Civil War (SS8H5)

Rebel Works in Front of Atlanta, Ga. No. 2, Barnard's Photographic Views of the Sherman Campaign , Hargrett Library

SS8H5 Analyze the impact of the Civil War on Georgia.

1. Explain the importance of key issues and events that led to the Civil War; include slavery, states’ rights, nullification, Compromise of 1850 and the Georgia Platform, the Dred Scott case, Abraham Lincoln’s election in 1860, and the debate over secession in Georgia.

2. Explain Georgia’s role in the Civil War; include the Union blockade of Georgia’s coast, the Emancipation Proclamation, Chickamauga, Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign, Sherman’s March to the Sea, and Andersonville.

Suggested Collections 

General

• America's Turning Point (Atlanta History Center, Georgia Historical Society, and Hargrett Library) 

• First-person Narrative of the American South (Documenting the American South)

Homefront

• Anne Fannie Gorham Diary Collection (Columbus State University) 

• Francina Elizabeth Cox Greer King diaries, 1844-1866, 1871-1883 (Hargrett Library)

• Robert Toombs, Letters to Julia Ann DuBose Toombs, 1850-1867 (Hargrett Library) 

• Southern Homefront, 1861-1865 (Documenting the American South)

Slavery

• African American Literature (Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library)

• Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938 (Library of Congress)

• Francis T. Tennille Slave Medical Care Accounts, 1859-1860 (Middle Georgia Archives) 

• North American Slave Narratives (Documenting the American South)

• Port of Savannah Slave Manifests (Georgia Historical Society) 

• Slavery Papers and Speeches (Valdosta State University. Odum Library. Archives and Special Collections)

• Mixed Case Files, 1790 - 1860, Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685 - 2009 (National Archives at Atlanta)

Soldiers' Letters and Diaries

• Cornelius C. Platter Civil War Diary, 1864-1865 (Hargrett Library)

• Cyrus F. Jenkins Civil War Diary, 1861-1862 (Troup County Archives) 

• Eugene S. Mitchell Collection (Mercer University Libraries)

• Henry L. Benning Civil War Materials (Columbus State University)

• Joseph Perryman Carson Collection (Mercer University Libraries)

• Zachariah A. Rice correspondence and military commission (Atlanta History Center)

• Zachary Taylor Adair diary (Hargrett Library)

War

• Barnard's Photographic Views of the Sherman Campaign, ca. 1866 (Hargrett LIbrary)

• Central of Georgia Rail Road Collection, Carpentry Shop Ledger (Coastal Heritage Society)

• Historic Photos of Andersonville Prison (Andersonville National Historic Site)

• Militia Enrollment Lists, 1864 (Georgia Archives)

• Thomas O'Dea's Drawing of the Andersonville Prison (Andersonville National Historic Site)

Suggested Searches

• Andersonville 

• Atlanta Campaign

• Battle of Atlanta

• Battle of Chickamauga

• Battle of Ezra Church

• Battle of Peachtree Creek

• Blockades

• Civil War 

• Civil War in Georgia 

• Cotton Gin

• Compromise of 1850

• Dred Scot Case

• Election of 1860

• Emancipation Proclamation 

• Fugitive slaves

• Georgia Platform

• Abraham Lincoln

• Missouri Compromise

• Nullification

• Secession

• States' Rights

• Slavery in Georgia 

• William T. Sherman

• Sherman's March to the Sea 

• Alexander Stephens

• Union Blockade 

• Whig Party

Historic Newspapers

• Georgia Historic Newspapers1841-1865 issues (all)

• Chronicling America, 1841-1865 (newspapers from throughout the United States) 

  • Blockade Runners in the Civil War in Chronicling America

  • Civil War Secessions in Chronicling America

  • Emancipation Proclamation in Chronicling America

  • Fugitive Slave Ads in Chronicling America

  • Sherman's March to the Seas in Chronicling America

Suggested DPLA Primary Resource Sets and Exhibits

• The Underground Railroad and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 

• Secession of the Southern States 

• Women in the Civil War 

NGE Articles 

Georgia Public Broadcasting Resources

Posters and Postcards

• SS8H5 poster

• SS8H5a poster

• SS8H5 postcard