Classroom Resource

Reconstruction in the American South

Subject Area

Social Studies

Grade(s)

4, 5, 10

Overview

This is a collection of political photographs from the Reconstruction Era. The collection includes photos of President Andrew Johnson, Benjamin S. Turner, and information from The Freedmen's Bureau.

Social Studies (2010) Grade(s): 4

SS10.4.9

Analyze political and economic issues facing Alabama during Reconstruction for their impact on various social groups.

Unpacked Content

UP:SS10.4.9

Vocabulary

  • Reconstruction
  • political parties
  • "Redeemer" Democrats
  • Radical Republicans
  • military rule
  • readmittance
  • restoration
  • Union
  • scarcity

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Alabama faced many political issues during Reconstruction including military rule, presence of Freedmen's Bureau, and Alabama's readmittance to the Union.
  • Alabama faced many economic issues during Reconstruction including sharecropping, tenant farming, scarcity of goods and money.
  • Many African Americans, including James Rapier, Benjamin Turner, William Savery, and Jeremiah Haralson, had an impact on Alabama during Reconstruction.
  • The major political parties in Alabama, including Radical Republicans, Bourbon Democrats, and Populists.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Identify political issues facing Alabama during Reconstruction including military rule, presence of Freedmen's Bureau, and Alabama's readmittance to the Union.
  • Identify economic issues facing Alabama during Reconstruction including sharecropping, tenant farming, scarcity of goods and money.
  • Summarize the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.
  • Recall African Americans who had an impact on Alabama during Reconstruction in Alabama.
  • Identify major political parties in Alabama during Reconstruction.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • Reconstruction was the rebuilding of Alabama's government and economy after the Civil War.
  • Alabama had to meet several specific criteria before being granted re-admittance to the Union and that the criteria was see as controversial by some people in the state.
Social Studies (2010) Grade(s): 5

SS10.5.12

Summarize successes and failures of the Reconstruction Era.

Unpacked Content

UP:SS10.5.12

Vocabulary

  • Reconstruction Era
  • extension
  • citizenship rights
  • amendments
  • impact
  • education reform
  • black codes
  • Jim Crow
  • tenant farming
  • distribution
  • sharecropping
  • Radical Republicans
  • 13th Amendment
  • 14th Amendment
  • 15th Amendment

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Successes and failures of the Reconstruction Era.
  • The extension of citizenship rights to African Americans included in the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.
  • The impact of Reconstruction for its effect on education and social institutions in the United States( Horace Mann and education reform, Freedmen's Bureau, establishment of segregated schools, African-American churches, among others).
  • The black codes and the Jim Crow laws.
  • Post-Civil War land distribution, including tenant farming and sharecropping.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Evaluation successes and failures of historical events.
  • Compare and contrast changes in historical and political realities as a result of a historical event.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • The Reconstruction Era was a period of success, failures, and conflict that greatly impacted the lives of citizens, including African-Americans.
Social Studies (2010) Grade(s): 10 - United States History I

SS10.US1.15

Compare congressional and presidential reconstruction plans, including African-American political participation. [A.1.a., A.1.b., A.1.c., A.1.d., A.1.e., A.1.i., A.1.k.]

Unpacked Content

UP:SS10.US1.15

Vocabulary

  • effectiveness
  • restructure

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Congressional and presidential reconstruction plans, including African-American political participation.
  • Economic changes in the post-Civil War period for whites and African Americans in the North and South, including the effectiveness of the Freedmen's Bureau.
  • Social restructuring of the South, including Southern military districts, the role of carpetbaggers and scalawags, the creation of the black codes, and the Ku Klux Klan.
  • The Compromise of 1877.
  • Post-Civil War constitutional amendments, including the
  • Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments.
  • The causes of the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson.
  • The impact of the Jim Crow laws and Plessy versus Ferguson on the social and Political structure of the South after Reconstruction.
  • Political and social motives that shaped the Constitution of Alabama of 1901 and their long-term effect on politics and economics in Alabama.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Compare congressional and presidential reconstruction plan.
  • Trace the economic changes in the post Civil War period for whites and African Americans in the North and South.
  • Describe the Compromise of 1877.
  • Summarize the post-Civil War constitutional amendments.
  • Explain the causes of the impeachment of Presidential Andrew Johnson.
  • Explain the impact of the Jim Crow laws and Plessey versus Ferguson on the social and political structure of the South after Reconstruction.
  • Analyze the political and social motives that shaped the Alabama Constitution of 1901 to determine the long term political and examining effects.
  • Analyze primary source documents relating to reconstruction plans, segregation, and the Constitution of Alabama of 1901.
  • Determine the effects of different reconstruction plans on a map.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • There were important social, economic, and political realities of the Reconstruction Era, as well as short- and long-term impacts of these realities on the United States as a whole, regionally, and in Alabama.
Link to Resource
https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/reconstruction-in-the-american-south-tea…

CR Resource Type

Informational Material

Resource Provider

Smithsonian
Accessibility
License

License Type

CUSTOM

Custom License Type (URL)

https://www.si.edu/Termsofuse

Approved Date

mgsaboyd
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