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Name
Period
Date
Civil War Simulation
Battle Journal
What to do · while you play Historical Mode
- You will play all 13 battles. On this page, you write about two key battles per act (the others you just play).
- After each Act review screen, answer that act's reflection question in the box.
- Your final job: How was the Union able to defeat the Confederacy? Build evidence as you play, then answer on the back.
Act I · The War Begins · 1861-1862
Bull Run
My choiceMatched history?YesNo
Why it mattered (sum up the key idea in your own words)
This battle mattered because...
Shiloh
My choiceMatched history?YesNo
Why it mattered (sum up the key idea in your own words)
This battle mattered because...
Act I reflection · answer after the Act I review screen
After Shiloh, Grant said the only way to save the country was to completely beat the South, not just win one battle. Why do you think seeing so much fighting changed how he thought about the war?
Evidence for the big question
One way this act helped the Union win:
This act helped the Union because...
Act II · A New Kind of War · 1862-1863
Antietam
My choiceMatched history?YesNo
Why it mattered (sum up the key idea in your own words)
This battle mattered because...
Chancellorsville
My choiceMatched history?YesNo
Why it mattered (sum up the key idea in your own words)
This battle mattered because...
Act II reflection · answer after the Act II review screen
Lee won a huge battle, but he lost his best general, Stonewall Jackson. Was this victory worth it? When can winning still feel like losing?
Evidence for the big question
One way this act helped the Union win:
This act helped the Union because...
Act III · The Tide Turns · 1863
Gettysburg
My choiceMatched history?YesNo
Why it mattered (sum up the key idea in your own words)
This battle mattered because...
Chickamauga
My choiceMatched history?YesNo
Why it mattered (sum up the key idea in your own words)
This battle mattered because...
Act III reflection · answer after the Act III review screen
One mixed-up order created the gap that lost the whole battle. How much of war comes down to luck or mistakes versus actual skill and planning?
Evidence for the big question
One way this act helped the Union win:
This act helped the Union because...
Act IV · The War's Legacy · 1864-1865
Atlanta
My choiceMatched history?YesNo
Why it mattered (sum up the key idea in your own words)
This battle mattered because...
Appomattox
My choiceMatched history?YesNo
Why it mattered (sum up the key idea in your own words)
This battle mattered because...
Act IV reflection · answer after the Act IV review screen
Grant let the Confederate soldiers go home in peace. Five days later, Lincoln was killed. How might things have been different if Lincoln had lived? When a war ends, what does a country owe to the people who suffered?
Evidence for the big question
One way this act helped the Union win:
This act helped the Union because...
Part 2 · Build Your Answer
How Did the Union Win?
Look back at your four "One way this act helped the Union win" lines. You already have your evidence. Use them to build your answer below.
Word Bank · circle each term when you find it in the game
Anaconda Plan: the Union's plan to block Southern ports and take the Mississippi River, like a snake squeezing the South.
Emancipation Proclamation: Lincoln's order in 1863 freeing enslaved people in the South. The war was now also about ending slavery.
total war: destroying not just the enemy army, but also farms, factories, and railroads that help them fight.
Battle of Gettysburg: A huge Union win in July 1863. Lee tried to invade the North and failed.
Siege of Vicksburg: A 47-day siege ending July 4, 1863. The Union got control of the entire Mississippi River.
Ulysses S. Grant: A Union general who would not give up after a hard battle. Lincoln put him in charge in 1864.
William T. Sherman: A Union general who marched through Georgia in 1864, destroying everything that helped the South fight.
54th Massachusetts: A Black Union regiment that fought bravely at Fort Wagner in 1863, proving Black soldiers would fight for freedom.
Prompt How was the Union able to defeat the Confederacy? Use at least three things from the game.
Q1 Build your thesis. Fill in three reasons the Union won.
Try: Pick three things from the Word Bank, or three battles from the front of this paper.
The Union won the Civil War because of
,
, and
.
Q2 Evidence. For each reason, give one specific battle, person, or event.
Try: "This helped the Union win because ______."
Q3 Pick one word from the Word Bank that was most important to the Union's win. Tell why in one sentence.
Try: "I picked ______ because ______."
My pick: ____________________________________
Q4 The South had brave soldiers and good generals too. Why was that not enough for them to win?
Try: "Bravery was not enough because the South did not have ______."