Handout
Creating a Plan for Reconstruction
This handout serves as a guide for students as they make a plan for Reconstruction that balances the goals of healing and justice.
At a Glance
Subject
- History
- Social Studies
- Democracy & Civic Engagement
- Human & Civil Rights
- Racism
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The Devastation of War
Students learn about the aftermath of the Civil War and examine primary source documents that provide insight into the difficult task of reuniting the nation.
Healing and Justice
Students examine President Andrew Johnson's plan for Reconstruction and the debate it provoked with Congress while reflecting on deeper issues of healing and justice.
Equality for All
Students explore some of the limitations of Reconstruction's transformation on US democracy and learn about groups who demanded that the promise of equality be made a reality.
Backlash and the KKK
Students learn about the violent responses to the transformation of US democracy that occurred as a result of Radical Reconstruction.
Shifting Public Opinion
Students examine the factors that led many northerners to turn against federal policies passed during the Reconstruction era that protected freedpeople.
Political Violence and the Overthrow of Reconstruction
Students learn about the period of violence in the South from 1873-1876 and examine its role in influencing elections and ending Republican control of Southern state governments.
Expanding Democracy
Students reflect on the revolutionary changes that occurred because of the landmark legislation and amendments passed during the Reconstruction era.
The Struggle over Women’s Rights
Students learn about the debate within the women’s rights movement over the passage of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments.
Enacting Freedom
Students consider what it means to be free by learning about the choices and aspirations of freedpeople immediately after Emancipation.
The Debate over Reparations for Racial Injustice
This mini-lesson helps students define the term, learn what forms reparations can take, and consider what reparations should be offered for slavery and other racist policies.
The Union As It Was
Students examine documents that shed light on life in the South under the policies of Presidential Reconstruction in 1865 and 1866.
Using the strategies from Facing History is almost like an awakening.
—
Claudia Bautista, Santa Monica, Calif
