Mr. Ira Sterne-----U.S. History and Government

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What was the significance of Antietam in relation to the Emancipation Proclamation?
• Do you think the ultimate significance of the Battle of Antietam was or could be understood in 1862?• How might the course of history have changed had Lee successfully invaded the North at Antietam? • What might have happened had McClellan successfully pursued Lee’s army after the battle? • What might it have been like to have lived through these times had you been a soldier, woman, slave or freed person?• What effect might the battle have had on the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation?

To answer this final question you will need to access the following documents from the Abraham Lincoln papers at American Memory
"Lincoln’s July 12, 1862 Address to Border State Representatives Draft" "July 22, 1862 Preliminary Draft of the Emancipation Proclamation.""September 22, 1862 Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation""January 1, 1863 Final Emancipation Proclamation-Final Draft"

For each fill in a Document Analysis Worksheet

available from the National Archives Digital Classroom. See also Teaching With Documents/Analysis Worksheets

In addition answer the following questions:• Who issued the document, on what date, to what audience?• What are the suggested means of fowarding emancipation in the document? (e.g. Federal compensation, military action)• What branch of government provides the means of emancipation in each document (e.g. Congress, President…)?

What did the public know?

The following explains how to access public documents…it would be helpful to see how public opinion was shaped by the contemporary media. Make sure to properly evaluate the documents.

Shadow: The War Years.

Go The Valley of the "Newspapers"

(There are actual accounts of the Battle of Antietam in The Valley Spirit)

Search "Nineteenth Century Periodicals" at American Memory

Run a search for "Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper" using Google or similar search engine.

Locate "The Civil War: A Newspaper Perspective" at

The University of Virginia Etext Library