Freedom from Above or from Below?

           Gaining the freedom for all enslaved Americans was the main goal of the Civil War. Throughout the war different actions were taken to ensure the overall freedom for these enslaved American slaves. Actions were taken by both President Lincoln and the current slaves. The actions that were taken raise very important questions. Who 'gave' freedom freedom to enslaved Americans? Did freedom come from above or below? To what extent were Abraham Lincoln's actions influenced by the actions of enslaves Americans? Various pieces of art and documents aided in the understanding of these sets of questions. The pieces of art were a picture entitled "Freedom to the Slaves" depicting Lincoln giving the freedom and an engraving entitled "Slaves from the plantation of Confederate President Jefferson Davis arrive at Chickasaw Bayou, Mississippi" depicting slaves standing up for what they want and getting their freedom on their own. The documents were President Lincoln's reply to Horace Greeley, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address, the Second Inaugural Address, and Document X which is examples of enslaved people forcing the issue. I believe that the freedom came from both above and below. Without one the other wouldn't have been able to get their point across efficient enough.
            I believe it came from above because President Lincoln was the one who changed the war's purpose. At first, he declared that the purpose was to save the Union from perishing, but later changed it to earning the freedom of enslaves Americans. In the Gettysburg Address he declared, "That this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that the government of the people, by the people, shall not perish from the earth. This was the first time Lincoln acknowledged abolition movement influencing the war. Even though he was afraid to lose the loyalty of the border states to the Confederacy he changed the goal of the war to benefit his citizens. If he never did this the enslaved Americans would have no supporters from above and no one would take them seriously.

"Freedom to the Slaves"

President Lincoln giving the enslaved Americans their freedom

            Although President Lincoln made the first, official move his actions were influenced greatly by the current enslaved Americans. The slaves would walk off the plantations they were working at to follow the Union army. While following them they would constantly pester the army. As a result, the army would go to their superiors to ask what to do about the slaves that were following them. The superiors then turned to the government because they didn't know what to do as well. These chain reactions forced Lincoln and the government to do something to stop the constant pestering the Union army was enduring.

            Also, I believe that the enslaved Americans had a lot to do with their new found freedom causing freedom from below. The way they got their freedom was to take action by marching into the city and overrun it. They overran it by taking the things that appeal to them and living in empty buildings that they found. Their actions ensured that their freedom came from below because the whole thing started with the slave's actions that are forcing higher powers, such as the president, to react to the scenes they are causing.

            

           

Civil War Scavenger Hunt

            The Civil War started on April 12, 1861 and lasted until April 9, 1865. During this time frame there were several separate battles being fought to decide who would be the victor, the Union or the Confederate. The topic of winning introduces two essential questions, who was the ultimate victor in each of the theaters of war; East, West, Navel and what are some commonalities that can be identified in the reasons for the results of the battles? Finding answers to these two questions took a of preparation that eventually lead to an around the school scavenger hunt. First, each student was assigned a battle from the war. For example, someone was assigned the Battle of Baton Rouge and the person next to them would be assigned to the Battle of Cold Harbor. There were twenty battles in all. Next, based on the description of the battle, we had to figure out what battle we had, where and when it took place, the victor, the theater it took place in, and two main reasons why the battle ended the way it did. After we had all of the required information we put it onto a Google Doc and added a picture that was relevant to our battle. Then, we made a bit.ly link and a QR code for the poster. Finally, we had to communicate with the person who had the battle before and after us so we could write down directions. All that was left was to do the scavenger hunt.
            There were three theaters of war during the Civi War. There was the West, the East, and the Navel.  The Union dominated the Western and the Naval theater while the Confederacy dominated the Eastern theater. The Union was able to control the Western theater because of their large army and their overall strength compared to the Confederate army. For example, in Sherman's March to the Sea the Union was able to destroy what they did because the South didn't have enough soldiers nor where they strong enough to stop them. In Savannah, the army fled to avoid clashing with Sherman's men. The Union was able to be the ultimate victors in the Naval for the same reasons, they were larger and were a lot stronger than the South. In most of the Naval battles the Union outnumbered the Confederate in the number of ships they had. In the Battle of Baton Rouge the Union shelled the Confederate ships and the Confederate ships' engines broke. This caused the Confederate to surrender. On the other hand, the Confederate dominated the Eastern theater because they had powerful attacks and suffered from less casualties. Their strategy was to cause as much damage as they can in a short period of time. This was demonstrated at the Battle of Cold Harbor. The Confederates frontal assault caused 7,000 casualties in one hour.
            Even though the Union army and the Confederate army are very different from each other, there are some commonalties as to why each side won the battles that they did. The Union's pattern was to use their numbers as their strengths. As the war progressed the South got weaker and weaker. This proved as an advantage to the North and they used it to win the war. The South was known for attacking hard. Each time they won a battle it was because they worked for the win and didn't play nice.