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Awesome Ways to Remember the Civil War

The U.S. Civil War was among the most hard-fought and bloodiest wars in the history of the country. Depending on your geographic point of origin, you may think about the war with one side or the other in mind. Southerners tend to view the war from a Rebel standpoint, while Northerners may see it from the Union point of view. No matter where you are from, there are some awesome ways to remember this turning point in U.S. history.
  1. Re-Enactment

    • One way to remember the Civil War is to stage a re-enactment of some of the more well-known battles. For example, annually, the tiny city of Woodville, Florida, stages a re-enactment of the "Battle At Natural Bridge," which was fought in 1865. You could do a community-wide re-enactment of a battle at a local park, or do one with students at a school. Choose a battle that you want to focus on, and have those involved learn about individual soldiers, themes of the battle and all of the details, down to what the soldiers wore and ate.

    A Soldier's Story

    • Instead of remembering the Civil War as a whole, break out the story of individual soldiers. Assign your group or class a particular brigade and ask them to research one solider in particular, drawing details about what he ate or wore from information culled about the entire brigade. To get more information, you also might focus on famous soldiers and their stories. Then, post the projects prominently in the school or at a community center to educate others around you.

    Make a Timeline

    • Map out the entire Civil War in a big way. Ask your school to give you a large space, perhaps in a student quad or unused hallway. If this is a community project, find an empty parking lot or community space where you can spread out with one very large span of paper. Make a life-size timeline of the Civil Way, allowing multiple people or your entire class to participate. Give everyone one year or one period of the war, and have them note important events on the timeline. You can have them draw in pictures or tape or glue on actual photographs. Then, you can donate the project to a local library to display to commemorate the war.

    Dress Up

    • You don't have to do a full-blown re-enactment to remember the Civil War. Simply dress in up uniforms and other costumes of the time period. If you are doing it with students, challenge them to use only what they have at home to come up with something creative. For a community project, you might hold a ball or gala and encourage attendees to come dressed up as if they were from that era.

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