Overview

Lincoln’s Dilemma: Recasting the Struggle for Freedom and Equality provides four companion lessons created for the docu-series, Lincoln's Dilemma. Each lesson engages middle and high school students in a rigorous re-examination of American history through a careful look at the people, places, and events surrounding the Civil War, the work of abolitionists, and the emancipation of enslaved people. Using clips from the docu-series, extensive interviews with present-day scholars, and primary source materials specific to each episode, students will explore how President Lincoln and his administration contended with the issues of his day — a violently corrosive political environment, the threat to the cohesion of the union, and deeply institutionalized racism — and compare them to those in our current climate. Students will explore the relationship between history and the construction of national narratives and the important work of redress that we, as individuals and as a nation, can re-dedicate ourselves to as we work towards racial healing and justice.

Stream the series on Apple TV+