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Primary Source Set Reconstruction

The resources in this primary source set are intended for classroom use. If your use will be beyond a single classroom, please review the copyright and fair use guidelines.

Teacher’s Guide

To help your students analyze these primary sources, get a graphic organizer and guides: Analysis Tool and Guides

Background

In the wake of the American Civil War, the United States faced an enormous responsibility of rebuilding a fragile union of states. How would the eleven states that had comprised the Confederate States of America reintegrate into the United States? Additionally, entire cities and towns were in physical ruin. And yet, there was also a great need beyond political and physical rebuilding. A multi-century system of enslaving African Americans was, in theory, over. What would it mean to define and create a society in which formerly enslaved people could fully and freely participate?

From 1865 to 1877, the people and government of the United States attempted to answer that question in an era known today as Reconstruction. Federal programs like the Freedmen’s Bureau and landmark civil rights legislation including the Civil Rights Act of 1875 and the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments had the potential to reshape southern society and America as a whole. Black Americans acted on those reforms and created new opportunities for themselves and subsequent generations.

With support from the Freedmen’s Bureau, education and literacy rates among newly freed African Americans soared. Working with their allies, African American leaders advocated for and built institutions of elementary, secondary, and higher education, including universities that today remain part of a network of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Newspapers for and by Black Americans furthered the impact of educational opportunities. Black-owned newspapers in the South provided essential information about Reconstruction programs and services. Newspapers also helped to reunite families that had been separated during slavery.

Churches were a source of strength, not only as places of worship but also for community building and support. The church could also be a pathway to civic leadership. Leaders in Black churches might go on to serve in government at the city, state, and even federal level.

The possibility of owning land brought economic opportunity for newly freed African Americans. At the urging of and pressure from Black ministers, in 1965 Union General William T. Sherman issued Special Field Order 15. The order made available land for settlement by freed families in forty-acre tracts. However, Andrew Johnson repealed the order soon after he became president and lands were taken back by white southerners.

President Johnson’s rejection of many Reconstruction policies mirrored the attitude of many southerners. White nationalist organizations like the Ku Klux Klan formed in response to Reconstruction policies. Although Congress passed additional legislation that aimed to protect African Americans from harm, such as the Enforcement Acts of 1870 and 1871, federal oversight of civil rights protections for African Americans was short lived.

The end of Reconstruction was a result of several factors, including an economic panic in 1873 that strained the federal government’s willingness to continue spending on Reconstruction programs. When the results of the presidential election of 1876 were contested, Democrats in Congress seized an opportunity. While the Republican candidate eventually won the votes in question, Democratic members of Congress threatened to prevent the final count of votes. In exchange for allowing the count to proceed, Democrats demanded that federal troops enforcing Reconstruction programs leave the South.

Southern state governments quickly removed civil rights protections. The Ku Klux Klan and other terror organizations used intimidation and violence to maintain a social order of white supremacy. Yet, African Americans continued to find ways to invest in and strengthen the institutions they built during Reconstruction. Individuals and communities formed civic organizations and advocated for full civil rights. Their efforts built the groundwork for subsequent movements for equality, including the civil rights movement of 1950s and 60s.

Suggestions for Teachers

  • Give students time to broadly examine the range of sources featured in this set. Instruct students to select several different source types for further study (newspaper article, map, poster). Direct students to compare and contrast each source in terms of the information it can provide about Reconstruction. What unique insights about Reconstruction do different sources offer? Do the sources support or contradict one another? What formats do students find most compelling and why?
  • Help students look in this set’s primary sources for examples of African American agency, or the ability to act and influence events. Ask students what examples stand out and why. Encourage students to consider why agency is important to thinking about Reconstruction, and other periods in U.S. history.
  • Guide students to consider how sources in the set compare to narratives about Reconstruction found in a textbook or other secondary source. Prompt students to look for similarities as well as differences. Remind students to look for differing perspectives and consider what may be missing.
  • Encourage students to look at the sources for examples of backlash to Reconstruction. Teachers might clarify that backlash can come in many forms. Encourage students to reflect on the significance of backlash to change. What other periods in the country’s history has there been backlash and what did it look like?

Additional Resources