Your quest is to examine Abraham Lincoln and his assassin John Wilkes Booth. You are to explore and describe their character. Also, you will examine the major Lincoln assassination conspiracy theories that have promulgated since 1865.

 

This WebQuest has two parts. The class will be divided into two groups. One group will do a research page and oral presentation on Lincoln and the other group will do the same on Booth.

In part two, your team will play the role as a historian, a news crew, or a person from the 1860s (see the descriptions below). The students will be divided into small groups. Each team will select one Lincoln conspiracy theory. Each team will research the selected theory and do a class presentation. Your goal is to effectively state your case and to convince the audience that your theory is the one correct theory. After the presentations, the class will vote (democratic process) to determine which conspiracy theory is most plausible.

 

 

ROLE #1

Historian:

* As a historian you will factually report history. You are a researcher that collects data about your subject. A historian is like a detective, which tries to answer the questions of who, what, where, when, and why. They establish relationships between historical facts. Therefore, look through the archives and prove your case/theory!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/trail/htd_history/historians/historians_hats_02.shtml

 

ROLE #2

News Crew:

* As a news crew your responsibility is to collect details about your story and to report it to your audience. Your team may play different roles. One member might act as the main reporter that will give the oral presentation. Another team member may act as the producer that implements the project. The editor is the person that fine tunes the report to make sure it is coherent and error free.

ROLE #3

Person from the 1860s:

* As person from the Civil War era, you will act as a primary source. Therefore, be sure that your members research many primary documents so that you can get a feel for the mind-set of the people from that era. You will not be able to portray the views from all sections of the country. Therefore, focus on one section. For instance, you may take on the role as a Southern Confederate and explain the mind-set of people with similar beliefs as John Wilkes Booth.

http://kitiyakara.com/world/hardtimes.htm

http://www.edinborough.com/Learn/Civil_War_Life/Life.html