In this lesson, students will survey the extent of and experiences of African Americans in military service during US war efforts from the Revolution to the Vietnam Conflict using a Hyperdoc (see attached) that can be assigned using your LMS system.

This collection uses primary sources to explore the experiences of African American Soldiers in World War I. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

Poster showing a soldier on horseback carrying a Russian flag. Signed in Cyrillic: A. O. Maksimov. Caption in Russian: "Military loan." Caption: This is the only American ambulance now saving lives in Russia. Send contributions to 527 Fifth Avenue, Room 501, New York. Forms part of: Willard and Dorothy Straight Collection.

Poster showing soldiers advancing with bayonnets extended. Caption in Russian: "Military 5 1/2 % bonds." Poster has been trimmed and pasted into irregular shape. Forms part of: Willard and Dorothy Straight Collection.

Poster showing a soldier on a battlefield, with others operating a cannon in the background. Signed in Cyrillic: E. Cheltsov. Caption in Russian: "Military 5 1/2 % loan," with additional Russian text. Caption: This is the only American ambulance now saving lives in Russia. Send contributions to 527 Fifth Avenue, Room 501, New York. Forms part of: Willard and Dorothy Straight Collection.

Poster showing a wounded soldier on the battlefield, carrying several German helmets as trophies. No. 5-CC.

Poster showing a Marine carving a notch in the stock of his rifle. Title from item.

Poster showing a youthful soldier holding a rifle with bayonet. Title from item. Caption: Give us a hand old man! P. 209/7500.

Poster showing a soldier writing a letter by candlelight. Card no. 7. Mounted with other Liberty Loan posters. Title from item.

Poster shows a kangaroo in front of number 50,000 and in background silhouette of soldiers in battle. Title from item.

Poster showing Belgian refugees and soldiers. Title from item. Please send donations to: The President, Baron C. Goffinet, 3 Savoy Court, London, W.C.

Poster showing soldiers in a victory parade. Card no. 2(?). Mounted with other Liberty Loan posters. Title from item.

Poster showing an older man with axe and rifle joining a battle. Issued by Czechoslovak Recruiting Office, Tribune Building, New York. Designed and printed at the School of Printing and Graphic Arts of Wentworth Institute, Boston, Mass., U.S.A. Wentworth poster no. 11.

Poster showing a soldier playing bagpipes, beside him a dog, with troops marching in the background. Title from item. Wt. 1725 20000 7/16 H.M.S.O.

Poster showing a soldier reading. Text continues: You will find popular books for fighting men in the recreational buildings and at other points in this camp. Free. No red tape. Open every day. Good reading will help you advance. Library War Service, American Library Association.

Confederate president Jefferson Davis's capture by Union cavalry on May 10, 1865, while allegedly fleeing in women's clothing, inspired a rash of prints exploiting the tale's comic possibilities. According to Davis's autobiography, at the time of his capture he was wearing his wife's raglan overcoat, which he had mistakenly put on in his haste to leave, and a shawl, which his wife had thrown over his head and shoulders. The Northern press made the most of his "last shift," transforming the shawl to a bonnet, and sometimes even portraying Davis wearing a hoopskirt and full female dress. Since Davis had apparently tried to escape casually with a black servant carrying water, he was often pictured carrying a water bucket. Another detail added by the cartoonists was a Bowie knife. Here the artist shows a camp in the woods where Davis, wearing a dress, shawl, and bonnet, and carrying a water bucket labeled "Mom Davis" and a Bowie knife, is accosted by Union soldiers. One Union soldier (center) lifts Davis's skirt with his saber mocking, "Well, "old mother," boots and whiskers hardly belong to a high-toned Southern lady." Davis implores, "I only wish to be let alone." At right another soldier, speaking in a Germanic accent, says, "Mein Gott, ter "olt mutter" vears ter pig gavalrie poots! . . . " He may be intended to represent the Norwegian-born tanner who first spotted Davis. The soldier at left exclaims, "Jerusalem! her "old Mother," hey! Its ld "Leach'" in petticoats--That's so." Behind Davis a woman warns, "Do not provoke tĚ_Ąhe President,' he might hurt some one." A black youth, presumably Davis's servant, looks on, exclaiming, "Golly Marse Yank, de old Missus is "done gone" shu-ah! . . ." At far right a waiting Confederate carriage containing barrels of "Whiskey" and "Stolen Gold" is visible. This impression was deposited for copyright on June 5, 1865, less than a month after Davis's capture. |Entered . . . 1865 by Oscar H. Harpel, (Opera House, Cincinnati) Ohio.|Signed: Design by Burgoo Zac|Title appears as it is written on the item.|"The Confederate Image," p. 85.|Weitenkampf, p. 150.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1865-11.

This collection documents the Civil War experience of Captain Tilton C. Reynolds, a member of the 105th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers. Comprising 164 library items, or 359 digital images, this online presentation includes correspondence, photographs, and other materials dating between 1861 and 1865. The letters feature details of the regiment's movements, accounts of military engagements, and descriptions of the daily life of soldiers and their views of the war. Forty-six of the letters are also made available in transcription.

Although attention will be devoted to the causes and long-term consequences of the Civil War, this class will focus primarily on the war years (1861-1865) with special emphasis on the military and technological aspects of the conflict. Four questions, long debated by historians, will receive close scrutiny:

What caused the war?
Why did the North win the war?
Could the South have won?
To what extent is the Civil War America’s “defining moment”?

Poster showing a soldier reaching out above the chaos of battle. United War Work Campaign - Week of November 11, 1918. Title from item. Gift; John Kluge; 2007; (DLC/PP-2007:024).