Abraham Lincoln: Defender of the Constitution or Tyrant? D EVELOPED BY B EN N EILSON T HE L INCOLN T ELEGRAM C OLLABORATIVE A PRIL 2 013 "If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what's said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference." Abraham Lincoln. White House conversation. Quoted in Six Months at the White House with Abraham Lincoln, Francs B. Carpenter, 1866. Summary This lesson explores a set of telegraphs from President Lincoln sent in 1864 and 1865 to determine if Lincoln s actions were those of a tyrant or a president trying to protect his country in a time of war. Students will begin the lesson by discussing a q uote by Benjamin Franklin on essential liberties. The discussion will continue into the first activity where students will create their own list of essential liberties and then compare their list with the Bill of Rights. Once students have reviewed these constitutional rights they will read five of the Lincoln telegrams and analyze them to determine if Lincoln was working to protect the rights of the people or unjustly take them away. In a culminating activity, students will create a VoiceThread offering different perspectives of Lincoln s actions during the war including the students opinions. T HE L INCOLN T ELEGRAM C OLLABORATIVE A PRIL 2 013
LESSON OVERVIEW BACKGROUND In times of war or national crisis essential liberties are sometimes violated in order to ensure that the country is safe. The Civil War was the country s most destructive war both in terms of the loss of property and the loss of life with over 620,000 dead by the end of the war. As the President of the United States for the entirety of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln was under tremendous pressure to win the war quickly and preserve the union. However, since this was not a war between separate countries but rather a country at war with itself, southern sympathizers were found in every northern state. Fear of what southern sympathizers might do to hurt the Union and the constant threat of invasion led Lincoln to issue martial law and to suspend the writ of habeas corpus in 1862. This led some to declare Lincoln a tyrant while others believed he was doing what was necessary to protect the country. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES Students will understand Constitutional issues Lincoln dealt with during the Civil War. Students will examine various perspectives on Lincoln s actions during the Civil War as well as their own opinions. MATERIALS Computers with access to the internet or print versions of the telegram memos Lincoln and Liberty organizer Copy of the Bill of Rights WARM UP Begin this lesson by providing students with the quote below attributed to Benjamin Franklin along with the questions for students to discuss with a partner. After five minutes of discussion with their partner the teacher should lead a class brief discussion. They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin, Memoirs of the Life and Writing of Benjamin Franklin 1818 Is there any situation in which a people should give up some of their essential liberties in order to secure their safety? Why did Franklin say that people who give up liberty for freedom do not deserve either? Do we as Americans living in the 21 st century give up any essential liberties for safety? If so which ones?
Activity 1 After the opening class discussion, ask students to name some essential liberties for an American citizen during the time of war. Make connections to the Bill of Rights as needed. You may wish to provide students with copies of Bill of Rights. Student responses will vary but may include the following: The right to a trial by jury. (6 th Amendment) Freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. ( 4 th Amendment) Freedom from the government using torture. (8 th Amendment) Freedom of the press. (1 st Amendment) Freedom of religion. (1 st Amendment ) Freedom from having to quarter soldiers. (3 rd Amendment) Freedom to protest. (1 st Amendment) Freedom to bear arms. (3 rd Amendment) Teacher Presentation Drawing on information from the background section above, introduce some of the topics and issues related to this lesson.
Activity 2 For this activity students will work with a partner using a computer to read five telegrams from the Lincoln Telegrams wiki site http://wiki.lincolntelegrams.com and complete the Lincoln and Liberty - Organizer. Assign students the following five telegrams: May 4th, 1864, May 18,1864 (2), November 10,1864 (2), December 28, 1864 (2) and February 12, 1865 (1). Provide students with some direction for completing the organizer. In the first column, students should name the liberty being threatened in the telegram and who was responsible. In the second column, students should describe Lincoln s role in terms of how he was protecting or limiting liberty. In the last column, students should justify why it s OK to limit a liberty in a time of war. Below is an example of what a completed row in the worksheet could look like. Summary of Telegram Liberty threatened and by whom? Lincoln s role: Defending liberty or threatening it? Was it justified? Why or why not? May 18 (2), 1864 - This telegram was sent to Major General Dix, the Union commanding officer in New York. The New York World newspaper had printed forged documents supposedly from Abraham Lincoln. In this telegram, Lincoln instructed General. Dix to take control of the newspaper, including any editors or other individuals who had access or contributed to the newspaper. The liberties being threated included the following. Freedom of the press The right to trial by jury Freedom from illegal search and seizures Threatened by: President Lincoln Lincoln issued a command to General Dix to arrest the publishers and owners and to take control of the newspaper. I believe Lincoln was justified because the newspaper was publishing false information in order to anger the people and make them want to give up on the war.
Activity 3 Using the Lincoln and Liberty - Organizer, the Lincoln Telegrams wiki site, and the Bill of Rights students should work with a partner to create a VoiceThread that responds to the question Was Lincoln a tyranny? In the VoiceThread students should represent the three perspectives on Lincoln: 1) that of a southerner or southern sympathizer, 2) the perspective of Lincoln himself, and 3) the perspective of the students. Students must support their interpretations by referencing the telegrams from Activity Two. The VoiceThread should be 3-5 minutes long with a minimum of one minute per perspective. The students VoiceThread presentations might be shown in the following lesson if time allows. This VoiceThread presentation (https://voicethread.com/share/4479073/ can be used to set up the activity and as a model for how to create a VoiceThread. Directions for creating your VoiceThread video: 1. Go to www.voicthread.com and create an account 2. Click on the create tab 3. Click on the upload from tab and then choose My webcam 4. Click on video 5. One students will record a video expressing the views of a southern sympathizer and the other will record a video from Lincoln s perspective 6. Both students will together record the last video expressing their own opinion of Lincoln s actions 7. If students wish to add photos or other visuals they have downloaded on their computer they can do so by clicking on the upload from tab and then choosing My computer and then selecting the file they wish to include. Once the visual is added students can make audio comments by clicking on the Comment tab and then choosing the icon that looks like a microphone. 8. When students are finished they can email the project to their teacher by clicking on the Share tab and entering the teacher s email address.
Bill of Rights Amendment I Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Amendment II A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. Amendment III No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. Amendment IV The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. Amendment V No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. Amendment VI In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence. Amendment VII In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re- examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law. Amendment VIII Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Amendment IX The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. Amendment X The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.