Students will analyze a document that shows the challenges African Americans faced in receiving the freedom they were guaranteed with the 13th Amendment. The Indenture of Apprenticeship between John Foster and Jeff, a four-year-old African American, shows how Southerners found unique ways to keep African Americans in servitude. This activity is designed to engage students in an analysis of the success of the 13th Amendment. Students should have background knowledge in the Civil War and the goals of Reconstruction.

Students will analyze primary sources from the Reconstruction Era to determine if Reconstruction was a success or a failure. They will place evidence on a scale for a visual representation of their evaluation.Teachers can modify and assign this Google Doc. You will need to make a copy of the document to access it.

This activity is intended as practice for students learning about primary and secondary sources. Students should receive instruction on the differences between primary sources and secondary sources prior to completing this activity. Students will be given a random selection of artifacts. They will be asked to go through the primary source analysis process (adapted from the National Archives) to analyze and make sense of the artifacts. They will create a secondary source about the person represented by the artifacts.