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Overview "… then there is nothing left me but to go and see General Grant, and I would rather die a thousand deaths…" --Robert E. Lee, April 9, 1865 The Civil War still holds the distinction of being the bloodiest in American History. It all came to an end, however, in the parlor of Wilmer McLean’s home at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, in April, 1865. While the war may have been bloody, the terms given by General Ulysses S. Grant to Robert E. Lee for the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia were extremely generous. In this activity, students will analyze these terms, as well as the events leading to Lee’s surrender, by investigating Grant’s own memoirs of this time.

I suspect that most Americans who have ever claimed knowledge of language they haven't studied since high school on a resume can sympathize. It also begs the question of whether this is really a critical skill to begin with.