HCS Stories

Mrs. Joyce Groen is an 8th Grade Home Room Teacher who loves teaching History and Social Studies in Junior High.

This past July, I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to Gettysburg, PA to spend time working with renown author David W. Blight, and to more familiarize myself with the battlefields from the turning point of the Civil War because of our field trip to Gettysburg as part of our 8th grade trip. Important standards for 8th grade involve the study of the Civil War and its causes and the Reconstruction period after the war which allowed all males, regardless of race, to be citizens and participants in the American system of Republicanism. 

In our studies, Mr. Blight explained about the “lost cause” reason for the war which was not the true cause of the Civil War–the true cause was slavery.  The “Lost Cause” was defined as the nation that the Confederates fought overwhelming odds for states’ rights and not for the concontinuance of slavery. The war was framed as being about state rights because many in the south knew they were to be judged by the bar of history.  Movies that promoted this idea throughout the US were “Birth of a Nation” and “Gone with the Wind.”

A true “aha” moment was a study of the first Memorial Day for fallen soldiers in the US. We used primary sources from newspaper articles to verify dates and facts. Charleston, SC was the sight of the first battle, at Fort Sumter. Also located in Charleston was a prisoner of war camp for northern soldiers, the sight of a former horse race track. Union soldiers were left outside in the heat without water and many died. In April, after the war was over, the former African American slaves in Charleston organized a parade, dressed up in their best and honored the northern soldiers with flowers and a picnic on the prison camp grounds. Most ironically, southern sympathizers took over the celebration and turned it into the idea that all of the southern dead were gentlemen, who sacrificed their lives for the “lost cause.”  Many statues were put up as a result of changing the narrative.  

Another interesting story about Gettysburg involves President Dwight D. Eisenhower, The Supreme Commander of World War 2. In his early career, he used and studied the battlefields at Gettysburg to train soldiers. He lost his firstborn son while stationed there and when the Spanish Flu went through in 1918-1919, he lost many of his soldiers. He and Mamie decided to make Gettysburg their “forever” home even though he won the Presidency in 1950. It was built to entertain guests and had the first helicopter landing pad so he could easier get back to the White House and to Camp David, the presidential retreat that is very close to Gettysburg. 

After spending four days immersed in Civil War history, I was ready to teach the Civil War  and Reconstruction in light of what I had learned on my trip. Absolutely everything I encountered helped me understand the nuances of how Americans remember the Civil War and its aftermath.