Riddle: How can a war end before it begins?
Answer: On the calendar!
From an official standpoint, the Civil War “ended” on April 9, 1865…almost 4 years to the day after it began…when General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate forces, surrendered at Appomattox. Some battles, though, continued to be waged in western states who had not heard the news. During the following month, one after another of the various Confederate departments surrendered. On May 30, 1865 Texas was formally surrendered.
Teaching Tip #1: The term “Civil War” is a figure of speech called an oxymoron–a phrase made up of words whose meaning is actually quite opposite. Phrases like:
- ill health
- random order
- found missing
Think about it. How can a war be civil (polite)?
Check out this website for more oxymorons.
Teaching Tip #2: What would it feel like to learn that your loved one had died in a battle that made no difference–one that took place after the war had ended?
Teaching Tip #3: Saying a war is over is a little like saying you’ve “unfired” a cannon. Wars are, by definition, destructive. Admittedly, some things need to be destroyed, but wars are always followed by a necessary period of reconstruction, and the Civil War was no different. Talk about some of the ways our country tried to “reconstruct” the Union.
- How was it received?
- Did it work?
- What issues were solved?
- What issues were NOT solved?
- Do we still deal with the after-effects of the Civil War?
