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Primary Source Teaching Ideas

Camp outside of City hall in Atlanta, Georgia Dates must be established. If the date of a photograph is not known it can be difficult if not impossible to understand exactly what has occurred. Look at this Civil War picture of the Atlanta City Hall with an encampment on the grounds. A natural assumption might be that this was a Confederate camp placed there to protect the city.

Camp outside of City hall in Atlanta, Georgia However, if you know that the picture was taken in 1864 and that General Sherman took Atlanta in September of that year, you would have reason to question whether this was an accurate assumption.

Camp outside of City hall in Atlanta, Georgia Federal camp outside of City Hall, Atlanta, Georgia. General William Sherman took Atlanta on September 2, He wired President Lincoln to say, "Atlanta is ours; fairly won." He forced the entire city to evacuate