief History
3. Model photograph analysis using [Johnsonville, Tenn. Camp of Tennessee Colored Battery] from Selected Photographs from the Civil War, 1861-1865. Students will need a copy of the photograph and the Primary Source Analysis Tool.
4. Working in pairs, students analyze photographs, recording their thoughts on the Primary Source Analysis Tool. Before the students begin, select questions from the teacher’s guide Analyzing Photographs and Prints to focus and prompt analysis and discussion.
5. Following analysis in pairs, students share their results with the class. Plan more than one class period.
6. After listening to all groups, students return to their initial written piece "Why Photograph War?" and edit this into a finished essay, adding knowledge gained from the discussion to this essay.

Extension

As an extension, this activity could be used with photographs from other wars with students comparing and contrasting what was photographed during each war.

Use this lesson as a starting point for students' own photo essays. Students take twelve pictures that would describe to the world who the student is and what is important to him/her. Since many students spend a lot of time composing some shots for their photo essay, preface this activity with a discussion about whether the Civil War photographs were posed or candid. "Does the Camera Ever Lie?", a Special Presentation in Selected Photographs of the Civil War, 1861-1865, discusses this topic.

Brainstorm categories for searching for war photographs. Some possibilities are artillery, uniforms, medical aspects, battlefields, casualties, camps, camplife, transportation, hospitals, uniforms and forts. Put students in pairs. Model searching strategies and keywords to use in searching. Demonstrate how to search American Memory photograph collections. For information on searching American Memory, see the Help section. Allow sufficient time for searching. Each group will choose 2 - 3 photographs from the collections that they will use for further analysis. Students kept a list of keywords they used that were related to their topic. They kept track of how many hits they found and what other subjects were listed for the photographs found.

Evaluation

Students will be evaluated on:

1. photographs they selected;
2. their analysis of those photographs;
3. their ability to work with a partner; and
4. the completed essay "Why Photograph War?".

All photographs and observation forms can be compiled into a scrapbook as a class record of photojournalism during the Civil War.

Resource

Access this resource at:

Civil War Photojournalism: A Record of War

Content Provider

Library of Congress

The Library of Congress is the nation's oldest federal cultural institution and serves as the research arm of Congress. It is also the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps and manuscripts in its collections.

The Library's mission is to support the Congress in fulfilling its constitutional duties and to further the progress of knowledge and creativity for the benefit of the American people.

As Librarian of Congress, I oversee the many thousands of dedicated staff who acquire, catalog, preserve, and make available library collections within our three buildings on Capitol Hill and over the Internet. I am pleased that you are visiting our Web site today, and I invite you return to it often.

Sincerely,
James H. Billington
Librarian of Congress

Credits: Chris Fricke and Glenda Ritz

Related Academic Standards

New York State

SS.4.5 IN SEARCH OF FREEDOM AND A CALL FOR CHANGE: Different groups of people did not have equal rights and freedoms. People worked to bring about change. The struggle for rights and freedoms was one factor in the division of the United States that resulted in the Civil War.

SS.5.6.c Across time and place, different groups of people in the Western Hemisphere have struggled and fought for equality and civil rights or sovereignty.

SS.7.8 A NATION DIVIDED: Westward expansion, the industrialization of the North, and the increase of slavery in the South contributed to the growth of sectionalism. Constitutional conflicts between advocates of States rights and supporters of federal power increased tensions in the nation; attempts to compromise ultimately failed to keep the nation together, leading to the Civil War.

SS.7.8.d.3 Students will examine how the use of various technologies affected the conduct and outcome of the Civil War.

SS.8.1 RECONSTRUCTION: Regional tensions following the Civil War complicated efforts to heal the nation and to redefine the status of African Americans.

View All