Civil War Re-Enactment; Monday, Period Three [ 05/11 ].

[civilwarsongs.livejournal.com]

For the first class, they would be meeting in a classroom, which helped make Jasper feel at least a little more comfortable. The shades were drawn on any windows, just to be sure, and he was going to be busy, at first, boggling over the fact that anyone had actually signed up for this class. Emmett he could excuse, obviously, but seriously? Oh, this would be interesting...

Here was to hoping none of these kids were clumsy.



"Welcome," he said once the class had collected and was that a frog? He shook his head and went on. "To Civil War Re-enactment. I'm your teacher for the semester, Mr. Hale." He shot Emmett a don't laugh look, not really expect it to work much. "Hopefully, you're aware that the American Civil War, also known as the War Between the States, is an very important period of American history. Taking place between the years of 1861 and 1865, it was a short war, but it was a bloody one, and it dealt with a lot of hot-button issues. Eleven states of the South seceded from the Northern states; the former became known as the Confederacy, the latter the Union. The most evident subject that caused the war was that of slavery: the Southern economy depended heavily on the use of slave labor, while the Northern states had a firmer grip on industry and believed that slavery should be abolished. But things are, of course, more complicated than that, and it was a delicate mix of many factors, including also state autonomy and the expansion into the West."

"Clearly, all this is important. But it's a big thing to cover in just seven weeks, and the point of the class is a very time honored American tradition of re-enacting the epic and pivotal battles of the Civil War. It's exactly how it sounds. Re-enacting battles. Here is your syllabus that outlines each of the battles we will be covering. The week before, I'll have information on the battle we'll be re-enacting, for you to look over and consider how to put it into action. You think about the stradegy. You put yourself in the position of the soldiers. You pretend to fight and see how it goes. Pretend is the keyword here. These are pretendy fun time games, as you will. Let's try not to actually hurt anyone, hm? Fort Sumter was the official start of the war, and that's what we'll do next week. I'll go into more detail of how then. Today?"

Jasper turned a smile, albeit nervous, on the class, wondering if they realized he was babbling because he was nervous. "Casting. There are quite a few iconic Civil War generals, like those on this list, that may be pivotal in some battles. Take a look, and pick out which general you'll be for the run of the semester. If you're not sure, there are also these handy quizzes to help. If anyone wants to be the same generals? We'll figure something out."

"Oh, and I guess we should introduce ourselves a bit, shouldn't we? Let's go around and do that first. You can start."



[[ OCD on the way has seceded from the Union! Oh noes! Class Roster and Syllabus ]]