USH.21

The Union Ledger: Front Page of History

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Game Info for Teachers

COMBINED RATING

4.2 Stars

TEACHERS (2)

4.5

STUDENTS (32)

3.9

LENGTH

20 Minutes

GRADES

CAPABILITIES

iPad Support

Saves Progress

Description

The Union Ledger: Front Page of History invites students to experience the growing divisions of the United States before the Civil War through the eyes of a newspaper editor. Players explore key events from the Missouri Compromise to Lincoln’s Election while balancing Unity, Integrity, and Influence to decide how their paper will respond to a nation in crisis. Using authentic primary sources, students interpret perspectives on slavery, states’ rights, sectionalism, and the expansion of the nation, seeing how words and public opinion shaped history. Every headline becomes a lesson in cause and effect, showing how compromise, conscience, and communication influenced America’s most pivotal moments.

Vocabulary Words

Missouri Compromise

Slave states

Free states

Compromise of 1850

Fugitive Slave Act

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Bleeding Kansas

Popular sovereignty

Dred Scott

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

John Brown's Raid

Election of 1860

Secession

Instructions

Play through this interactive game to learn about A Nation Divided. Suitable for Grade 5, Grade 6, Grade 7, Grade 8.

Main Concepts

Assess how repeated attempts at political compromise failed to resolve growing sectional and moral divisions over slavery.

Discuss how national leaders’ speeches and actions revealed growing irreconcilable differences over slavery.

Compare constitutional interpretations of federal and state authority used by Northern and Southern leaders in the debate over slavery.

Describe how Northerners and Southerners responded differently to the Fugitive Slave Act.

Assess the political and emotional arguments used in secessionist writings and songs from the South.

Analyze how the election of 1860 led to Southern secession and the formation of the Confederacy.

Interpret Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address and how it attempted to preserve the Union without extending slavery.

Explain Southern justifications for slavery and secession, including states’ rights and economic dependency.

Evaluate Lincoln’s early political arguments against slavery’s expansion, including through the Lincoln-Douglas debates.

Evaluate John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry and his speech before execution as symbols of resistance and national division.

Describe the positions and rhetorical strategies used in the Lincoln-Douglas debates.

Assess how acts of violence, including “Bleeding Kansas” and the caning of Charles Sumner, reflected the breakdown of political compromise.

Evaluate how literature and media, such as Uncle Tom’s Cabin and abolitionist newspapers, influenced public opinion on slavery.

Interpret the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Dred Scott case and its effect on national debates over slavery and citizenship.

Analyze the impact of the Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1850, and Kansas-Nebraska Act on national unity and division.

Explain how slavery contributed to increasing sectional tensions between the North and South.

Discussion Questions

Before the Game

What issues do you think caused the most tension between the North and the South? Why do governments sometimes create compromises? Do compromises always solve a problem? How might different regions (North vs. South) view the same event in completely different ways? Why do you think it became so difficult for the United States to stay united by 1860?

After the Game

Were there any decisions you made in the game that changed how events unfolded? What did those decisions teach you about the period? How can media—books, newspapers, or speeches—influence people’s beliefs and actions? Why might different groups of people view the same situation in very different ways? How does perspective shape decisions? What factors make it difficult for a divided society to stay united? How do compromise and conflict play a role?

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Game Details

Difficulty

Content Integration

Lexile Level

N/A