primary source starter: lincoln's assassination from a ...a library of congress primary source...
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1
A Library of Congress Primary Source Starter
Lincoln’s Assassination from a Friend’s Diary
Quick and easy activity ideas to start using Library of Congress primary sources in the classroom
Teacher Instructions
GoalAnalyze a friend’s personal response to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
Background“O, fatal day. O, noble victim. Treason has done its worst. The President has been assassinated.” This hand-written diary entry, dated half past 10 o’clock PM, April 14, 1865, concludes simply, “I have just come from near the scene, it is too True.”
The writer, Horatio Nelson Taft, is mourning the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. For Taft, though, Lincoln was more than just a political leader—he was a family friend. An examiner for the U.S. Patent Office, Taft lived in Washington, D.C., during the Civil War. His younger sons played regularly with the Lincoln boys, Willie and Tad. His older son, Charles, was one of the doctors who attended the wounded president from Ford’s Theater to the nearby boarding house where Lincoln ultimately died.
Taft’s diaries chronicle many events in the war-torn nation’s capital, but the relationship between the Taft and Lincoln families provides a unique lens on the events. And Taft’s raw, unfiltered emotional response to the assassination raises many questions about the ways in which personal perspectives contribute to the record of history. Subsequent entries add context, with Taft telling additional details of Lincoln’s death as he learns them. ActivitiesTeachers can have students:• Read entries from the days immediately following the assassination and construct a timeline of events• Identify clues to Taft’s emotional state as he wrote the diary• Compare Taft’s response to other accounts of the assassination, such as a newspaper of the time or a
textbook, and analyze the point of view in each.You can use the Library’s primary source analysis tool and teacher guides to help students analyze Taft’s diary in further depth.
For more of Taft’s descriptions of life in Washington, D.C. during the Civil War:Washington during the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Tafthttp://memory.loc.gov/ammem/tafthtml/tafthome.html
For more classroom materials and other teacher resources from the Library of Congress, visit loc.gov/teachers
Primary SourceThe Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865. Volume 3, January 1, 1864-May 30, 1865Horatio Nelson Taft. January 1864-May 1865. From Library of Congress: Washington during the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft.http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mtaft:@field(DOCID+@lit(mtaftmtaft3div51))
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TEA
CH
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GU
IDE
An
alyz
ing
Pr
imar
y So
ur
ces
BS
ER
OV
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Gui
de s
tude
nts
with
the
sam
ple
ques
tions
as
they
resp
ond
to th
e
N
R
O
E
I
prim
ary
sour
ce. E
ncou
rage
them
to g
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betw
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; the
re is
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E
E
UC
Q
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RV
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Hav
e st
uden
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enti
fy a
nd n
ote
deta
ils.
Sam
ple
Que
stio
ns:
Wha
t do
you
notic
e �r
st?
· F
ind
som
ethi
ng sm
all
but i
nter
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W
hat d
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tice
that
you
didn
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pect
? ·
Wha
t do
you
notic
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at y
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·
Wha
t do
you
notic
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w th
at y
ou d
idn’
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earli
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RE
FL
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Enco
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uden
ts to
gen
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d te
st h
ypot
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s ab
out t
he s
ourc
e.
Whe
re d
o yo
u th
ink
this
cam
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m?
· W
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u
thin
k so
meb
ody
mad
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W
hat d
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hap
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W
ho d
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u
thin
k w
as th
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ce fo
r thi
s ite
m?
· W
hat t
ool
was
use
d to
cre
ate
this?
·
Why
do
you
thin
k th
is
item
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port
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·
If so
meo
ne m
ade
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wha
t wou
ld b
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· W
hat c
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arn
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QU
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Hav
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uden
ts a
sk q
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to le
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m
ore
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and
re�e
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Wha
t do
you
won
der a
bout
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who
? ·
wha
t? ·
w
hen?
·
whe
re?
· w
hy?
· h
ow?
FU
RT
HE
R I
NV
ES
TIG
AT
ION
Hel
p st
uden
ts to
iden
tify
ques
tions
app
ropr
iate
for f
urth
er in
vest
igat
ion,
and
to d
evel
op a
rese
arch
str
ateg
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r �nd
ing
answ
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Sam
ple
Que
stio
n:
Wha
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you
wan
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know
, and
how
can
you
�nd
out
?
A fe
w fo
llow
-up
Begi
nnin
g
Adva
nced
For m
ore
tips o
n us
ing
prim
ary
activ
ity id
eas:
Hav
e st
uden
ts co
mpa
re tw
o re
late
d pr
imar
y sou
rce
item
s.As
k stu
dent
s to
cons
ider
how
a se
ries o
f prim
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ourc
es su
ppor
t so
urce
s, go
to
or c
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nge
info
rmat
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and
unde
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a p
artic
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loc.gov/teachers
LOC.gov/teachers
5
TEA
CH
ER’S
GU
IDE
An
alyz
ing
Man
usc
rip
ts
BS
ER
OV
E
Gui
de s
tude
nts
with
the
sam
ple
ques
tions
as
they
resp
ond
to th
e
N O
R E
I
prim
ary
sour
ce. E
ncou
rage
them
to g
o ba
ck a
nd fo
rth
betw
een
the
T
F
S
L
colu
mns
; the
re is
no
corr
ect o
rder
.
E
E
UC
QT
O B
S E
RV
E
Hav
e st
uden
ts id
enti
fy a
nd n
ote
deta
ils.
Sam
ple
Que
stio
ns:
Des
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hat y
ou se
e. ·
W
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tice
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?
· H
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· H
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W
hat
do y
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age
the
writ
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appe
ars
the
page
bes
ides
writ
ing?
·
Wha
t oth
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you
see?
R E
F L
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T
Enco
urag
e st
uden
ts to
gen
erat
e an
d te
st h
ypot
hese
s ab
out t
he m
anus
crip
t.
Why
do
you
thin
k th
is m
anus
crip
t was
mad
e? ·
W
ho
do y
ou th
ink
crea
ted
it? ·
W
ho d
o yo
u th
ink
was
inte
nded
to re
ad it
, if a
nyon
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W
hat d
o yo
u th
ink
was
hap
peni
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it w
as c
reat
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· W
hat t
ools
and
mat
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used
to c
reat
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·
Wha
t can
you
lear
n fro
m e
xam
inin
g th
is? ·
If
som
eone
cre
ated
som
ethi
ng li
ke th
is to
day,
wha
t wou
ld b
e di
�ere
nt?
·
Wha
t wou
ld b
e th
e sa
me?
Q U
E S
T I
O N
Hav
e st
uden
ts a
sk q
uest
ions
to le
ad to
m
ore
obse
rvat
ions
and
re�e
ctio
ns.
Wha
t do
you
won
der a
bout
...
who
? ·
wha
t? ·
w
hen?
·
whe
re?
· w
hy?
· ho
w?
F U
RT
H E
R I
N V
E S
T I
G A
T I
O N
Hel
p st
uden
ts to
iden
tify
ques
tions
app
ropr
iate
for f
urth
er in
vest
igat
ion,
and
to d
evel
op a
rese
arch
str
ateg
y fo
r �nd
ing
answ
ers.
Sa
mpl
e Q
uest
ion:
W
hat m
ore
do y
ou w
ant t
o kn
ow, a
nd h
ow c
an y
ou �
nd o
ut?
A fe
w fo
llow
-up
Begi
nnin
g Ad
vanc
ed
For m
ore
tips o
n us
ing
prim
ary
activ
ity id
eas:
H
ave
stud
ents
cho
ose
a se
ctio
n of
the
man
uscr
ipt a
nd p
ut it
in th
eir
Exam
ine
a se
ctio
n of
the
man
uscr
ipt.
Thin
k abo
ut w
hat y
ou a
lread
y so
urce
s, go
to
own
wor
ds.
know
abo
ut th
is pe
riod
in h
istor
y. H
ow d
oes t
he m
anus
crip
t sup
port
http://www.lo
c.go
v/teache
rsor
cont
radi
ct yo
ur c
urre
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nder
stan
ding
of t
his p
erio
d? C
an yo
u In
term
edia
te
see
any c
lues
to th
e po
int o
f vie
w o
f the
per
son
who
cre
ated
this
Sele
ct a
sect
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of a
man
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Spec
ulat
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out t
he p
urpo
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f the
m
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man
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and
wha
t the
per
son,
or p
eopl
e, w
ho c
reat
ed it
exp
ecte
d it
to a
ccom
plish
. Do
you
thin
k it a
chie
ved
thei
r goa
ls? E
xpla
in w
hy
you
thin
k so.
htt
p:/
/ww
w.loc.
gov
/tea
cher
s/usi
ngprim
arys
ourc
es/r
esourc
es/A
nal
yzin
g_M
anusc
ripts
loc.gov/teachers
LOC.gov/teachers