Lesson Plan Two: A Soldier’s Letters

This lesson plan asks students who have read A Union Tested to analyze some of the key ideas raised in Henry Fike’s letters. After organizing the students into groups of three or four members, ask each group to discuss one of the following topics. Each group should develop a tentative thesis about their topic and choose at least two pieces of primary source evidence that supports their argument.

Objectives

• to describe the ways that occupation by Union troops transformed Southern cities and towns
• to identify the challenges that occupying Union troops faced in trying to maintain order among Southern civilians
• to assess the ways that Union soldiers’ views of Southern cities and civilians changed over time
• to explain the impacts that an invading Union army had upon the Southern landscapes through which it marched
• to recognize how Union soldiers’ ideas about loyalty influenced their perceptions of the hardships faced by Confederate civilians
• to define the ways that Union soldiers came to understand duty in the Civil War era
• to evaluate the ways in which Union soldiers’ views of African-Americans changed over time.

1. An Occupying Army

• How did occupation by Union troops change the physical appearance of Southern cities and towns?
• How did occupation by Union troops influence economic activity within Southern cities and towns?
• How did the Union army attempt to police the loyalty of civilians within Southern cities and towns?
• What do Henry Fikes’ papers suggest about the relationship between Union soldiers and the civilian population of the cities and towns they occupied?
• How well did Fike and other soldiers seem to enjoy the occupation of Southern cities and towns?

2. An Invading Army

• How did the Union army adapt to the challenge of moving through new environments, often surrounded by individuals who were hostile to its presence there?
• How did Henry Fike, as quartermaster, face these difficulties?
• What impacts did the invasion of Union forces have upon the physical environment of the South?
• What impacts did the invasion of Union forces have upon the civilian population of the South?
• How would you describe Henry Fike’s attitudes toward the civilians he met during his travels through the South?
• What aspects of the South did Henry seem most likely to note in his letters home? Why?

3. Duty

• According to Henry Fike’s papers, what did citizens owe to their government?
• How would you describe Henry Fike’s attitude toward men who had not volunteered for military service?
• How did the military service of African-American men influence Henry Fike’s racial views?