Real Cool History Detectives – Part 10
Week 10: Civil War Outlaws
The Real Cool History for Kids team welcomes you to the next installment of the Real Cool History Detectives Exploring the American Civil War miniseries. The goal of this exploration is to bring your family an immersive learning experience that will walk with you through the years surrounding the American Civil War. Because this is a multi-part series, we recommend you start at the beginning.
Start at the beginning of the miniseries, go here.
If you haven’t already, please click on each of the links below to download and print the Miniseries Resources and the Parents’ Guide which contains the overview of the entire miniseries and the instructions for each of the recurring weekly activities.
Miniseries Resources and Parents’ Guide
Please download and print these FREE resources to be used throughout the Exploring the American Civil War unit.
Week 10 Episode, Resources, and Study Guide
Listen to this week’s episode from the archives!
Week 10 Resources
- The 1st part of the Stonewall Jackson Character Project. (Instructions)
- Activity Sheets
- Quote Clue Card (answer key)
- Free Printable Map to color*
- The American Battlefield Trust Civil War Animated Map Video* (please preview)
* These links will take you to other websites.
Discussion Questions for After Podcast Episode 51
- What is the nickname of the era (period of time) when these outlaws were making trouble? (the Wild West)
- What are those two words discussed in the podcast that sound alike but have different meanings? Explain what “guerrilla” means. (Gorilla vs guerrilla. A guerrilla is a type of soldier or fighter who uses non-traditional combat, usually in secretive and terroristic ways. They used a form of warfare characterized by ambushes, surprise raids, and irregular styles of combat.)
- Why were the Confederate guerrillas called “bushwackers”? Do you think their approach was respectable? (Bushwhacking is another name for ambushing with the goal to wear down the enemy by taking or destroying everything that is useful in their fight. They were really just rule breakers and they did not listen to any authority. This is never considered respectable behavior.)
- Were the guerrillas on the Union side or Confederate side? (Remember, Union is the north and Confederate is the south. The guerrillas were actually found on both sides.)
- Who was William Quantrill and what did he do? (An outlaw that fought for the Confederate army – be sure to take note of all the details in the episode!)
- What was the final straw that made the confederate army end their association with Quantrill? (The attack on Lawrence, Kansas.)
- The Union Army had terrible issues with a specific outlaw. Who was it and what did they do about it? (William T. Anderson. The Union army formed a special militia to hunt him down and stop him)
- Who had the nickname “the Gray Ghost” and why was he given this nickname? (The nickname was given to John Mosby for his ability to appear from seemingly nowhere, hit his target, and disappear without a trace.)
- Who were the “Jayhawkers”? (The Union guerrillas.)
- What opportunity did James Lane give African American men for the first time in U.S. history? Why do you think he did that? (The opportunity to fight in the war. No right or wrong answer as to why.)
- It is possible to have pure motives but to do terrible, unnecessary damage trying to fight for justice for the cause in which you are passionate about it. Who was an example of this? (Charles Jennison)
Don’t miss a thing…
America’s Story Connection
America’s Story 2 has several chapters about the time period surrounding the Civil War.
