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.

Authors: John Marshall Center for Constitutional History & CivicsSarah Waltman King, Richmond Public Schools In 1865, the ratification of the 13th Amendment officially ended slavery in the United States. After fighting for their liberty before and during the Civil War, enslaved African Americans saw their dreams of emancipation realized. In the years that followed the end of the war, Virginia and other southern states had to reconfigure their social, economic, and political systems during a period called Reconstruction. During this era, newly freed Black Virginians experienced advancements but also encountered barriers to achieving true equality. This lesson explores  whether African Americans truly “free” following the passage of the 13th Amendment.Key Hook/QuestionWere African Americans truly free following the passage of the 13th Amendment?

The students will analyze the rise of violent activities against African Americans after the Civil War which lead to the addition of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. Begin with a KWL Jamboard (also attached, in a PDF format) which also includes an activity in analyzing primary resources about lynching.  Students will then develop their own 5-day trip itinerary using the Negro Green Book (see the list of free PDF versions for various years) as a travel reference guide. The objective of the lesson is to have the students understand the perils faced by US citizens of color during the Jim Crow Era and how prevalent the dangers were in some areas of the United States at that time. The teacher may wish to use a formative assessment in the form of an exit ticket (see attached). 

 This inquiry leads students to examine the ways that African Americans were leading voices in an ongoing effort to guarantee equal rights and freedoms for all people in the United States. Contrary to the oft repeated narrative that the US Government benevolently granted freedoms to African Americans, the questions, tasks, and sources in this inquiry ask students to look at ways African Americans were active leaders in working for those rights and freedoms. The tasks completed under each supporting question help the student to investigate the scope and depth of the African American voices working towards equal rights before the Civil War through the Reconstruction and after.  Students will learn of federal government actions taken to support the voices working for rights and freedoms as well as actions taken against those efforts.   An analysis of sources help students to investigate the economic, political and social gains African Americans made during and after Reconstruction.  Students will also look at the efforts that former Confederate states took to limit African American rights that had been guaranteed them by the US Constitution. By completing this inquiry, students will gain a deeper understanding that hard-won rights and freedoms can still be denied if the power to enforce them is held by someone else.