Curated OER
Reconstruction (1865–1877)
In this online interactive history worksheet, learners respond to 7 short answer and essay questions about the causes and effects of Reconstruction following the American Civil War.
Core Knowledge Foundation
The Civil War
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...
Curated OER
ESL Conversation: Reconstructing an Interview with Mr. X
In this ESL conversation worksheet, students use the 20 answers given here to reconstruct an interview with Mr. X. Students provide the questions that would have been asked.
Center for Instruction, Technology, & Innovation
Did African American Lives Improve After Slavery?
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,...
Library of Virginia
Life as a Liberated People
Imagine having no control over your life and then suddenly having to provide for yourself. Such was the challenge faced by many American slaves after emancipation. Class members are asked to consider these challenges are they examine...
US House of Representatives
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
New ReviewGroups select a photograph from one of the four eras of African Americans in Congress and develop a five-minute presentation that provides background information about the image as well as its historical significance. The class compares...
Curated OER
Speaking Up and Speaking Out: Exploring the Lives of Black Women During the 19th Century
Pupils learn how to read and interpret various primary and secondary sources and how to use them to draw conclusions about the issues that the authors faced during the nineteenth century. They read historical narratives imaginatively...
Curated OER
Reconstruction and the 1868 South Carolina Constitution
Students, through lecture and group discussion, explore the American Civil War Reconstruction and how it affected the development of the 1868 Constitution of South Carolina. They discuss its impact on South Carolina even today.
Curated OER
US Civil Rights Movement: Beginnings through the 60s
A real find for a U.S. History teacher, this presentation could supplement many class sessions about the Civil Rights Movement. Pictures of events, major figures, and "Whites Only" signs are striking and effective for even your most...
Curated OER
The Called Themselves the K.K.K.; The Birth of an American Terrorist Group
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...
Miama-Dade County Public Schools
African Americans and the Civil War
The American Civil War is the theme of this packet of materials prepared for Black History Month. Class members learn about the roles that African Americans played during the Civil War and examine the African-American experience after...
Smithsonian Institution
Art to Zoo: Life in the Promised Land: African-American Migrants in Northern Cities, 1916-1940
This is a fantastic resource designed for learners to envision what it was like for the three million African-Americans who migrated to urban industrial centers of the northern United States between 1910 and 1940. After reading a...
Core Knowledge Foundation
The Civil War
A student reader shares information about the history of slavery, the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, women's contributions to the war, the Emancipation Proclamation, and reconstruction.
Curated OER
Rosa Parks Changed the Rules
Students complete a diagram of the Montgomery bus that carried Rosa Parks into the history books. They read about Rosa Park's contributions to the Civil Rights movement. They role play Rosa Park's refusal to move to the back of the bus.
Facing History and Ourselves
Defining Freedom
The Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in the Confederate states. The Thirteenth Amendment banned slavery in the United States. However, neither document defined freedom. The second instructional activity in the Reconstruction Era...
Digital Public Library of America
Ida B. Wells and Anti-Lynching Activism
A packet of 13 primary sources provides young historians with insight into the anti-lynching activism of civil rights Ida B. Wells. Included are images of Wells, her letters, a political cartoon, newspaper lynching announcements, and a...
Curated OER
The Causes of Prohibition
Eleventh graders explore the origins of the Prohibition Movement in the United States. In small groups, they analyze the influence of World War I in the passage of the eighteenth amendment. Students explain how different demographics of...
Curated OER
Making Democracy Work for Everyone, 1877-1904
Young scholars investigate the culture of the post Reconstruction South. They participate in a jigsaw research activity, conduct Internet research on an assigned topic, and write a report to present to the class.
Curated OER
The Black Hawk War-Reconstructing "Stillman's Run"
Eleventh graders compare several eyewitness accounts of Stillman's Run, and discuss how a historian might use them. They act as historians and try to reconstruct what happened during Stillman's Run from the eyewitness accounts.
Center for History and New Media
The Impact of the Jim Crow Era on Education, 1877–1930s
Even though American slaves were officially emancipated in 1865, the effects of slavery perpetuated throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Middle and high schoolers learn about the ways that discrimination and the Jim Crow laws...
Carolina K-12
Group Project: Freedom Parade
Parades are a great way to celebrate. Get young historians into the festivities by asking them to create an informational float for a Freedom Parade. Picking a topic from the provided list or suggesting one of their own, class members...
Curated OER
Black Soldiers in the Civil War
Learners explain how a history of slavery distinguishes American society from other societies. They study posters and documents from different eras in our history which document the practice of slavery, and civil rights violations.
Atlanta History Center
What if YOU Lived During Jim Crow?
Young historians envision what life was like for African Americans living in the Jim Crow South through hands-on, experiential activities.
Digital Public Library of America
The Fifteenth Amendment
Fifteen primary sources provide a context for a study of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The packet captures the excitement for the changes promised by the amendment as well as the backlash against it.