12.7 – Think and Apply Activity 2
Before beginning this activity, review this brief summary of the reading text for Module 12: Civil War and Reconstruction.
The U.S. Civil War (1861–1865) was fought between the Northern and Southern states, mainly over the issue of slavery. The Southern economy depended on enslaved African people for labor. After Abraham Lincoln became president, the Southern states seceded, leading to the war between the Union (North) and Confederacy (South). Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, and by 1865 the Union won and slavery was abolished. The Reconstruction laws were passed to rebuild the country and extend rights to Black Americans. Despite these changes, many states resisted equal rights, but progress was made as Black men began voting and holding public office.
Flags and Symbols Activity
Every flag has shapes, lines, colors that have a meaning. Flags are very powerful because they tell a story that inspires strong emotions in people.
1) Here are two flags from different parts of the world, with an explanation of the symbols we can see in them, which represent their countries. View the flags and read about what the shapes and colors represent. (Source: commons.wikimedia.org)
2) Think about the flag from your home country. What are some symbolic colors, pictures, and shapes on it? Talk about it with your classmates.
To look up your flag and show it to the class. Search here using this link.
3) Look at the U.S. flag. How many stars and stripes does it have and what do they represent? Discuss this as a class (answers below).
Answers: The 50 stars represent the 50 current states; the 13 stripes represent the 13 original colonies.
Blue stands for loyalty, devotion, truth, justice, and friendship.
Red symbolizes courage, zeal, and powerful feeling.
White means purity and rectitude of conduct.
4) Discuss: Remember from the module reading that the Union army (the North) was fighting the Confederate army (the South) during the Civil War. Both had flags that represented their countries. The Union/United States flag looked similar to the one above (with fewer stars, representing fewer U.S. states in the 1860s) and the Confederates made a new flag that represented the country they were trying to start.
However, although the South lost the Civil War, people and groups still display the Confederate flag in today’s society, and it generates strong emotions. We will look at this next in the module project.
5) Optional activity:
Here are some flags with interesting designs which symbolize that country’s history and culture. Do you recognize some of them?
Below are the names of the countries that go with the flags—use this link to search for and match countries to their flags, and consider their symbolism.
Asian Flags: Kazakhstan, South Korea, Uzbekistan
African Flags: Malawi, Namibia, Rwanda
Central/South American Flags: Aruba, Bolivia, Belize
Answer key:
