Goal: Students will be able to analyze textual evidence and its relation to their thesis using a two step approach.

The Civil War was fought on land and at sea. “An ironclad was a ship powered by a steam engine. Such ships were made of wood but were fitted with iron or steel armor plates” (Mountjoy 61). “There were to be flat-bottomed vessels carrying forts with iron walls four inches thick … ” (Donovan 31). “Ironclads ‘had three chief characteristics: a metal- skinned hull, steam propulsion, and a main armament of guns capable of firing explosive shells’” (Mountjoy 61). “These new warships marked a technological milestone not only because of their more efficient engine plant and screw propellers, but also because they carried newer and deadlier guns … ” (Symonds 8).

“These new warships marked a technological milestone not only because of their more efficient engine plant and screw propellers, but also because they carried newer and deadlier guns…” (Symonds 8). Thesis: Although the South had more ambition to fight the Civil War, the South lost due to the lack of technology. Analysis: Ironclad ships made transporting Union troops and supplies quicker. In addition, new weaponry on board the ships gave the Union the advantage of taking over southern ports cutting off the Confederacy’s supplies from other nations.

How Do I Analyze a Quote? 1. Ask how does this quote support my thesis? 2. The answer to above question is your analysis 2 Step Plan

Thesis: Although the South had more ambition to fight the Civil War, the South lost due to the lack of technology. The six Merrimack-class heavy frigates, the five Hartford-class screw sloops, as well as other screw steamers purchased during this same period, gave the navy two dozen new and powerful warships that had not existed five years earlier. All but one of these warships remained in the arsenal of the U.S. Navy after secession, and all of them played crucial roles in the war to come” (Symonds 8). From the beginning of the war the Union had command of the battle at sea. Most of the ironclad ships purchased before the war remained in the Union putting the Confederacy in the defensive position to make or purchase quality ships in a timely manner.

Thesis: Although women were not allowed to join the fighting during the Civil War, women’s role as nurses, spies and camp women made them equally important as the soldiers. “To some observers, hospital and battlefield nursing seemed a reasonable extension of traditional gender roles for women” (Currie 44). Women were considered caretakers; they looked after the children and cared for them when they were sick. Women also cared for their husbands when they were ill; therefore it made sense that women tended to the wounded soldiers.