Florida SS.8.A.5.4

Social Studies8th GradeExamine the causes, course, and consequence of the Civil War and Reconstruction including its effects on American peoples.

The Standard

Identify the division (i.e., Confederate and Union States, border states, western territories) of the United States at the outbreak of the Civil War.

Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Standards for Social Studies

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students read an 1861 map and sort areas by their loyalty and political status. They locate Union states, Confederate states, slaveholding border states, and western territories.
What Mastery Looks Like: Given an unlabeled 1861 map, students accurately color and name each region. They explain that border states allowed slavery but remained in the Union.
Common Misconceptions: Students often place every slave state in the Confederacy, including Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, and Missouri. They may also use modern western boundaries or add West Virginia, which became a state in 1863.
How to Assess It: Give students a blank 1861 map and four colored pencils. Ask them to shade each region and label all four border states.

Lesson moves

Give pairs a blank 1861 map and four colored pencils, then have them shade and label each political region.
Ask students to write: Why did Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, and Delaware matter to both sides despite remaining in the Union?
Run a card sort where teams place location cards under Union, Confederacy, border state, or western territory.
Overlay an 1861 map on a current U.S. map, then have students record three boundary changes in the West.

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