I love teaching the coming of the Civil War to survey classes. There are so many layers to explain about why and when the war happens. After a unit on antebellum culture, I take two class sessions to discuss the period between 1844 and 1860. The reading assignments are balanced between political speeches (this year I chose Webster’s 7th of March and Lincoln’s House Divided speeches) and cultural sources (selections from Uncle Tom’s Cabin.)
On day 1, I set up a Jenga game at the front of class and students take out pieces when they name ways that America was fracturing before 1850. Once the Jenga game falls, I explain how the Compromise of 1850 attempted to put America back together and restack the game messily.
On day 2, we discuss why this haphazard nation doesn’t fall apart until 1860. Still using Jenga, students take turns pulling out pieces or putting them in depending on the event they bring up. Sometimes, a student has very creatively put a piece back in (This student was discussing the Kansas-Nebraska Act) but forced other pieces to fall over. In the end, we stare at the pile of pieces in 1860. Some students marvel that it lasted that long. Others are struck by the attempts to preserve the nation even after our game seems to be past all saving.
My goal with this activity is two-fold. First, I want students to see the connections between culture and politics. I always start day 2 with the impact of Uncle Tom’s cabin and remove a fairly critical wooden piece. Second, I want students to appreciate the variety of opinions Americans held on slavery, succession, wage labor, and abolition in the years before the war. Building on both of these content goals, I want my students to see the jenga game as analysis. We talk about whether a student should take a critical corner piece for an event or whether this event seems secondary and merits only an easy center block. I want them to weigh the importance and impact of events and not just the chronology.
After we discuss the war and its aftermath we return to the causes of the Civil War one last time. I challenge my students to use their analytical skills to ask whether the Civil War was inevitable and if there was any way to delay or prevent war while still accomplishing abolition. (My deepest thanks to Gary Kornblith for that fabulous Journal of American History article!) The discussion is usually lively and creative. Students challenge each other’s narratives and debate everything from the moral failings of gradual emancipation to the toll the Civil War caused to the economy of the South. Most importantly, it serves as a capstone of sorts; a demonstration of the analytical skills I am particularly interested in them developing in the class.
How do you engage your students to develop arguments and weigh the consequences of historical events?
I’ve used Jenga in the past to teach the fall of the Roman Empire. I teach U.S. History now and was trying to figure out a way to include Jenga in a unit. Your method is brilliant, thanks!!!