In this article, the author describes a social studies class activity that uses primary sources to develop a soap opera based on the American Civil War. In the soap opera activity, students can watch historical characters as they grow, develop, and change. Not only do people in the soap opera develop over a long period, but their accumulated experiences shape the context of the event described in the history textbook. This activity gives students the opportunity to study the actual sources of history, rather than a textbook. It also encourages them to form their own questions, rather than having the teacher devise questions for them.