Civil War Treasures from the New-York Historical Society
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Go directly to the collection, Civil War Treasures, in American Memory, or view a Summary of Resources related to the collection.
Chronological Thinking: Interpreting Timelines
The Special Presentation: Before, During and After the Civil War is a chronological overview of the Civil War, illustrated with photographs, stereographs, and pictorial envelopes from the Civil War Treasures collection. Like all timelines, this one is selective; that is, the person who created the timeline chose certain events to include and others to leave out. Examine each piece of the timeline—before, during, and after—and use your knowledge of the Civil War to add an event you think should be included. Search the Civil War Treasures collection to find an illustration related to the event you have chosen. If you cannot find an illustration in the collection, draw one using a style you have observed in the illustrated envelopes in the collection.
Chronological Thinking: Establishing Temporal Order
One of the artists creating illustrated envelopes designed a series of five “Champion Prize Envelopes” depicting the Civil War as a prizefight between pugilists Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis. Conduct a Keyword search using the term champion prize envelopes to locate the five drawings.
- Create a “timeline” of the events shown in the five drawings. Do you think these drawings were created early in the war (1861) or later (1865)? What evidence supports your answer?
- If you were going to represent the Civil War as a prizefight, how many rounds would the fight have? What events would be depicted in these rounds?