US I: O’Neill

The Thinker Project: Abolition, Civil War, and Lincoln

The That’s right; I’m aProject

The Goals:

  • Read more, read widely, read the work of professional historians, practice critical reading and thinking skills, practice communication and leadership skills, make connections between the past and the present

The Process:

  • Form a Reader Response Group (2-4 folks) and select one of the following essays or podcasts to read or “read.”
  • Source: History Now, from the Gilder-Lehrman Institute of American History:
  • History Now: Abolition:
  • Abolition and Antebellum Reform (Walters)
  • Antislavery Before the Revolutionary War (Frey)
  • “Rachel Weeping for Her Children”: Black Women and the Abolition of Slavery (Washington)
  • Angelina and Sarah Grimke: Abolitionist Sisters (Berkin)
  • Abolition and Religion (Abzug)
  • Eye on John Brown (Mintz)
  • History Now: Abraham Lincoln in His Time and Ours:
  • Abraham Lincoln and Jacksonian Democracy (Wilentz)
  • Allies for Emancipation? Black Abolitionists and Abraham Lincoln (Sinha)
  • Natural Rights, Citizenship Rights, State Rights, and Black Rights: Another Look at Lincoln and Race (Oakes)
  • Lincoln’s Religion (Carwardine)
  • History Now: Lincoln:
  • The Emancipation Proclamation: Bill of Lading or Ticket to Freedom? (Guelzo)
  • Lincoln and Whitman (Reynolds)
  • Lincoln’s Civil Religion (Rable)
  • Lincoln at Cooper Union (Holzer)
  • Lincoln and Abolitionism (Wilson)
  • Source: Gilder-Lehrman Institute of American History Podcasts:
  • Under “Browse By,” click on “Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877”
  • Browse the many titles, looking for those which have to do with the coming of the Civil War, the War itself, or Lincoln. (Avoid those that are about Reconstruction.)
  • Send me an email or see me in class for approval.

The Product:

  • Formal, group presentation:
  • Having read or “read” and discussed the piece amongst yourselves, present your piece’s thesis, purpose, and key theories, ideas, and evidence. Also present your assessment and reactions to the piece.
  • Your presentation MUST include highly relevant VISUALS or AUDIO; create a slideshow, for example, or a visual podcast (you need not present live, in other words; you could present via podcast).
  • See the rubric for specifics!

US I: O’Neill

RUBRIC

The That’s right; I’m aProject

Presentation:

CRITERIA / POINTS / COMMENT
Thesis, purpose, theories are clearly identified, analyzed and assessed / _____ / 10
Specific evidence is clearly identified and explained / _____ / 10
Sophisticated ideas, opinions, reactions, connections developed by group members are integrated / _____ / 10
Engages audience with highly relevant VISUALS (art, photography, film) or AUDIO, which are accurately CITED and come from approved SOURCES / _____ / 10
Evidence of preparation: presentation is efficient, concise, fluid, organized, and interesting, useful; source material is annotated and available for reference during presentation / _____ / 10
TOTAL / _____ / 50