The Battle of Antietam and the Bloodiest Day

SS.5.20West Virginia Social Studies Standards · All ages

Demonstrate an understanding of the industrial North and the agricultural South before, during and after the Civil War. • Research the roles and accomplishments of the leaders of the reform movements before and during the Civil War (e.g., abolition movement, Underground Railroad and other social reforms, etc.). • Explain how specific events and issues led to the Civil War (e.g., sectionalism fueled by issues of slavery in the territories, states’ rights, election of 1860 and secession). • Summarize key battles, strategies and turning points of the Civil War (e.g., Fort Sumter, Antietam, Gettysburg, other regional battles and the surrender at Appomattox). • Compare the roles and accomplishments of historic figures of the Civil War (e.g., Abraham Lincoln (Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg Address) Ulysses S. Grant, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Clara Barton and Frederick Douglass, etc.). • Explain the impact of the Civil War’s physical destruction on the nation and the people (e.g., soldiers, women, African Americans, and the civilian population, etc.).