Civil War Battles and Strategy Map¶
Learning Objective¶
Students examine how geography shaped Civil War military strategy, explaining the Anaconda Plan's logic and the significance of at least two major battles.
- Bloom Level: Analyze (L4)
- Bloom Verb: Examine
- Library: p5.js
Preview¶
Specification¶
The full specification below is extracted from Chapter 8: Sectionalism and the Civil War (1844–1865).
Type: map
**sim-id:** civil-war-strategy-map<br/>
**Library:** p5.js<br/>
**Status:** Specified
Purpose: Allow students to explore the geographic logic of Civil War strategy, trace major campaigns and battles, and understand how geography shaped Union and Confederate military choices.
Bloom Level: Analyze (L4)
Bloom Verb: Examine
Learning Objective: Students examine how geography shaped Civil War military strategy, explaining the Anaconda Plan's logic and the significance of at least two major battles.
Canvas layout:
- Responsive width; height approximately 520px
- Simplified map of the eastern United States divided into Union (light blue) and Confederate (light red) regions at the war's start
- Union naval blockade shown as a dotted blue line along the Confederate coast
- Mississippi River control shown as a blue line
- Battle sites marked as clickable stars
Key battles/locations to mark:
- Fort Sumter, SC (1861) — war begins
- Bull Run, VA (1861 and 1862) — Confederate victories
- Shiloh, TN (1862) — bloody Union victory in the West
- Antietam, MD (1862) — bloodiest single day; Lincoln uses to announce Emancipation Proclamation
- Vicksburg, MS (1863) — Union controls the Mississippi
- Gettysburg, PA (1863) — turning point in the East
- Atlanta, GA (1864) — Sherman's capture; opens March to the Sea
- Appomattox, VA (1865) — Lee surrenders
Clicking a battle shows:
- Date and outcome
- Casualties (Union and Confederate)
- Strategic significance
- Connection to a key event (e.g., Antietam → Emancipation Proclamation timing)
Strategy overlays (toggleable):
- Anaconda Plan (naval blockade + Mississippi control)
- Eastern Theater campaigns (arrows showing Lee's invasion attempts north)
- Western Theater campaigns (Grant's campaign to control the Mississippi)
- Sherman's March (1864 arrow through Georgia)
Color scheme: Union blue / Confederate gray; battle stars colored by outcome (gold = Union win, red = Confederate win, white = draw).
Responsive behavior: Map scales with canvas; clickable areas scale proportionally.
Implementation: p5.js