Civil War: Sherman’s March
Step 1: Choose a topic.
You will be provided with three topics to choose from in the Module Two materials:
Amistad Revolt
Secession of the Southern States
Civil War: Sherman’s March
Choose ONE of the topics for your analysis assignment.
Step 2: Identify the question you will answer in the analysis.
It will be at the top of the Full Article under the title. Let’s use the Amistad Revolt article as an example:
Question: Should the United States aid the rebels?
Step 3: Read the materials.
You will see three files in each topic submodule (folder):
The Full Article
Primary Sources
Discussion Questions
Read the entire Full Article. Then, find the Primary Sources file included in the folder and read those.
Step 4: Complete the assignment
Read all the materials, and then answer the following questions:
1. What is the question you are answering?
2. Summarize the issue and the background in your own words in a paragraph or two.
3. Discuss the “case for” in your own words in at least a paragraph. (Notice, this is not the argument summary at the top of the article. This question is based on the full “case for” discussion later in the article.)
4. Explain the evidence or arguments in the “case for” you think were most convincing and why.
5. Discuss the “case against” in at least a paragraph (again, don’t just focus on the summary of arguments at the top of the article).
6. Briefly explain the evidence or arguments in the “case against” you think were most convincing and why.
7. What is your opinion on the topic? Explain why you hold this opinion, identifying the evidence on which you have based it in a paragraph.
8. Primary sources: Choose three of the primary sources to analyze. Explain what each is how each one impacts your thoughts about the topic. You can list them and explain each.
9. Choose one of the Discussion Questions at the end of the article to answer in a paragraph or two. Don’t address a question that you have already discussed in the analysis.
Discussion Questions: Sherman’s March
1. To what degree General Sherman be held responsible for the actions of his men, even if they deliberately violated his orders? Should Sherman be held responsible for the action of the “bummers”?
2. Sherman’s supporters claimed that his objective—bringing an end to the destructive Civil War—justified any means to get to that point. Do you agree?
3. Were Sherman’s tactics the only way he could have achieved his goal of bringing the war to an end? Or is there another course of action he could have taken to achieve the same end?
4. What do you think the outcome of the Civil War would have been had Sherman not
undertaken his “march to the sea”?
5. Imagine that you were Sherman about to set off from Atlanta to Savannah: Write a diary entry in which you reflect upon the upcoming journey. What are your goals? Your concerns about the possible setbacks?
