Introduction | Scope | Rationale | Site Plan | Site Reviews | Technical Plan | Splash

Technical Plan

Technically, A Fiery Gospel: Religion in the Civil War is rather simple and less demanding than other project proposals I have looked at while planning this project. This is due to a practical consideration – my skills with digital media are still in the developmental stage. While I have been using computers, both PC and Mac, almost from their inception, I have done next to nothing with web design and construction. That said, I have learned a tremendous amount from this course and will now continue to refine and develop the skills and abilities that I have learned in this course.

The site itself will consist of a series of flat html pages constructed with DreamWeaver. Graphics will be necessarily simple, using PhotoShop Elements as a principal tool. A simple e-mail interface will also be required. Eventually, I would like to add a Discussion Board feature so that teachers and students could engage in discussions, post queries and exchange information about religion in the Civil War. I have left this dimension out of the original proposal due to technical considerations.

In terms of architecture and design, A Fiery Gospel: Religion in the Civil War will borrow elements from web sites surveyed above. Especially, the Hargrett Rage Book and Manuscript Library and Naval History Explored provided useful ideas for design, interface, the site map, and use of graphics. The largest investment will obviously be in time and talent. The former I have in abundance, the latter I am developing as quickly as possible. In addition, a certain amount of research and writing will be necessary to complete the “interpretive essays” required for the Resources section. My background in this area will proof useful. Last year, I wrote a paper, “Religion and the Coming of the American Civil War: A survey of Recent Historical Literature,” for History 615, Religion in Early America. Much of the information presented in the introduction to this proposal is adapted from that paper.

In the realm of Lesson Plans, I intend to use an article and lesson plan I authored for the Magazine of History published by the Organization of American Historians. "Captain Sally Tompkins: Angel of the Confederacy," tells the story of an Episcopal church woman who operated a military hospital in Richmond and was granted am officer’s commission by President Jefferson Davis. It includes a fully developed lesson plan with hypertext links to resources on the life and work of Ms. Tompkins.

I am deeply indebted to Chrissie Brodigan of Fairfax County Public Schools and George Mason University for her assistance with this project. She helped me to gain a practical understanding of DreamWeaver and helped in the design of the homepage and proposal for. Without her able assistance, this project would not have been possible.