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...

A lot happened as the American Civil War came to a close. Before diving head-first into a unit on the Reconstruction period, preview key events, concepts, and vocabulary, specific to post Civil War America. Each slide gives a simple...

Middle schoolers 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...

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

An amazing resource, with images, rich text, and working hyperlinks. It covers one of America's most horrible crimes against humanity, slavery. Thankfully a change took place during the Reconstruction Era. Learn about the laws, key...

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...

Six pages and 41 questions await your class, as they show what they know about the era of Reconstruction. Each question asks who, what, where, when, or why, regarding the people, places, laws, and events related to Reconstruction. You...

Test prep has never been so easy. Your class will answer each of the 37 study questions in order to get an A on the upcoming test on the Reconstruction era. There are four vocabulary words, 12 major events, six important people, two...

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 launches a...

Students study the legislation and Amendments of Reconstruction period in America. In this Reconstruction lesson, students work in groups to dissect the Black Codes, an article in the US Constitution, as well as the 13th, 14th, and 15th...

The physical and economic depression of the post-war South was discouraging to Southerners. Reconstruction was inevitable but exhausting. Learn about life in the South after the war. This resource provides a lot of education, but it...

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,...

Young scholars 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...

Who was Jim Crow? How did state and local governments restrict the freedoms and rights of African Americans? As you hold up a series of documents illustrating racial discrimination, your class members will identify rights that were...

There is nothing like a rousing game of Jeopardy to get your class interested in concept review. Review all the laws, key players, amendments, and issues that came with the Reconstruction Era. There are 25 answers to question. 

New ReviewAfter 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...