Surviving the Worst: The Wreck of the Sultana at the End of the American Civil War Lesson Plan

Read the Article:
Surviving the Worst: The Wreck of the Sultana at the End of the American Civil War
Author:
Karla Smith

OVERVIEW

On April 27, 1865, the steamboat Sultana exploded and sank some seven miles north of Memphis, Tennessee. The steamboat was carrying former Union prisoners of war that had boarded at Vicksburg, Mississippi, plus civilian passengers and the ship’s crew. About 1,700 of the approximately 2,400 passengers died in this disaster. Even though the tragedy of the Sultana is the worst maritime disaster in American history, it was back page news in a world that had already experienced the loss of life and destruction due to war, as well as the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS

Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Social Studies

 Grade 4: 4.MS.6 Analyze Mississippi’s role in the Civil War. 1. Identify the Mississippi leaders of the secession and the Civil War.

Grade 7: 7C.12 Identify key people and evaluate the significant events of the American Civil War. 5. Analyze the factors that led to the Union victory in the Civil War.

Grade 8: 8.9 Identify key people and evaluate the significant events of the American Civil War. 5. Analyze the factors that led to the Union victory in the Civil War.

Mississippi Studies: MS.6 Analyze the role of Mississippi during the Civil War and evaluate the effects of Reconstruction in the state. 3. Examine the roles and contributions of women, enslaved people, and free African Americans during the Civil War. 4. Analyze the impact of Reconstruction on Mississippi, including the new Mississippi Constitution of 1868. 5. Describe the changing roles and contributions of African American Mississippians during Reconstruction.

TEACHING LEVEL

Grades 4 through 12

MATERIALS/EQUIPMENT

  • Mississippi History Now article, Surviving the Worst
  • Unlined paper
  • Rulers
  • Whiteboard and marker

OBJECTIVES

The students will:

  • Determine the cause and effect of historical events.
  • Compose a news article.
  • Compose a poem or song.

PREPARING FOR THE LESSON

Students should know about the Civil War – its causes and effects as well as the groups of people affected by the war. Students should also have an understanding of the aftermath of the Civil War and its effects on both people and infrastructure.

Recommended pre-reading: 

OPENING THE LESSON

The teacher will place on the board the words Titanic and Sultana. The teacher will ask the students what they know about each one. More than likely, the students will know more about the Titanic. The teacher will explain to the students that they will learn about the fate of the Sultana, which is the greatest maritime disaster in American history.

DEVELOPING THE LESSON

The teacher will ask students to create a cause and effect chart. While working with partners, the teacher will instruct the students to use the Mississippi History Now article to complete the chart by putting the appropriate cause answers on the left of the events listed below and the appropriate effect answers on the right of the listed events:

Events

  • Lack of good roads and access to the railroad
  • Transport of Union soldiers was delayed
  • The Sultana was overcrowded as it left Vicksburg
  • The Sultana exploded
  • The Sultana disaster is not well-known

Once the chart has been completed, the teacher will facilitate a class discussion about the article by asking for student volunteers to share information from the charts. The teacher can record student responses on the board.

The students will be instructed to write a newspaper article about the Sultana disaster. The teacher will remind the students that even though the Sultana remains the worst maritime disaster in American history, it was not front page news in 1865. When composing their news article, the students should be instructed to give the Sultana front page status.

Once the students have completed their news articles, allow them to move into groups of four and share their articles. Ask them to select one article from the group to be read to the class.

CLOSING THE LESSON

The students will present their chosen articles to the class.

ASSESSING STUDENT LEARNING

  • Class participation
  • Chart
  • News articles

EXTENDING THE LESSON

  • Write a journal entry for a survivor of the Sultana disaster.
  • Plan a program that commemorates the anniversary of the Sultana disaster.
  • Research Union and Confederate prison of war camps.
  • Research primary sources that document the Sultana disaster.