National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: Reconstruction and the Formerly Enslaved
What are the "big questions" of Reconstruction? Article provides an overview of the Reconstruction period when Americans debated rights and the nature of freedom and equality. It focuses on who was an American and how citizenship should...
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: Impact of Dred Scott: The Road to Civil War
After the Dred Scott decision by the US Supreme Court, the friction between the North and South over slavery escalated, and the North began to fear that they might not be able to prevent slavery from spreading into their states. The Dred...
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: Ap Us History: The Civil War and Reconstruction
AP U.S. History learning module on the Civil War and Reconstruction. Comprehensive multi-media unit materials.
Library of Congress
Loc: African American Odyssey: Reconstruction and Its Aftermath
Part of a virtual exhibit by the Library of Congress, this site details the effects of the Civil War and Reconstruction on the newly freed slaves. It contains photographs of artwork and a map from the period.
Library of Congress
Loc: African American Odyssey: Reconstruction and Its Aftermath
From the Library of Congress, this resource documents the course of post-Civil War, post-slavery life for black Americans. Topics include education, constitutional amendments, voting rights and the many challenges African Americans faced...
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: National Bank Acts of 1863 and 1864
This essay describes the purposes and effects of the National Bank Acts of 1863 and 1864.
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.
Harp Week
Education at Harp week.com: The Reconstruction Convention Simulation
A simulation activity where students participate in a convention at the end of the American Civil War that never actually took place. Together they grapple with the issues that faced America in 1865 in dealing with the demise of slavery...
Other
W.e.b. Du Bois: Black Reconstruction in America 1860 1880
In this article, the book Black Reconstruction in America by W.E.B. Du Bois is reviewed by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor. This book was written to convey the experiences of African Americans during and after the Civil War, which other history...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: The Reconstruction Amendments
In this interactive lesson, students will understand and explain the key provisions of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, commonly referred to as the Reconstruction Amendments.
Georgia Humanities Council and the University of Georgia Press.
New Georgia Encyclopedia: Reconstruction in Georgia
After the Civil War ended, Georgia was in a state of chaos. Learn all about the Reconstruction in Georgia from 1865-1871 and how it changed the state politically, socially, and economically.
The History Cat
The History Cat: Reconstruction Era
Describes what the South was like after the Civil War ended. Many places were in ruins and people were desperately poor with many being homeless. Social structures had collapsed now that slaves had been freed. The Reconstruction era...
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.
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...
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: The Era of Expansion and Reform
Information about the period in United States history between the Civil War and World War I. The United States was transformed from a rural republic to an urban state.
OpenStax
Open Stax: Restoring the Union
Read this section from a chapter on "The Era of Reconstruction" to learn about Lincoln's plan to restore the Union at the end of the Civil War. Students will be able to discuss the tenets of Radical Republicanism and analyze the success...
Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University Libraries: Gilded Age: 1873 1876: The Panic of 1873
Explains the circumstances and events that led to the Panic of 1873, which was precipitated by the collapse of the Philadelphia investment house of Jay Cooke.
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian American Art Museum: The Gilded Age
The Smithsonian presents a collection of sixty pieces of art from the Gilded Age period in America. Works are included by such artists as Sargent, Thayer, Bannister, Beaux, and others.
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Forever Free: The 1870s: Education
Read about the development of free education for African Americans following the emancipation of this enslaved population. This article focuses on schools in Texas, including what is now known as Texas A&M University. Includes a...
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: Anglo American Colonization in Texas: Agriculture
Outlines the agricultural differences between the Upper and Lower South of Texas prior to the Civil War.
Then Again
Then Again: Web Chron: The Compromise of 1877
Discusses the Compromise of 1877 between the Republicans and Democrats, which was the solution to the contested Presidential election of 1876. It also brought an end to the period of Reconstruction following the Civil War.
Black Past
Black Past: Hampton University
This informative encyclopedia article traces the evolution of Hampton University from an agricultural and vocational institute for African Americans after the Civil War to a well-respected university offering graduate and research programs.
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: Carpetbaggers
This article provides facts and information about the Carpetbaggers, opportunist Northerners who went to the South during the Reconstruction Era following the Civil War.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Robert Smalls
Brief biographical details on Robert Smalls, an African-American slave who became a naval hero for the Union in the American Civil War and went on to serve as a congressman from South Carolina during Reconstruction.