Unequal Rights and Racism Teacher Resources

The Black Codes and Jim Crow Laws were rules that served the same purpose: to restrict the rights of African Americans. Young historians watch performers read Black Code laws from different states to explain how African Americans were...

The Civil War ended slavery, but how did the government enforce the Thirteenth Amendment? Scholars learn about the creation of the Freedman's Bureau, the department's responsibilities, and experiences of African Americans who the program...

During the era of Reconstruction, the planter class of the South tried to replicate the time before the Civil War by squashing rights given in the Thirteenth, Fourteenths and Fifteenth amendments. Using a video clip featuring renowned...

Young scholars use the text of the Illinois Black Codes to examine the laws in place. Using this information, they draw their own conclusions about why the laws existed in a free state. They also identify the purpose of these laws and...

For this teaching American history worksheet, high schoolers examine a primary source document regarding the Freedman's Bureau. Students respond to 1 short answer question.

To understand why the topic of reparations is controversial, young scholars gather background information by reading articles, watching videos, and examining cases where reparations were made. Learners consider the lasting repercussions...

Easily broken into pieces for several class sessions, this presentation is a great way to transition your class out of a Civil War unit and closer to the 20th century. Engaging photographs, including relevant maps and humorous political...

How did Ku Klux Klan develop and flourish in the US? How did the government respond to acts of terrorism conducted by the KKK following the Civil War? How does the government respond to acts of terrorism today? This resource...

Students study the legislation and Amendments of Reconstruction period in America. In this Reconstruction instructional activity, students work in groups to dissect the Black Codes, an article in the US Constitution, as well as the...

The Civil War made slavery illegal, but all ex-slaves were not totally free. Scholars visit eight different classroom stations to uncover life during the Reconstruction Era in America. Groups discover items such as Black Codes, 13th,...

Students examine the topics of the Freedman's Bureau and labor contracting. They analyze the economic conditions in Alabama after the Civil War. They draw conclusions about the problems with sharecropping.

The legacy of Reconstruction and the Freedman's Bureau is complicated. Using an interactive web resource, learners literally weigh the evidence using an online program in primary sources such as labor contracts and marriage records to...

After generating research questions rated to segregation, groups are given a primary source document (Jim Crow Laws, Black Codes, Plessy v. Ferguson, etc.) and craft a presentation that details the key elements of their assigned...

A unit covers many aspects of the Civil War. Over six weeks, fifth graders delve deep into the history of slavery, the Civil War—before, during, and after—Abraham Lincoln, women's contributions, the Emancipation Proclamation, and...

After investigating the Black Lives Matter movement, class members do a close read of Roger Reeves' "Black Laws." They write down words and phrases that rhyme, consider the kinds of rhymes used and their function in the poem. Scholars...

The Civil Rights Act of 1866, which granted citizenship to all males in the U.S., resulted in the first African Americans to be elected to Congress. Class members research 11 of these men, the challenges they faced, and craft...

High schoolers examine the Reconstruction programs instituted following the American Civil War, the potential for change these efforts offered, and the realities that occurred. Guided by a PowerPoint presentation, class members read a...

Two short PBS videos introduce young scholars to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1968 Poor People's Campaign, his support for the Memphis sanitation worker's strike, and the plans for the march on Washington, D.C., to fight poverty. Viewers...

Two Supreme Court cases, Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education take center stage in a lesson about the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Class members research both cases to compare and contrast the rulings.

Healing versus justice. The central source of tension following the United States Civil War was between the demands for healing and the demands for justice, the battle between President Andrew Johnson and Congress. A video introduces the...