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Civil War Primary Sources

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Civil War Primary Sources

Use the sources on this page to investigate how people described the Civil War. A primary source was created during the time being studied. Look for who created each source, when it was created, its purpose, and what it can—and cannot—tell you. The short excerpts below are adapted from historical documents.

Source A: A president’s words

Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863. Lincoln spoke at the dedication of a cemetery for Union soldiers killed at Gettysburg. “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” Lincoln also urged the living to ensure that “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Source B: A wartime order

Abraham Lincoln, Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863. This adapted excerpt gives the order’s central declaration: “all persons held as slaves” in areas still rebelling against the United States “are, and henceforward shall be free.” The proclamation applied to specified areas in rebellion; it did not immediately end slavery everywhere in the United States.

Investigate the evidence

Answer using evidence from the sources. For open-ended questions, more than one answer may be reasonable if it is supported by evidence.

1.Which statement best explains why Source A is a primary source?

It was created by a person who lived long after the Civil War.
It was spoken by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War.
It explains the entire war without expressing a viewpoint.

2.Select the two details a historian should check to establish the context of Source A.

The date and occasion of the speech
The color of the paper it was first written on
The speaker and the audience
Whether the speech mentions every battle

3.In Source A, what does Lincoln hope the living will do? Use a phrase or idea from the excerpt as evidence.

4.True or false: Source B says slavery ended immediately in every part of the United States on January 1, 1863. Explain your choice.

5.Source A is a public speech and Source B is a government order. Give one way their purposes might differ.

6.A soldier’s letter home might describe a battle differently from a newspaper report about the same battle. Give one reason why.

7.A Civil War photograph could be a primary source. Name one detail it could show and one thing it may not tell you by itself.

8.Fill in the blanks: Before interpreting a source, historians investigate its , its , and the circumstances in which it was created.

9.A student says, “The Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery throughout the United States.” Correct the claim using Source B and explain why precise wording matters.

10.Why should historians compare sources with different viewpoints instead of relying on just one? Give an example using at least two sources or kinds of sources from this page.