On the Teaching Future Historians site there are several songs from the Antebellum and Civil War era songs that can be downloaded. The songs’ topics range from Tippecanoe to songs supporting (and not supporting) Lincoln. These songs can be used in a lesson reenacting political debates from this era. Several of them are very easy to learn. Personally I’m a fan of “The Lincoln Flag.”

I was looking around on American Memory and found two pictures of “contraband” camps that were in Harpers Ferry. As I have not seen pictures of these types of camps before, I thought I would point them out. See them here and here.

The National Park Service continues to present a trove of information on the Civil War. I found last night a project the service is undertaking to develop a network of places significant to the Underground Railroad. The program seeks to integrate and preserve Underground Railroad sites and museums throughout the United States. Supported by the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Act of 1998, participants in the program will be able to receive technical assistance, display a uniform logo, and take part in program workshops.

The website for the program, in addition to spelling out its goals, provides a helpful introduction to studying the Underground Railroad, including a glossary of terms, maps, and pages with information ranging from codes and ciphers used on the railroad to stories of escape. A good resource for introduction to the topic and encouraging student interest.

I ran into a great site today with tons of transcribed documents from the civil war. There are several categories to choice from including Soldiers Letters, Battle Reports, and Diaries. Its a great place to gain an insight on everyday life throughout the civil war.

I found on the Civil War Preservation Trust website an animated map of the first day of the Battle of Chancellorsville. The site also has a page geared towards teachers, but I found the animated map to be most interesting. I searched a little more for animated maps and found a few videos on Britannica Encyclopedia Online ( Gettysburg, Battle of ). This kind of map is great for people, like me, who are visual learners.

David Plouffe, Democratic Senator Barack Obama’s campaign manager, had an interesting response on Wednesday (6/04) to Republican Senator John McCain’s proposal to hold ten town hall meetings before the November 2008 election. According to the Associated Press, “Plouffe said…the campaign would recommend a less-structured, lengthier exchange more in line with the historic Lincoln-Douglas debates.” See this report for the full story.

Update:
Marc Ambinder, who blogs over at The Atlantic, has posted McCain’s letter and Plouffe’s response.

The U.S. National Park Service has a wealth of information on some of the key battlefields of the Civil War. Not least among them is Gettysburg, located nearby Dickinson College in Adams County, PA. Along with pages discussing the battlefield itself, the National Park Service features a web exhibit of the day-to-day life of Civil War soldiers. The site includes definitions of some Civil War era military terms and brief descriptions of what soldiers of the time would have experienced during their long encampments. Most interesting are the image galleries included in the site. These are contemporary, high quality digital images of artifacts related to encampment life. Among these artifacts are game boards, musical instruments, diaries, letters, and personal photographs. Certainly a site worth checking out!

I stumbled across a great site today called Picture History. It has a lot of great scans of original letters and pictures from the time period. I ran across the site while researching Grace Bedell, the young girl influential enough to convince President Lincoln to grow his beard. They have scanned and posted the letter Lincoln wrote back. There are many other documents to browse around through.

Kansas Historical Society has a very comprehensive site that categorizes major events in Kansas history into easily browsed sections. Some of the topics include Civil War and “Bleeding Kansas.” In addition to a search engine the website provides articles and images on the topic pages. This would be a good resource for an expansion on several aspects of the House Divided site. Kansas Historical society website also has a section for teachers.

Harpers Ferry Images – Part II
I wanted to point out a few more images of Harpers Ferry that I found through American Memory (Library of Congress). Many textbooks already have pictures of Harpers Ferry, but I think students might find these interesting.

Harpers Ferry, Railroad Bridge:
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cwpb.03739

Harpers Ferry, Railroad Bridge destroyed:
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cwpb.04106

Harpers Ferry Panorama (1912):
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pan.6a13009

Harpers Ferry Panorama (1915):
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pan.6a13017