Unit 3: The Turning Point (1863)
This unit covers the year of 1863. Important themes in this unit:
The effect of the Emancipation Proclamation.
The state of the Northern and Southern Economies by 1863.
Blacks in the military.
The Vicksburg Campaign and rise of U.S. Grant
The Battle of Gettysburg.
Unit Essay: The Turning Point
In order to get credit for this project, you must write an essay on the following topic:
The Turning Point
1863 was a pivotal year for the Civil War: In January, the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect, the North passed a military draft, and the Southern economy was beginning to collapse. The year also witnessed heavy fighting: The Vicksburg Campaign, The Battle of Gettysburg, and the Battle of Chickamauga, just to name a few major battles. As the war turned increasingly brutal, both sides were grimly determined to achieve victory, but 1863 is also generally regarded as the year that the war began to go in favor of the North. Consider some of the major events and campaigns of 1863, and write out a well-developed essay of 600 more words explaining why 1863 was the turning point for the Civil War.
U.S. "Unconditional Surrender" Grant, promoted to Lieutenant General in 1863
Essay Map: Consider 3-4 reasons why the North began to win the war in 1863, and these become your body paragraphs.
Helpful Links:
Unit Videos:
Civil War Episode 7: Most Hallowed Ground
Civil War Episode 8: War is All Hell
Unit Lectures:
Turning Point Essay Class Video
Primary Sources:
Civil War Unit 3 Key Terms
For this project you must define the terms listed below and explain each term's significance to the unit/era being studied. Your definition should be 2-3 sentences long and may be copied and pasted from a source like Wikipedia, but the significance of the term must be in your own words and based on your own understanding. To fill out a term's significance, ask yourself, "Why is this item included in my study of this unit? Why is this term in a history book?" The answer to this question is your term's significance.
Unit 3 Key Terms:
Jefferson Davis
Tullahoma Campaign
Battle of Chickamagua
Battle of Gettysburg
Colonel Joshua Chamberlain
General James Longstreet
Pickett's Charge
Gettysburg Address
War Democrats/Copperheads
Enrollment Act of 1863
New York City Draft Riots
Confederate Home Guard
Greybacks (Confederate dollars)
Clara Barton
Antoine-Henri Jomini
United States Colored Troops (USCT)
54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry
Vicksburg Campaign
Grierson's Raid
Siege of Vicksburg
Below is an example of a key term done with the proper format:
William the Conqueror: William I (c. 1028[2] – 9 September 1087), also known as William the Conqueror (Guillaume le Conquérant), was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II. Before his conquest of England, he was known as William the Bastard because of the illegitimacy of his birth.To press his claim to the English crown, William invaded England in 1066, leading an army of Normans, Bretons, Flemings, and Frenchmen (from Paris andÎle-de-France) to victory over the English forces of King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest.[3] (I copied and pasted this definition from Wikipedia)
Significance: William the Conqueror is significant because his conquest of England created the first nation state in Europe. His rearrangement of English feudal territories to give himself dramatically more power than the the barons and nobles around him caused him to be the most powerful monarch in Europe and eventually led to the rise of other nation states over the next few centuries. (These are my words based on my knowledge of English and European history.)