Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. 17 pages.
This role play engages students in thinking about what freedpeople needed in order to achieve — and sustain — real freedom following the Civil War. It's followed by a chapter from the book Freedom's Unfinished Revolution.
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The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands was established within the War Department to undertake the relief effort and social reconstruction after the Civil War.
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African Americans in Richmond, Virginia organized protests against segregated streetcars.
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The U.S. Civil War ended when the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia surrendered to U.S. General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in south-central Virginia.
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African Americans voters were threatened after the Danville Riot, leading to their loss of political power in this majority African American city in Virginia.
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Teaching Guide. By Facing History and Ourselves. 2015.
A collection of lessons, videos, and primary sources to teach about Reconstruction.
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The South Carolina constitutional convention met with a majority of Black delegates, adopting a constitution that provided for all people regardless of race, economic class, or gender.
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Book — Non-fiction. By Tonya Bolden. 2014. 138 pages.
One of the few non-fiction texts on Reconstruction aimed at young readers, Cause is a strong alternative to the textbook treatment of the era.
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On election day in Norfolk, African Americans tested their right to vote and when denied, cast their own "freedom ballots."
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Book — Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn. 2005, with a new introduction by Anthony Arnove in 2015. 784 pages.
Howard Zinn's groundbreaking work on U.S. history. This book details lives and facts rarely included in textbooks—an indispensable teacher and student resource.
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Deadly election "riots" took place in Barbour County, Alabama against African-American politicians and voters.
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Book — Non-fiction. By Eric Foner. 2015. 352 pages.
A people's history view of the Reconstruction era.
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Demands by Black ministers after the Ebenezer Creek Massacre led to the short-lived land distribution during Reconstruction known as Special Field Order No. 15.
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Digital collection. This website publishes thousands of “Information Wanted” advertisements taken out by people freed from slavery who are searching for family members who had been sold apart.
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Though our students' textbooks suggest otherwise, on this 150th anniversary of the 15th Amendment the struggle for ballot access is not over.
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Book — Non-fiction. By James W. Loewen. 2018. 480 pages.
Provides a detailed critique of 12 leading high school history textbooks.
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Whites attacked and killed many Black citizens who had organized for a Black sheriff to remain in office during the Vicksburg Massacre.
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Book — Non-fiction. By National Park Service. 2017. 165 pages.
A theme study on the history of the Reconstruction era.
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Hiram Rhodes Revels was the first African American to be elected to serve in the U.S. Senate.
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A Black militia was accused of blocking a road and punished with the Hamburg Massacre. This was Reconstruction era voter suppression.
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Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez. Rethinking Schools, 2020.
This multimedia, creative role play introduces students to the ways African American life changed immediately after the Civil War by focusing on the Sea Islands before and during Reconstruction.
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Article. Background reading for teachers. By Bill Bigelow. 4 pages.
A review of Freedom's Unfinished Revolution, a collection of primary documents for high school on the Civil War and Reconstruction.
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Nearly 50 African-Americans were killed by white mobs during the Clinton Riot.
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White civilians and police killed 46 African-Americans and injured many more while burning houses, schools, and churches in Memphis, Tennessee.
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During the Reconstruction Era, people emancipated from slavery searched for their loved ones throughout the United States and Canada. They often used "last seen" ads. This is one case of successful reunification.
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