Ken Burns in the Classroom: A House Divided

by | May 30, 2026 | Education, Latest News, teaching, US History, writing | 0 comments

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Causes of the War: A House Divided

Below are additional resources for this clip.

  1. Support Materials for Teachers
  2. Support Materials for Use with Students
  3. HANDOUTS

Ken Burns is an incredible storyteller. He makes amazing connections between images and sounds. To start a lesson on A House Divided, the students will draw a picture on a worksheet. The directions for the drawing are presented on Google Slides. 

Drawing A House Divided

Draw a House in the Square: 

  1. ONE Door with a doorknob 
  2. TWO 2 over 2 windows with shutters
  3. ONE Chimney
  4. Draw a lightning bolt hitting the EXACT middle of the house

Label the drawing: 

  1. Write North in the Top Left corner of the drawing
  2. Write South in the Bottom Right corner
  3. Write Slavery going from the top of the page next to the lightning bolt. If a teacher is using Google Slides, here are some images of a house getting hit by a lightning bolt. 
  4. Write Title “A House Divided by Slavery!” above the drawing. 

We have found that incorporating drawing into a lesson calms the students and increases focus. It also allows students to be creative. With this activity, we gave specific instructions for the drawing, whenever possible, we try to provide as much freedom as possible for the students to create their drawings.

Class Discussion Division Today:

It is always great to make connections in life today. There are still issues that divide towns, states, and the country. There are local, state, and national issues and elections. There are override votes, decisions to extend bar hours during the 2026 World Cup, and ballot questions. A teacher can determine how much to discuss these divisions. 

Division TODAY! List ONE issue that you feel divides the following:

  1. Your Town  
  2. Your State
  3. America
  4. (The World)

We have composed some questions for the students to answer after viewing the clip. We have included the questions and answers in the Google Slides. 

Full Text

A House Divided (3:16) 

Images: The images have been carefully selected to tell the story and match the music and quotes. A teacher can spend a great deal of time discussion the connections between the photos and the text.

  1. Southern House 0:00 – 0:09
  2. Lincoln in a yard 0:10 – 0:20
  3. Landscape 0:20 – 0:35
  4. Uncle Tom’s Cabin Horse 0:35 – 0:57 
  5. Congress 0:58 – 1:09
  6. Cannons 1:10 – 1:22
  7. Dred Scott 1:23 – 1:31
  8. Roger B. Taney 1:32 – 1:39
  9. Slave with basket 1:40 – 1:51
  10. Close-up 1:52 – 2:05
  11. Abraham Lincoln 2:06 – 2:16
  12. Congress 2:17 – 2:39
  13. James Buchanan 2:40 – 2:47
  14. House 2:48 – 2:55
  15. Window 2:56 – 3:07
  16. A. Lincoln 3:08 – 3:16

A House Divided Transcript

By mid-century, the country was deeply divided. Southerners feared the North might forbid slavery; Northerners feared slavery might move west. As each new state was added to the Union, it threatened to upset the delicate equilibrium of power.

HENRY ADAMS: There are grave doubts at the hugeness of the land, and whether one government can comprehend the whole. (0:35)

NARRATOR : Now events accelerated.

In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Its portrayal of slavery’s cruelty moved readers as nothing else had. Queen Victoria wept over it, and within a year more than a million and a half copies were in print worldwide. (0:57)

In 1854, Congress allowed settlers in the Kansas and Nebraska territories to decide for themselves whether or not to permit slavery. Kansas exploded. Five thousand pro-slavery men invaded the territory. In the next three months, 200 men died in “Bleeding Kansas.” The killing would not stop for ten years. (1:23)

In 1857, the Supreme Court refused to free a slave, Dred Scott, even though he had lived for many years on free soil. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney said a black man had no rights a white man was bound to respect, (1:40)

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: As a nation we began by declaring that “all men are created equal.” We now practically read it “all men are created equal, except negroes… [soon] it will read all men are created equal except negroes, and foreigners and Catholics. When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty–to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy. (2:16)

NARRATOR: Violence reached the floor of the United States Senate, where Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina savagely beat abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner with his cane. Southern sympathizers sent Brooks new canes. Members began carrying knives and pistols into the chamber.

Meanwhile, the nation’s chief executive, James Buchanan, did nothing. (2:48)

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved. I do not expect the house to fall. But I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other. (3:16)

Student Questions: After viewing the clip, the class will review the questions together. 

Lesson Objective: Students will be able to identify how sectionalism in the United States led to the Civil War. (Watch the clip, AFTER, flip the paper back to this side to answer questions.)

Sectionalism: During the mid-19th century, southerners and northerners both had fears around slavery. 

1. Southerners feared the North might                                                                            .

2. Northerners feared slavery might                                                                            . 

3. What threatened the delicate equilibrium of power                                               (0:20)

4. The law that addressed the “delicate equilibrium of power”?                                                                   .

“There are grave doubts at the hugeness of the land. And whether one government can comprehend the whole.” Henry Adams 

grave ( )

In 1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom’s Cabin. It’s portrayal of slavery cruelty remove readers as nothing else had. (0:57)

“Bleeding Kansas” 1854 Congress allowed settlers in the Kansas and Nebraska territories to decide for themselves whether or not to permit slavery. 

5.                                     pro-slavery men invaded the territory. 

6. In the next 3 months                      men died in Bleeding Kansas. 

7. The killing would not stop for              years. (1:23)

Violence at the Capitol: Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner was beaten with a cane. Image of Charles Sumner being hit by 

Name                                                                                                              period                   .

A House Divided | Ken Burns: The Civil War – Discussion Questions

Lesson Objective: Students will be able to identify how sectionalism in the United States led to the Civil War. 

1. During the mid-19th century, southerners and northerners both had fears around slavery. What did many southerners fear? What did many northerners fear?

2. What threatened to upset the “delicate equilibrium of power”?

3. In the course of three months how many men died in Bleeding Kansas? How long did the events around Bleeding Kansas continue?

4. In 1857 the Supreme Court refused to free an enslaved person. What was his name? What was the reasoning?

5. At the end of the video, President Abraham Lincoln called the nation “A House Divided.” What did he mean by this?