Samples of Student Work

#1

    At 4:30 a.m. on April 12th, Confederates opened fire on Fort Sumter. For 34 hours they fired shells into the fort. Finally Union Major Robert Anderson was forced to surrender.
    So why is the U.S. so seperated? Why is this country, that has been so "united" before, now literally split in half? We are now the Union and the Confederacy. The North and the South. Proslavery and Antislavery. But why?
    This feud has been building for quite some time. And the foundation of it all is slavery. Slavery has been like a wall, growing more and more with every day that goes by. And now the wall has gotten too big. It seperates our "united" country right in half! But it's not just our country that has been split up. It it also the people of this once peaceful country we call home. It's the government. It's the friends. It's the families.
    So what will we do? Will we ever get along? Will it ever be the same? No one really knows. We have to be the ones to decide that. The future of our country is in our hands. We have to do something to change this, and we have to do it fast before our country crumbles!
 

#2

    I think we should have tried to keep the Union together and not permit the seceding states to leave it. Because even though there is tension between the North and the South, the U.S. is still more powerful when we join together than when we are seperate.
    This would set an extremely good example to other countries, because even though the North and South were quarrelling, they still cared about their country. It could also work toward other countries as an example to look at and say "if they can do that, that country must really be great!"
 

#3

    It has begun! The war with our countrymen in the South has started! On April 12, 1861, at approximately 4:30 a.m., the first shots of our own "civil" war were fired at Fort Sumter. For thirty-four hours the fort stood against the attack, waiting for new supplies. The supply ships didn't make it in time. Fort Sumter surrendered, having suffered no casualities, but it is definately an act of war by the South.
    In response to this attack on our nation, President Abraham Lincoln has called for 75,000 militiamen. They will fight for 90 days to put down this uprising. He said that fellow Americans should "dare to do our duty as we understand it."
    These bold words may not be enough though. It has quickly become apparent that the key states of this war are the borders betwen the Union and the Confederacy. Whichever side controls these "border" states can control raids on its enemies. It is also important that Maryland stay in the Union. If we lose Maryland to the Confederacy, our nation's capital will be lost!
        It also seems that a great leader of the United States army has resigned and joined the cause of the enemy. Robert E. Lee has left the Union army and has joined the Confederacy. He stated that, "I cannot raise my hand against my birthplace, my home, my children." It also rumored that he will soon become commanding general of the army of Northern Virginia.
    It will be great or terrifying to see what may become of this war.