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Lesson Plans
The American Nation: A History of the United States ©2000
by John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes
Focus Lesson 12
Chapter 16: "Reconstruction and the South"
AP* Course Description
- Civil War
- Abolition of slavery
- Freedmen's Bureau
- Thirteenth Amendment
- Abolition of slavery
- Reconstruction to 1877
- Presidential plans: Lincoln and Johnson
- Radical (congressional) plans
- Civil rights and the Fourteenth Amendment
- Military reconstruction
- Impeachment of Johnson
- African American suffrage: the Fifteenth Amendment
- Southern state governments: problems, achievements, weaknesses
- Compromise of 1877 and the end of Reconstruction
- New South and the Last West
- Politics of the New South
- Whites and African Americans in the New South
- Southern economy; colonial status of the South
- Sharecropping
- Politics of the New South
Key Components
- Instructor's Manual: pp. 158–166
- Study Guide, Vol. I: pp. 237–249
- Test Bank: pp. 263–279
Key Web Sites
Given the changing nature of the Internet, you may wish to preview these sites. Check the Online Companion Web site for updated links to U.S. history sites.
Key Words and Terms
- pocket veto
- impeachment
- crop-lien system
- Wade-Davis bill
- Black Codes
- Civil Rights Act
- Fourteenth Amendment
- Tenure of Office Act
- Force Acts
- Thaddeus Stevens
- Andrew Johnson
- scalawags
- Ku Klux Klan
- Liberal Republicans
- Rutherford B. Hayes
- amnesty
- sharecropping
- ten percent plan
- Thirteenth Amendment
- Freedmen's Bureau
- "swing around the circle"
- Reconstruction Acts
- Fifteenth Amendment
- Compromise of 1877
- Charles Sumner
- Radical Republicans
- carpetbaggers
- Ulysses S. Grant
- Horace Greeley
- Electoral Commission
Suggested Pacing
Allow two weeks for teaching this chapter. Chapter 16 lays the foundation for the civil rights movement of the 1960s. You will need to make the connections for students when teaching this chapter and then review Chapter 16 when teaching relevant parts of Chapters 29, 30, and 31.
Test Strategy
When taking the multiple-choice portion of the AP* exam, students need to make efficient use of time. If students get stuck on a question, they should scratch out any answer choices they know to be incorrect, circle or star the question in the question booklet—not on the answer sheet—and move on, returning to the question later. Students need to be aware of the number of the question they skip so that they can skip the answer row on the answer sheet.
Key Concepts
- From slave labor to free labor
When the Civil War ended, a rumor circulated throughout the South that the federal government would give freed slaves "forty acres and a mule." This promise never came true and African Americans found themselves free but without food, shelter, and clothing. An immediate result was the use of gang labor by white farmers. This gave way to tenant farming and sharecropping. Students should be aware of the differences between the two and that sharecropping was not restricted to African Americans. Poor whites also fell victim to the system.
Summing Up Student Understanding
To compare the Presidential Reconstruction plan with the Radical Republican plan, have students prepare a chart (such as the one below) giving the main points of each plan. After completing the chart, ask students to explain how Johnson's view of the President's role in Reconstruction conflicted with Congress's view and how this led to Johnson's impeachment.
| RECONSTRUCTION PLANS | ||
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| Lincoln's Plan | Johnson's Plan | Radical Plan |
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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
You might also find these additional readings useful in developing students' background knowledge or for DBQ activities:
- American Issues: Vol. I to 1877, edited by Unger and Tomes—Chapter 17
- The Power of Words: Vol. I to 1877, edited by Breen—Chapter 15
- Constructing the American Past, Vol. I, edited by Gorn, Roberts, and Bilhartz—Chapter 13
- American Experiences: Vol. I to 1877, edited by Roberts and Olson (secondary source readings)—Part Seven