Kole Tupa

Unit Plan
Nation Divided (US History 8th Grade)

Standards-
SS.8.22: Explain how and why prevailing social, cultural, and political perspectives changed
during early America.

Enduring Understandings
Understanding how the scars of the Civil War, including issues of race, equality, and states' rights,
continue to shape our society and political landscape today.

Recognizing that the Civil War was not just about one factor, such as slavery, but a combination of
economic, political, social, and cultural differences between the North and South.

Recognizing the consequences of political decisions, compromises, and actions taken leading up to
the Civil War on the nation's unity and future.

Acknowledging the deep-rooted issues of inequality, discrimination, and oppression that contributed
to the tensions between the North and South prior to the Civil War.

Essential Questions
How did the issue of expansion into new territories play a role in the causes of the Civil War?

What role did slavery play in causing the Civil War?

How did issues of states' rights influence the outbreak of the Civil War?

In what ways did cultural differences between the North and the South impact the start of the Civil
War?

Knowledge
They just finished a unit going over the transportation and slavery in the US during early
1800s. They are aware of the US starting to split and this unit will get into the causes of the
Civil War.

Rationale
WHAT AM I LEARNING?
How and why prevailing social, cultural, and political perspectives changed prior to the
Civil War.
WHY AM I LEARNING IT?
In order to understand how the war started.
HOW WILL I SHOW I LEARNED IT?
By identifying and explaining the events that led to the Civil War beginning.
Calendar (12 Days)
Day 1: Review Great Compromise and 3/5 Compromise

Day 2: Missouri Compromise/Compromise of 1850

Day 3: (Short Day) Kansas Nebraska Act

Day 4: Fugitive Slave Laws

Day 5: Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Day 6: Dred Scott/Underground Railroad

Day 7: Abolitionist Project

Day 8: (Short Day) Abolitionist Project

Day 9: Abolitionsit Project

Day 10: Election of Lincoln and Secession

Day 11: Review Day

Day 12: Test

Final Assessment
Test

Resources
Causes of Civil War Chart:

Bell Plans- 2023

Michaud Plans- 2023

Nation Divides Slideshow

Lesson Plans-

Review Great Compromise and 3/5 Compromise

Topic: Review of Great Compromise and 3/5 Compromise
Standards: SS.8.22: Explain how and why prevailing social, cultural, and political
perspectives changed during early America.
Objective: I can explain how the 3/5 Compromise was a cause of the Civil War. I can explain
the tension between the North and South.
Background Knowledge/ Previous Lessons: The class had done a lesson where they did a
brief reading about the 3/5 Compromise. They had also just finished a unit that dealt with the
topic of slavery so they understood the way society was operating in the events leading up to
the Civil War.
Rationale: The 3/5 Compromise is an example of how the US operated in the build up to the
Civil War. I am teaching this lesson to give them that understanding and build examples for
causes of the war.
Materials: Presentation UNIT-Notesheet Activity OR Activity #2
Procedures: Start class with a review of the 3/5 Compromise. I will ask the class as a whole
what it was and get everyone caught up with the brief discussion about it from last time.
Go through how the unit is going to operate. Keep notes on the Unit Notesheet for each of the
events that are all listed on that document.
Go over the issue of States' Rights and the impact of slavery in the US.
Go through the presentation as a class.
QUESTION TO ASK- Who wanted states to have more rights? Why? Who does 3/5
Compromise benefit and who is the “loser”? How does this help divide the US?
Emphasize- How the 3/5 Clause is building up to the Civil War.
Activity- Have students fill out the activity sheet for the remainder of the class.
Closure: Students will have the rest of the class to finish the activity.
Assessment: The activity

Missouri Compromise/Compromise of 1850

Topic: Missouri Compromise/ Compromise of 1850
Standards: SS.8.22: Explain how and why prevailing social, cultural, and political
perspectives changed during early America.
Objective: Explain the importance of how these two compromises causes the divide between
the north and south for the Civil War.
Background Knowledge/ Previous Lessons: They have had lessons to explain the
differences between north and south and now we are getting to know causes of it. They have
also done short introduction readings on both of these topics.
Rationale: In order for them to explain the political persepectives during the Civil War, they will
need to see both sides and how they settled their disagreements.
Materials: Presentation, Presentation #2, Worksheet
Procedures: Start class with a review of Great Compromise/ 3/5 Compromise. Ask them to
explain what they were and how they helped cause the war. What side wanted what?
Ask them about the Missouri Compromise. Have them look up their assignment from last week
where they took notes. Give them a few minutes to discuss with a partner what they have for
notes on the Missouri Compromise. Discuss as a whole class what they recall.
Go into presentation and watch the video. DIscuss video- what is similar to what we discussed
and what is new?
Ask them about the Compromise of 1850. Have them look up their assignment from last week
where they took notes. Give them a few minutes to discuss with a partner what they have for
notes. Discuss as a whole class what they recall.
Go into presentation and watch the video. DIscuss video- what is similar to what we discussed
and what is new?
Finish up them both with any possible questions from the students. Then we will do the
worksheet together as a class. I will have it posted up on the board and I will ask them
questions as we go.
Closure: The worksheet
Assessment: The worksheet will be their assessment

Kansas-Nebraska Act Overview

Topic: Kansas-Nebraska Act Overview
Standards: SS.8.22: Explain how and why prevailing social, cultural, and political
perspectives changed during early America.
Objective: Students will understand that the Kansas-Nebraska Act caused more tension
between North and South leading up to the Civil War.
Background Knowledge/ Previous Lessons: We have discussed the tensions are growing
between north and south with the two compromises and the 3/5 compromise.
Rationale:
Materials: Activity, Video, Presentation
Procedures: Review lessons from before. Have them talk to a partner and come up with
something they can remember. We will discuss what they came up with and then watch the
video. Questions- what is similar and different to what we talked about? What is new
information? How does this event cause more tension between north and south?
Go over short presentation before letting them do the reading activity.
Let them do the activity for the rest of class. Have them work by themselves for this one.
Closure: Reading Activity
Assessment: Reading activity

Fugitive Slave Law Overview

Topic: Fugitive Slave Law Overview
Standards: SS.8.22: Explain how and why prevailing social, cultural, and political
perspectives changed during early America.
Objective: Students will understand how this event helped cause tension between the North
and South before the Civil War.
Background Knowledge/ Previous Lessons:
Rationale: This event in history created tension around the use of slaves and how they handled
them during early America.
Materials: Presentation with video, Presentation with info, Worksheet
Procedures: Start with a review of what we discussed the day before (KS-NE Act) What was it?
How did it impact the country at the time? How did it help cause the Civil War?
Review on Canvas the answers you had with a partner on the Fugitive Slave Law. What was it?
What did you put down for it? We will discuss as a whole class what we remember.
Go over the presentation with information. Lecture the notes and set them up before watching
the video.
Watch the video from the presentation- What is new information and what did we already know?
Give them the rest of class to work with a partner on the worksheet. I am giving them a partner
in case they are missing information on the previous lessons and a friend can help them out.
Closure: Work on the Causes of Civil War WS with a partner.
Assessment: Worksheet

Uncle Tom’s Cabin Overview

Topic: Uncle Tom’s Cabin Overview
Standards: SS.8.22: Explain how and why prevailing social, cultural, and political
perspectives changed during early America.
Objective: The students will understand the impact this book had on the war and how it raised
the tensions further.
Background Knowledge/ Previous Lessons: The students have done a quick reading on this
topic and know the significance of slavery at this point in history.
Rationale: This lesson will help build their understanding of the cultural perspective on slavery
which was a prominent issue at the time of early America.
Materials: Video, Presentation, Worksheet, Activity
Procedures: We will discuss what we went over last time (Fugitive Slave law). What do you
remember? What was its impact on America? How did it help cause the war?
Review from Canvas the reading answers they came up with from last week with Uncle Tom’s
Cabin. Let them discuss this with a partner for a few minutes. We will discuss this as a class.
We will then briefly go over the notes on the presentation to give them some more historical
context. I want them to know that it was a book that caused a rift between the North and South
as the book tackled the issue of slavery.
The video is the next part to get to. We will watch the video and I will ask them questions
afterward. Questions- What did the video portray about the book? What are some details about
the author that are crucial to understanding? How does this help set up the Underground
Railroad?
Give them time to work on the reading activity. They will work on this by themselves.
If they finish the reading I want them to fill in the Causes of the Civil War worksheet.
Closure: Reading activity/ worksheet
Assessment: Reading activity
Dred Scott/Underground Railroad
Topic: Dred Scott/Underground Railroad
Standards: SS.8.22: Explain how and why prevailing social, cultural, and political
perspectives changed during early America.
Objective:
Background Knowledge/ Previous Lessons:
Rationale:
Materials: Presentation, Reading,
Procedures: We will start with a brief review of what we went over yesterday (Uncle Tom’s
Cabin). Have them talk with a partner about what the remember. Discuss as a class what we
recall and then I will get them set up for new material.
See if anyone remembers anything about Dred Scott case. Go into the brief presentation and
give more information about the case. Talk about how the case was set up and the decision.
Get them going for the reading. Let them know that they will be doing a reading on new
information with the Underground Railroad which will help set up their project that they will be
getting next class.
Let them work on the reading with a group of 3 at the most. It is going to be a bit of reading
which is why I want to give them the option of having some peers help them through the
reading.
Closure: The class will finish up with the reading and if there is any extra time they can fill in
their causes of the civil war worksheet that we have been working on.
Assessment: The reading activity

Abolitionist Project (3 Days)

Topic: Abolitionist Project
Standards: SS.8.22: Explain how and why prevailing social, cultural, and political
perspectives changed during early America.
Objective: Students have the opportunity to research and create a mini-project for an
abolitionist.
Background Knowledge/ Previous Lessons: They had just finished a unit that dealt with the
topic of slavery so they understood the way society was operating in the events leading up to
the Civil War.
Rationale: Give students the opportunity to do some guided research in the unit and be creative
with their presentation.
Materials: Presentation, Project, Research Sheet, Computers, Poster paper, Writing/coloring
utensils
Procedures: Review from class period before. (What was important with Dred Scott and
Underground Railroad?) Check the Unit worksheet so everyone is caught up.
We will then get into the presentation and introduce abolition to the class. Work through slide
show presentation. Show the videos and provide them questions.
(Questions to ask throughout: How does this make the North/South feel? Does this help lead to
Civil War? How so?)
Introduce the project to the students. Walk through the example and show them the
expectations with the project. (This is all going to be shared on Canvas as well so they have
access to the expectations). Give them the rest of class to work on the project and the next day
they will have all day.
The 3rd day will be cut into two parts. I will give them some time (based on how much they say
they need, but I will be the final say) to finish their project before we set up for gallery walk. Half
of the class will stay and presentt their project to the other half who will walk around and see
what other people have been working on. Students will be asked to carry around a half sheet of
paper and write down one fact from each of the presentations they visit. This will ensure they
walk around and stay on task to a certain extent.
Closure: Students will turn in their half sheet and if time is still left afterwards I will have
everyone share 1 interesting fact they learned doing research.
Assessment: Project

Election of Lincoln and Secession

Topic: Election of Lincoln and Secession
Standards: SS.8.22: Explain how and why prevailing social, cultural, and political
perspectives changed during early America.
Objective: Students will understand the importance of Lincoln in office in relation to the causes
of the Civil War.
Background Knowledge/ Previous Lessons: All previous lessons dealing with causes of the
Civil War. We also know that Lincoln is POTUS during the era.
Rationale: This lesson will be the last piece of the puzzle before the war started in 1861 with
Lincoln’s election.
Materials: Presentation, Activity,
Procedures: We will start class with an introduction question about Lincoln. Give everyone 30
seconds or so to come up with a list of things they already know about him. We will discuss as a
class what we came up with.
We will then look at the presentation. Discuss the election of 1860 and how important it was to
get him back in office. He was the only candidate who might have been willing to stand up to the
South and go to war if needed. If he doesn’t get elected, the South will get their way most likely.
Watch the video on the presentation. Questions to ask- what was interesting to you? What did
you find confusing? How does this information help us understand the cause of the Civil War?
South Secession- What is this and how did it impact America?
Start going over the assignment. Give them the details and directions for working on the
assignment. Let them have a partner or let them work alone. They will do the reading and then
fill out the boxes based on what they choose to do with it.
Closure: After they finish the reading activity, have them get with another group and compare
their decision.
Assessment: Reading activity

Review Day
Topic: Review for the assessment
Standards: SS.8.22: Explain how and why prevailing social, cultural, and political
perspectives changed during early America.
Objective: To review and prepare for test the next day.
Background Knowledge/ Previous Lessons: This will cover each of the topics we covered so
far in this unit.
Rationale: Give the students a chance to study and review before the test the next day.
Materials: Blooket Review game (Blooket review), and the study guide. If they would like to
work on their notes sheet they can do that too. Whiteboards with markers.
Procedures: Basketball Review Game:
Rules- I will divide class into teams of 3. Teams are to listen to question I ask the entire class
and write down their groups answer on their whiteboard. When I tell them to show me the
answer they will raise their board. IF they get question correct I will give them 1 point and the
opportunity to shoot for more points.
I have a bucket with a ball set up in the front of the room with lines taped on the ground labeled
1 point, 2 points, and 3 points. They have chance to shoot from either line for extra points. We
will go through this process for each question.
Questions for game will come from study guide, note sheet, and blooket review.
Closure: Finish game with around 3-5 minutes left and total up points. Assign groups that win
PBIS points (10 for winners, 5 for 2nd place, 3 for 3rd place).
Assessment: Test tomorrow

Test Day
Topic: Take the test
Standards: SS.8.22: Explain how and why prevailing social, cultural, and political
perspectives changed during early America.
Objective: Test
Background Knowledge/ Previous Lessons: All lessons have been completed along with
study guide.
Rationale: The students have done all the assignments/work and now we will do our final
assessment.
Materials: Test
Procedures: Start class with an introduction of the test before they take it. Go over the format
and what they should expect. I will also let them know what I expect while the class is taking a
test (quiet, work by yourself, etc.)
Closure: Students will take the test and then have the rest of class to relax and sit quietly.
Assessment: Test