This StudySync unit explores the Civil War (1861–1865) through fiction, journals, nonfiction narratives, speeches, letters, and poetry. The unit begins with an excerpt from the Newbery-award–winning novel Across Five Aprils, which lays out the main arguments for and against the war, and moves more deeply into the lives of characters who experience the war. Other selections share the words of President Abraham Lincoln, novelist Stephen Crane, activist Sojourner Truth, and poet Walt Whitman, as well as those of soldiers and other historical figures. Students will explore the impact of the Civil War from a variety of perspectives, as well as research the effects of civil conflicts around the world that continue to this day.