PA State Archives – Civil War Flags Collection

Ever read stories of how Civil War soldiers and color bearers would defend their regimental flags at all costs. Stories of heroism and bravery that is beyond belief because these color bearers knew that they were the target for enemy fire. Tales of men tearing up a flag and hiding it in their coats to avoid it being captured to 5 or 6 color bearers being killed in a single battle. There are monuments these brave men on Civil War battlefields across the US.

Now you can view the flags of Civil War unit from Pennsylvania thanks to the Pennsylvania state archives. The Pennsylvania Civil War Flag Collection website allows you to search for individual unit flags, flags by unit type or even by the type of flag.

National flags were American flags usually with the unit name painted on one of the strips. The American flag went from having 33 stars in 1859 to 36 stars in 1865. Do you know which states were added to the Union during the Civil War? State flags were the state flags of Pennsylvania again with the unit designation painted or sewn into the material or an American flag with the Pennsylvania state seal painted into the canton.

Some of my favorites are the 11^th PVI and 83^rd PVI flags. The 11^th PVI’s national color was given to them by the ladies of Martinsburg, Virginia (now W. Virginia) in 1861. Which ones are your favorites?

Using Blogs to Teach the Civil War

Today’s post will be used to list some blogs that talk about the Civil War and could be used within the classroom. You can view these blogs individually or add them to your RSS aggregator.

Civil War Photos: This blog has some excellent photographs from the Gettysburg National Military park and other Civil War battlefields around the country.

Civil War Memory: This blog contains the “reflections of a High School History Teacher and Civil War Historian” and was created by Kevin Levin. Kevin’s blog contains some great posts and links to various ways to teach about the Civil War.

Blog 4 History: This American History and Civil War History blog contains some great research articles that can be incorporated in numerous ways. I especially like the Demographics of the 11^th Wisconsin post and the Civil War in 90 Minutes or Less posts.

Civil War Bookshelf: This blog provides some very good reviews of books related to the Civil War as well as insights into authors and historians.

So, how will you be using blogs in your classroom? Let me know.

The HomeFront: Women and the Civil War

The roles women played during the Civil War have only recently been given the same respect as famous generals and battles. If we look in the context of this time period, the woman was considered the light of the hearth and home. Upon her fell the duty of managing the home, bearing and teaching the children and in the rural communities they would run the farms and plantations as well.

Etiquette manuals tell us that a lady could not leave the house without a gentleman escort. When the war broke out the entire sphere of the woman’s world changed. With fathers, husbands, sons and brothers going off to join the ranks, women had to adapt and change their way of thinking in order to survive. Keep in mind that at this time, a woman could not vote, or sign contracts. The woman’s heart beat responsive to the call of war. While she could not still remain a lady and take up arms and fight, there were many things she could do to support the cause. They became nurses, laundresses, spies, vivandiere’s, Sanitary and Christian Commission workers, and writers for newspapers for example. For specific information about famous women of the Civil War era, the American Civil War website (http://americancivilwar.com/women/women.html) has some very detailed information about famous woman like Harriet Beecher Stowe and Clara Barton.

The topic of civilian life leads it perfectly to a fairly recent educational technology known as a Webquest. A WebQuest is defined, by Bernie Dodge at San Diego State University, as "an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the Internet" (Dodge, 1997). WebQuests are perfect models for teachers for are searching for ways in which to incorporate the Internet into the classroom on both a short-term and long-term basis. When selecting a WebQuest, make sure that you examine the WebQuest closely and evaluate it in terms of your expectations for content coverage/goals, academic rigor, ease of use and interactivity. Other factors to consider when selecting a Webquest include making sure you check for broken hyperlinks, deciding how much of the Webquest to use and knowing how much time is required to complete a given Webquest. The Civil War Herald WebQuest (http://www.coollessons.org/civilwarpaper.htm) allows students to take on the task of designing a Civil War era newspaper. While researching “articles” for the paper, students learn about numerous topics including famous women, different roles women played during the war, life on the home front, the political climate of the time, other famous people of the period, health and technology and finally new about the war. This WebQuest also includes a teacher’s section with tips on how to implement the WebQuest, standards addressed, assessment information and how to customize the lesson to fit individual teacher requirements.

UPDATE: I recently found this blog on Civil War Woman. The description of the blog indicates that it contains bios and stories of women of the Civil War era.
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References:

Dodge, Bernie. (1997). Some Thoughts About Wequests. Retrieved March 28, 2005 from http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec596/about_webquests.html

Brozik, Lana, Kaup, Kathleen, Levine, Richard. (2002). Civil War Herald WebQuest. Retrieved April 1, 2005 from the World Wide Web: (http://www.coollessons.org/civilwarpaper.htm)

The American Civil War Website. (n.d.) Women of the American Civil War Era. Retrieved April 1, 2005 from the World Wide Web: http://americancivilwar.com/women/women.html