Use this rich archive of lessons, videos, and primary sources on the Reconstruction Era to teach about this tumultuous period in US history and its legacy today.
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Lesson
Race in US History
A Contested History
Students consider how US history books, films, and other works of popular culture have misrepresented the history of the Reconstruction era.
Lesson
Race in US History
Defining Freedom
Students examine how freed people in the United States sought to define freedom after Emancipation.
Lesson
Race in US History
Interracial Democracy
Through a video-based activity, students explore how Radical Reconstruction changed the nature of voting rights and democracy in the South.
Lesson
Race in US History
The Legacies of Reconstruction
Through a video-based activity, students examine America’s struggle for a stronger democracy during Reconstruction and today.
Lesson
Race in US History
The Political Struggle, 1865-1866
Students learn about President Andrew Johnson and the Congressional Republican's conflicting visions of how to rebuild the nation after the Civil War.
Lesson
Race in US History
The World the War Made
Students explore the ways that Emancipation and Radical Reconstruction altered the lives of many Americans.
Lesson
Race in US History
Violence and Backlash
By examining periods of violence during the Reconstruction era, students learn about the potential backlash to political and social change.
Reading
Race in US History
A Black Republican Leader Asks for Protection (1875)
The Black president of Bolton, MS's Republican Club writes Governor Ames asking for protection.
Reading
Race in US History
A Day of Triumph
Northerner Caroline Bartlett White celebrates the Union’s victory and the end of the Civil War.
Reading
Race in US History
Black Officeholders in the South
The following seven tables provide information about the numbers of African American officeholders in the South during Reconstruction and the backgrounds of those officeholders.
Reading
Race in US History
Collaborators and Bystanders
Read historian Eric Foner's description of whom the Ku Klux Klan drew support from during the Reconstruction era.
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