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Abraham Lincoln and the "New Birth of Freedom"

Abraham Lincoln's national agenda in 1860 was about saving the Union until, with the Gettysburg Address, he signaled a broadening of his original agenda to establishing a "new birth of freedom" in the United States.
Edward Simmons
Average rating:
4.9
Number of reviews:
(692)
Class
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What's included

1 live meeting
55 mins in-class hours

Class Experience

US Grade 6 - 9
Intermediate Level
This is a lecture course that will use two short YouTube videos reciting the Gettysburg Address (one of them a song) and a slideshow to explain the significance of the Gettysburg Address, when it was given, and its importance for our own time. The course will fall into 5 parts:
1.	What, Where, When, and Why did the Gettysburg Address happen? This part will include a video (2 minutes and 48 seconds in length) reciting the speech. The battle of Gettysburg will be described and its context in the American Civil War will be explained.
2.	What was Lincoln’s agenda when he was elected and how had it changed by the time he gave the Gettysburg Address? This part will explain the basic principles of Lincoln Republicanism as: (1) defending free labor in the North and extending it into the West by supporting business, industry, and family farms; (2) supporting a national economy based on industry, business, and farming by building roads, railroads and other infrastructure, and by giving land to establish “land grant” universities, and by giving 160 acres of federal land to Homesteaders who farmed their land at least 5 years; and (3), after two years of bloody war led to the Emancipation Proclamation, to ensuring that slavery was replaced by democracy and rights of citizenship as part of a generous reconstruction period to restore rights to Southern states.
3.	What did Lincoln mean by “new birth of freedom?”  Lincoln appealed to the ideal of equality and freedom in the Declaration of Independence, as opposed to features in the constitution that favored state governments even as they weakened democracy and rights of citizenship. His phrase “of the people, by the people, for the people” summed up his view of democracy and the national will as opposed to regional power centers or privileged groups. Thus he opposed the power of bankers and industrialists in the North and plantation owners in the South when they opposed equality and democracy.
4.	How was the “new birth of freedom” implemented? (1) The Homestead Act and support for the Transcontinental Railroad (to benefit the West) were followed by the 13th amendment and the Freedman’s Bureau to benefit the South—using federal tax revenues to benefit common people, not just the rich. (2) After his death and because of Southern resistance to the 13th amendment, Congress enacted the 14th and 15th amendments to define citizen’s rights and enforce the 13th amendment. (3) Under President Grant, the Department of Justice was created in 1870 to enforce a civil rights act and the 14th and 15th amendments against the KKK and other violent, illegal forms of resistance. (4) Defense of constitutional civil rights remains a central task of the U.S. Justice Department today.
5.	Conclusion with a singing version of the Gettysburg Address. A 3 minute 34 second video of a song by Sherri Boekweg will conclude the course as a fun way of summarizing.
Learning Goals
1. Understand the historical context of the Gettysburg Address as part of a new political direction and how that differed from earlier political philosophies.
2. Understand the meaning of the speech and why it was given at Gettysburg.
3. Understand the Republican agenda that was expressed in the speech and how it was implemented during and immediately after the civil war.
4. Understand the values and example of Lincoln that changed American history and continue to inspire the world today.
learning goal

Other Details

Parental Guidance
Two short YouTube recitations of the Gettysburg Address will be shown by screen share. Students will also be encouraged to use the National Parks Service websites for the Gettysburg National Park and the Vicksburg National Military Park, parts of which will be shown by screen share. None of these sites requires establishing an account and providing personal information in order to access the recommended resources.
Supply List
A one-page handout will include the Gettysburg Address in 3 paragraphs and annotated with important questions to ask about each paragraph.
 1 file available upon enrollment
External Resources
In addition to the Outschool classroom, this class uses:
Joined May, 2020
4.9
692reviews
Profile
Teacher expertise and credentials
Teacher is a Ph.D. in history with decades of experience teaching college survey courses. He is also a grader of essay portions of the Advanced Placement test for U.S. History for the Educational Testing Service. 

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Live One-Time Class
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$25

per class
Meets once
55 min

Completed by 17 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 11-16
3-6 learners per class

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