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A state-funded collaboration between the Delaware Department of Education and the University of Delaware Library providing online magazines, journals, encyclopedias and training for all Delaware K-12 public schools
A state-funded collaboration between the Delaware Department of Education and the University of Delaware Library providing online magazines, journals, encyclopedias and training for all Delaware K-12 public schools
Read about the events in the American Civil War.
Topic Overview:
Middle School Content:
High School Content:
Excerpt from Emancipation Proclamation - U.S. History in Context:
"The Emancipation Proclamation was an executive order issued by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) to go into effect on January 1, 1863. At that time, the nation was in the middle of the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865) fought between the Northern states (the Union) and the Southern states (the Confederacy). The Confederacy had rebelled against the Union. The edict declared freedom for all enslaved people in the states that had rebelled."
Additional Readings:
The “Clotilda,” the last known slave ship to arrive in the United States, sailed from Africa in 1860. This cemetery in Mobile, Alabama, holds the remains of Africans carried aboard the ship. "Graves of Africans Brought to the United States on the “Clotilda,” In Context: Middle School
Read about Juneteenth and the Thirteenth Amendment to learn why the Emancipation Proclamation did not signal the end of slavery for all enslaved individuals in America.
1. Why was the Civil War fought?
2. Which group of enslaved individuals was made free through the Emancipation Proclamation?
3. How does the Thirteenth Amendment differ from the Emancipation Proclamation in its impact on the institution of slavery?
4. What is celebrated on Juneteenth?
5. Name one military strategic advantage gained by President Lincoln during the Civil War through the Emancipation Proclamation.
6. In addition to wanting to bring about an end to slavery, what might Black soldiers in the Civil War have hoped to gain through fighting on behalf of the Union?