Antietam and the Emancipation Proclamation

Step 1:
Watch this video - click here - What does emancipation mean?

Step 2 - Introduction:

The Emancipation Proclamation is the document that Lincoln felt would cement his name in history. It stated that all enslaved people within the states in rebellion were free. Although the document was not accepted in the Confederacy and therefore did not immediately free any slaves, it is considered one of the most important in American history.

The proclamation, controversial in its own time, laid down a pathway for the future and provided a commitment to ending slavery. The document promoted the mission of reestablishing a unified nation—a goal that was seen as an important part of creating a fairer and better America.

In order to keep the border states in the Union, Lincoln’s proclamation did not apply to them. President Lincoln issued the document as a wartime measure justified by “the power vested in me as Commander in Chief” by the Constitution. As word of the proclamation spread, enslaved people made their way from plantation fields to union lines in battle zones.

Issued after the Battle of Antietam, a bloody battle in which Union forces claimed victory, the document raised the stakes for both the Confederacy and the Union. European nations, which had abolished slavery, were now less likely to recognize the rebellious Southern government. Free blacks in the North welcomed the added moral dimension to the conflict and joined the Union army in increasing numbers. With the subsequent passage of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865, the promise of the Emancipation Proclamation was kept, as four million people were freed from bondage, and chattel slavery came to an end.

Step 3:

Click this link to access and read the Emancipation Proclamation.
Click this link to access Emancipation questions.

Step 4:

1. Once reading the Emancipation Proclamation, you will be assigned a specific group affected by this proclamation. 
2. Click here to access the question sheet to fill out about your group.
3. Use your question sheet to create a storyboard about how that person would feel about the emancipation proclamation.
4. You need a character, relevant animations, and a quote saying how this person feels about the emancipation of slaves.

To create a story board - visit here at Toondoo.com (you need to create a free account)

Examples are here: 

Example 1
Example 2