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Lesson Plans

The American Journey: A History of the United States ©2000

by David Goldfield, Carl Abbott, Virginia DeJohn Anderson, Jo Ann E. Argersinger, Peter H. Argersinger, William L. Barney, Robert M. Weir

Focus Lesson 14

Chapter 18: "Reconstruction, 1865–1877"

AP* Course Description

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

Key Components

Instructor's Manual: pp. 118–124
Study Guide, Vol. I to 1877: pp. 138–145
Test Item File: pp. 208–219

Key Web Sites

Given the changing nature of the Internet, you may wish to preview these sites. Always check PHSchool.com for updated links to U.S. history sites.

Key Words and Terms

Reconstruction
W.E.B. Du Bois
Nathan Bedford Forrest
Ten Percent Plan
black codes
Freedmen's Bureau

Civil Rights Act of 1866
Fourteenth Amendment
Military Reconstruction Acts
Ku Klux Klan
Compromise of 1877

Suggested Pacing

The groundwork for the study of the civil rights movement begins in Chapter 18 and continues in Chapters 29 and 30. Allow two 90-minute classes on a block schedule or four 45-minute sessions on a traditional bell schedule for Chapter 18.

Test Strategy

In writing their essays, students should remember to use the vocabulary of U.S. history. For example, if students are writing about Congressional Reconstruction, they should use terms such as Radical Republicans and moderate Republicans rather than the more generic term Republicans.

Key Concepts

Counter-Reconstruction
The period from 1870 to 1874 has been called the counter-Reconstruction because of the efforts of the Southerners to thwart the federal government's attempts to punish the South and aid and empower former African American slaves. In response to Southern violence, the federal government passed the Enforcement Act of 1870 and the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871. During this time, Northerners lost interest in supporting the rights of African Americans. A major reason for this reaction was that Northern business interests found that they had common cause with Southern businessmen. In addition, the corruption of the Grant administrations disillusioned many Americans about politics.
From slave labor to free labor
When the Civil War ended, a rumor circulated through 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

Review with students p. 528, "Overview: Constitutional Amendments and Federal Legislation of the Reconstruction Era." In the class discussion, focus on the purpose and significance of each amendment or piece of legislation. When students have discussed each item, ask them to imagine they are white Southern farmers who never owned slaves and who have barely survived the Civil War. Many of their fathers, brothers, and other relatives did not. Ask students in their guise as white Southern farmers what economic challenges they face now that the war is over. Is the federal government helping them in anyway? How would they expect their fellow white Southerners to feel about the federal government, military districts, and carpetbaggers? Help students to understand the lives and response of many Southerners after the Civil War. Reading "American Views: Mississippi's 1865 Black Codes," p. 526, and discussing why such legislation passed will help students to see the influence of extremists and their attitudes.

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

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