Raising an Army at Town Meeting

Communities held numerous town meetings throughout the Civil War to decide how they would meet their quotas. In order to get enough men to enlist, towns offered bounties to men who enlisted. They then raised taxes to pay for the bounties.  Here is a sample town meeting record from Strafford, Vermont.

To use this with students begin by helping them transcribe and translate the record. This will require hints on handwriting and some vocabulary work.  Students can then work through a series of scaffolded questions to find out how armies were raised during the Civil War. Take a trip to your town office and see what was happening in your town!

Inquiring into a Primary Source

What can primary sources tell us about how Vermont (and other states in the North) raised an army during the Civil War?  Local sources such as town meeting records, rosters, and pay records can help students to understand how communities responded to the call for men.

To get the most out of a primary source, students need to ask a variety of questions. One way to guide them is by asking scaffolded questions that move from description to analysis.  Here are some sample questions:

Descriptive Questions
Questions that help students identify the primary source Who, What, When, Where?

• What do you see in this picture/map/document? 
• Look more closely, what details help you know what is going on? 
• Find, locate, tell, list, define, draw, label, record 

Interpretive Questions 
Questions that help students formulate ideas based on existing evidence; questions that encourage them to probe more deeply

• Why do you think this document/map/picture was created? 
• What are the most important things about this document? 
• What do you think happened just before this picture was taken? 
• Are there any clues about how life was different from life today? 
• Who would have had a different point of view? 
• Use a timeline to put the source into context 
• What do you think the title means? 
• Confirm, predict, match, relate, sort, categorize 

 Analytical Questions 
Open-ended questions that provoke discussion

• What can you say about early settlement in this community? 
• What does this document tell you about life in the US at the time it was created? 
• What do you now understand about _______in our nation’s history? 
• Compare/Contrast the source with one from a different place, perspective, or time 
• Can you predict what might happen? 
• What question would you like to ask this author? 
• What questions do you have about this document? 
• Where might you find the answers? 
• Give your opinion about…. 
• What connections can you draw between this photograph and what you have learned in your history class? 
• Design, invent, compose, hypothesize, compare, investigate, critique, criticize, assess, conclude, justify 

 If students are just beginning to use primary sources, begin with just one or jigsaw several groups of students with just one document per group.  Later when they are more experienced, students can begin to collect information from a series of primary sources and write an analytical response.

Early Settlement Links

Background Information

Freedom and Unity
This exhibit provides good contextual information.

New Hampshire Historical Society Slide Shows
Several slideshows discuss early settlement topics. See especially "Settling New Hampshire Towns" and watch New Hampshire develop from its original four towns in 1623 up to the last town to be recognized in 1966.

Native Americans of New Hampshire
Information, lesson plans, and activities inform students about life among the Woodland Indians who lived in this area and prepare them for the museum traveling program On the Abenaki Trail.

Landscape History of Central New England
This is the website for the book "New England Forests Through Time"

Maps

Old Maps
Here is where you can find copies of old maps such as the 1796 and 1810 Whitelaw maps

Cemeteries

New Hampshire Census Information
Spreadsheet and worksheet for exploring New Hampshire's population

How to Read a Graveyard

This website provides concise, step-by-step directions on how to look at a graveyard as a historian.

Stones and Bones

"Stones and Bones: Using Tombstones as Textbooks" contains content information about what to look for in cemeteries, cemetery symbology, glossaries, burial customs, attitudes toward death, information about marble and granite, folklore and superstitions about death and burial customs. The packet also includes skill sheets and sample activities, including important information about the "do’s and don'ts" of gravestone rubbing, and a resources section that includes a list of organizations, books available from the Barre Granite Association about gravestone memorial art and architecture, and a bibliography.

The Cemetery Quest

This lesson introduces students to data collection and to the families buried in their local cemetery. It also provides resources that can be used back in the classroom to link student work in mathematics and computer technology.

Exploring the Cemetery
This is an introductory lesson for students and teachers about exploring cemeteries.

Town Meeting

Town Meeting Lesson Plan
About Town Meeting Records

Evolution of New Hampshire Town Meeting

Vermont State Archives
The Vermont State Archives includes election history, transcriptions of Vermont’s constitutions, and essays about continuing issues in government.

Who's Who in Local Government
The Vermont Secretary of State's page includes links to guides to the duties of officials elected at town meetings as well as a variety of kids’ guides to local government.