Confederate Conscription & Desertion

This lesson will introduce students to how Mississippians responded to conscription and most importantly, forms of wartime dissent within Mississippi to challenge the idea that southerners universally supported the Confederate war effort.

Lesson Plans

High School

Further Reading

For further reading, see:

• Samuel McGuire, "Desertion during the Civil War"
• Susanna Lee, "Twenty Slave Law"
• Joseph Glatthaar, "Teaching with Statistics: A Case Study"
• Kyle Nappi, "From Gray to Blue"
• Kevin Levin, "The Free State of Jones and the ‘Poor Man’s Fight"
• Victoria Bynum, "Victoria Bynum on the "Free State of Jones" Movie and the Long History of the Lost Cause"
• National Park Service, "The Civil War’s Common Soldier"

Credits

Al Wheat is a seven-year classroom educator in Mississippi Public Schools. Al now serves as Director of Education for the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.