PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Writing in u.s. History: The Emancipation Proclamation
Assess how the Emancipation Proclamation expanded ideas of freedom and liberty, looking at the antislavery debate that led to the proclamation, the influences on Lincoln's decision, and the provisions of the document. In this interactive...
Henry J. Sage
Sage American History: Reconstruction & Civil Rights
Following the Civil War in the United States came an era of reconstruction. The men and women who were freed from slavery were suddenly stuck trying to sort out all of the freedoms as well as new responsibilities they were facing. The...
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Gettysburg to Appomattox
Overview of the ongoing battles between Union and Confederate armies resulting in Lee's surrender at Appomattox.
PBS
Pbs: American Experience: Reconstruction: Northerners in the South
A fascinating firsthand account from the perspective of a carpetbagger and Civil War veteran. This veteran describes the roles he played in the Reconstruction process, his efforts to fit into Southern society, and Southern attitudes...
Black Past
Black Past: Historically Black Colleges and Universities of Atlanta
This interesting encyclopedia article gives information about theblack universities that were founded in Atlanta after the Civil War. Later several joined together to make a consortium called the Atlanta University System.
Library of Congress
Loc: African American Odyssey: Reconstruction and Its Aftermath: Black Exodus
Newly freed slaves left the South after the Civil War and many moved to the West. Read about the all-black community in Kansas called Nicodemus.
Other
Reconstructing the South: First Reconstruction Act, 1867
The text of the first Reconstruction Act providing for the government of the former Confederate states by placing them in military districts.
Virginia History Series
Virginia History Series: Virginia State History Reconstruction to 1900 [Pdf]
Much of Virginia was devastated after the Civil War so a period of rebuilding commenced. Follow Reconstruction through the different plans, the effects on African-Americans and the South. This slideshow has pictures,charts, and maps to...
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Gilder Lehrman Institute: Ap Us History Study Guide, Period Five: 1844 1877
[Free Registration/Login Required] Advanced Placement U.S. History learning module on Civil War era America and the transformation of society, 1844-1877. Comprehensive study tools include videos, essays, primary source documents, and...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Us History: 1844 1877: Quiz 3
A quick comprehension check over Reconstruction and issues during the Civil War.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Veteran, the Gilded and the Gritty: America, 1870 1912
A poignant Winslow Homer painting (1865) that suggests the psychic state of Civil War veterans.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Wall Street Speech, the Gilded and the Gritty: America, 1870 1912
A "bloody shirt" speech from Robert Ingersoll that emphasizes the virtue of Republican candidates and attacks Democrats as traitors during the Civil War.
Ducksters
Ducksters: Quiz: Civil War Reconstruction for Kids
History Questions: Reconstruction Quiz, Test, and WebQuest
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Reconstruction
A very good overview of Reconstruction in the South after the Civil War. Find the questions that needed to be answered about how to reincorporate the Confederate states, what rights freed blacks would have, and how terms of...
Read Works
Read Works: Transcontinental Railroads: Compressing Time and Space
[Free Registration/Login Required] Abridged from the full text located at the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, this passage provides information about the development of the transcontinental railroad. Paired texts, a text...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Primary Source Set: Blackface Minstrelsy in Modern America
This collection uses primary sources to explore blackface minstrelsy in modern America.
Birmingham Museums Trust (UK)
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery: The Stuarts and the Civil War
A reference page describing the seige of Aston Hall. Learn about the history of Aston Hall through information about who built it, life at the time it was built, and the reconstruction after the seige.
Then Again
Then Again: Web Chron: Reconstruction Era
A short timeline on the main events of the period of Reconstruction from 1865 to 1897. A few of the events are clickable and can be followed for additional information.
PBS
Pbs: Slave to Sharecropper
This collection of resources examines the life and work of freed slaves after the Civil War. Includes questions and answers on sharecropping in the American South, as well as a personal account from a former slave who became a sharecropper.
New York Public Library
In Motion: The Land Promised Lesson Plan: African American Homesteaders
The narrative, The Western Migration, features African Americans with agricultural backgrounds who migrated west following the Civil War and availed themselves of the opportunity to homestead. The Land Promised is designed for use in...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Citizens: African American Identity: 1865 1917
Discusses the efforts of African Americans to be recognized as equal citizens after the Civil War, and the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. Includes links to supplemental information.
PBS
Pbs: Angelina and Sarah Grimke
A biography of the Grimke sisters, women who were before their time in so many ways and who fought for equality of the sexes.
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Slavery & the Making of America
Using primary documents, oral histories, and other historical resources, discover how the arts of Africa, Europe, and pre-Civil War America influenced the culture of enslaved African Americans.
University of North Carolina
Documenting the American South: The New Slavery in the South
This autobiography of an African-American man relates his experiences as a free laborer in Georgia after the Civil War. You will see that he felt his conditions were not unlike the slavery that existed before the Civil War. From the...