Your Daily At-Home Civil War Lesson:
NOTE TO TEACHERS AND PARENTS: While all of the selected clips below are PG or G-rated, the movies themselves deal with complicated and often difficult subject matter so we, as always, recommend use of this lesson with your guidance and adjustments.
Week #5 of our Daily At-Home Civil War lessons has featured connections between your Civil War unit and Language Arts class. On Monday we looked at effective speech writing with Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address; on Tuesday, Civil War communication systems; Wednesday we explored journalism practices; and yesterday a close look at Civil War poetry for National Poetry month.
Today, since it’s Friday, we are going to watch some movie clips to explore how we remember the Civil War, and how generation after generation redefines the lessons they apply, and the stories they tell, about this critical point in our nation’s history. Many of our historians and educators at the park credit a specific movie, or even a specific scene, with first getting them interested in the study of history, leading them to the job they do each day. Here are some examples of the inspirational power of the movies:
History Professor Jared Frederick from Pennsylvania State University and former park ranger: “As a student in grade school, the movie Gettysburg astounded me. Never before had I seen a movie with so many people in it. The scale of the battle scenes and the wonderful acting captured my imagination and encouraged me to study the Civil War. The next summer, I took my first family vacation there. That trip changed my life. By the time I was in fifth grade I knew I wanted to be a historian.”
Gettysburg National Military Park Chief of Interpretation, Christopher Gwinn: “Glory had such a huge impact on me, as did Gettysburg. The Little Round Top sequence is, in my opinion, a real well-done bit of film-making. And as strange as it may seem, the end credits in Glory, with the St. Gaudens memorial, really really spoke to me as a kid. I guess it drove home the “this was real” idea.”
Park Educator, John Hoptak: “But then came Glory in 1989 and that just cemented everything together. If I had to choose a scene, or two, though, I would have to go with the Parade when the 54th is departing Boston (the music of this scene is the best of the movie), the final assault on Wagner, and the “Give ’em [heck], 54th” moment.”
Park educator, Barbara Sanders: “My high school history teacher took our class to see Glory when it first came out; it was overwhelming how much I cared about the characters. I went back to see the movie multiple times, and then bought every book I could find on Colonel Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Infantry. An older movie called “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” cemented my interest in political processes and the ideals important for America to uphold, with its amazing sequence of the National Park memorials around Washington D.C.”
What movies have inspired you in some way?
Watch the five scenes below from five different movies about the Civil War. Think about and write a paragraph about each that answers the following questions:
“How would you describe the action in this scene? What is going on, and what context questions does it leave you with?”
“What does the director want you to know or feel about the Civil War era by watching this scene?”
“What devices does the director use to communicate his message (music, close-ups, silence etc.)?
“Which movie are you most inspired to see in its entirety now?”
Gone With the Wind, Casualty List
This is a scene from the 1939 film “Gone With the Wind”, described as an epic historical romance. The movie was adapted from a novel by Margaret Mitchell. It is set in the South, beginning on the eve of the Civil War, and concluding during the Reconstruction era.
Shenandoah follows the story of widower, Charlie Anderson who is played by Jimmy Stewart, as he and his six sons run their Virginia farm during the Civil War. Anderson tries to keep his family out of the war, but inevitably this proves impossible.
Glory came out in 1989 and followed the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, the second African-American unit recruited for the Union army, and its white officers, from the creation of the regiment to their heroic actions leading the charge on Fort Wagner in South Carolina. This scene takes place just before that charge.
The movie Gettysburg was released in 1993. It is based on the novel The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, and looks at the battle from the perspectives of select commanders, including Confederate Generals Lee and Longstreet, Union Cavalry Commander, John Buford ,and the officer in this clip, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain who led the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry on the back slope of Little Round Top on July 2, 1863.
Lincoln, Meeting with Confederates
Directed by Steven Spielberg, the movie is an historical drama covering the last four months of President Lincoln’s life as he works to get the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution passed, that will abolish the institution of slavery.
Many curriculums don’t cover the Civil War in the fall. Here’s a few ideas of how to work around that fact. Take several days before the field trip to stage a crash course or a “Gettysburg Week” . During the crash course, use some materials the Gettysburg Education office provides to help students learn the basics about the causes of the Civil War and the battle of Gettysburg.