WEB EXCLUSIVE History teacher Michael Stafford taught U.S. History students about the Civil War through a documentary during H period today.

Students watched one episode of the show “The Civil War” by Ken Burns. Each documentary-style episode is one hour long discussing stories and facts about the Civil War.

“I think once we watch it all I think I’ll be a lot more clear on the Civil War and all the details about it,” sophomore Anneli Dolan said. “I find it really interesting to see all the photographs and recordings of people that lived during that time”

To start the first semester, Stafford did a brief review of past lessons and spent classtime studying the conflicts that led to the Civil War.

“We’ve been leading up to this by talking about the Antebellum Period,” Stafford said. “We will discuss what was dividing the United States and how the United States is increasingly divided over slavery.”

Students also learned about the new technological advancements such as the camera and recordings and how they changed the documentation of current events at the time.

“I didn’t really know that photography was present at the time,” sophomore Mia Sassi said. “I’m learning new facts, even though that I’ve learned about some more before I’m learning stuff that I didn’t really learn about or consider before.

Stafford also addressed the impacts of the war in the United States and the many different tactics the Union Army used to win.

“War is central to our American identity, it is a major part of our history,” Stafford said. “So much of our regional identity and our racist past is based on the Civil War.”