TEACHER:
FRAME THE LESSON
CLASS: 8th Grade
DATE: April 18-19
M T W TH F
Reconstruction and Southern Society
Resources/Materials:
Student Expectations Bundled in Lesson
Noun=Underline
Verb=Italicize
1A: identify the major eras and events in U.S. history through 1877, including colonization, revolution, drafting of the Declaration
of Independence, creation and ratification of the Constitution, religious revivals such as the Second Great Awakening, early
republic, the Age of Jackson, westward expansion, reform movements, sectionalism, Civil War, and Reconstruction, and describe
their causes and effects
9A: evaluate legislative reform programs of the Radical Reconstruction Congress and reconstructed state governments
U.S. History Textbook
Colonization through
Reconstruction
(p. 576-582)
Interactive Reading
Notepad (p. 576)
Online Editable
Presentation (p. 576)
9B: evaluate the impact of the election of Hiram Rhodes Revels
9C: explain the economic, political, and social problems during Reconstruction and evaluate their impact on different groups
12D: analyze the causes and effects of economic differences among different regions of the United States at selected times in U.S.
history
21A: identify different points of view of political parties and interest groups on important historical and contemporary issues
Online Start Up
Activity (p. 572)
Interactive Gallery:
Reconstruction-Era
Political Groups
(p. 578)
Digital Activity:
Differing Views of
Reconstruction (p. 580)
Analyze Political
Cartoon (p. 579)
Digital Lesson Quiz:
(p. 580)
Objective/Key Understanding:




Identify new forces in southern politics.
Describe how southern conservatives resisted Reconstruction.
Analyze the economic, political, and social challenges facing reconstruction governments.
Explain why sharecropping led to a cycle of poverty.
Introduce Vocabulary Activity (p. 576)
Hiram Rhodes Revels
scalawag
carpetbagger
Ku Klux Klan
sharecropper
Informal Assessment Questions 1-5 (p. 582)





Explain why white southern conservatives resisted Reconstruction.
Why didn’t any southern states elect an African American as governor?
Summarize the purpose and activities of the Ku Klux Klan.
What was the central challenge to rebuilding the South and how did the southern states meet this challenge?
Why did the freedmen have such difficulty finding work in the South after the war, and why did so many of them turn to sharecropping?
Critical Writing Prompt:
Stop & Check for Understanding—High Level Questions




Describe how politics in the South changed during Reconstruction.
Explain the social and political impact of southern conservatives during reconstruction.
Summarize the problems that faced Reconstruction governments trying to rebuild the South.
What was the biggest problem with sharecropping?
Small Group Purposeful Talk Question Stems
New Political groups in the South (p. 577-578)
 Contrast the views of white southern Democrats and white southern Republicans on Reconstruction.
Conservatives Resist Reform (p. 578-579)
 Cite evidence that southern Conservatives opposed Reconstruction and why.
Political Problems and Legislative Reform (p. 579-580)
 Give three examples of how Reconstruction governments brought improvements to southern states.
 What political problems hindered progress of rebuilding in the South?
 How did economic differences between the North and South affect attitudes toward Reconstruction?
 Identify the legislative reform programs of the reconstructed state governments, and evaluate whether they were effective in rebuilding southern
states.
Economic Problems During Reconstruction (p. 581-582)
 Explain the economic problems African Americans and poor white southerners faced that led them to become sharecroppers.
 Describe the effects of Reconstruction on economic opportunities for African Americans.
 Why did one freedman say those who had been enslaved received “nothing but freedom”?
Online Resources, Analyzing Maps and Charts & Digital Activity
Interactive Reading Notepad (p. 576)
You may also use the questions found in the Interactive Reading Notepad (p. 576) for this lesson to guide your class discussion.
Online Editable Presentation (p. 576)
Use the Online Editable Presentation (p. 576) found on the Digital Course to present the main ideas for this lesson.
Online Start Up Activity (p. 576)
You can project the Start Up Activity from the course. Ask students to think about what they have learned so far about reconstruction.
 Write down one social problem, one political problem, and one economic problem that you think the South will continue to face as
Reconstruction progresses.
Interactive Gallery: Reconstruction-Era Political Groups (p. 578)
Project the Interactive Gallery: Reconstruction-Era Political Groups (p. 578) and click through the images.
 Cite evidence that southern Conservatives opposed Reconstruction and why.
Analyze Political Cartoon (p. 579)
Review the cartoon on page 579. Both the KKK and White League used violence to try to prevent freedmen from voting.
 What does the phrase “worse than slavery” suggest about the effect of this violence on African American families?
Digital Activity: Differing Views of Reconstruction (p. 580)
Project the Digital Activity: Differing Views of Reconstruction (p. 580). Have students fill in the chart and choose two of the groups to write about.
Have students review the predictions they made at the beginning of the lesson.
 How accurate were your predictions and whether or not they would revise their list of problems. Students are to share their responses.
Digital Lesson Quiz: (p. 580)
Assign the Digital Lesson Quiz. Pose these questions:
 How did Reconstruction cause the political landscape of the South to change?
 What social, political, and economic problems did African Americans continue to face during Reconstruction?
Engage
~Have students preview the lesson objectives and the list of key terms (p.576). Use the Editable Presentation found on the digital course to
present the main ideas of the lesson (p. 576).
Complete the Start Up Activity on p 576. Ask students to think about what they have learned so far about reconstruction.
 Write down one social problem, one political problem, and one economic problem that you think the South will continue to face as
Reconstruction progresses.
Explore
Explain
Elaborate
Evaluate
Tell students that in this lesson they will be learning about the impact of Reconstruction on southern society.
~Divide the class into groups. Each group is to read a section and be prepared to discuss and share findings with the class. Students are to
read assigned sections and use the Note Taking Study Guide to help them take notes and understand the text as they read.
 New Political groups in the South (p. 577-578)
 Conservatives Resist Reform (p. 578-579)
 Political Problems and Legislative Reform (p. 579-580)
 Economic Problems During Reconstruction (p. 581-582)
Tell students that in this lesson they will be learning about the impact of Reco9nstruction on southern society.
New Political groups in the South (p. 577-578)
 One group to emerge consisted of white southerners who supported the new Republican governments. Many were businesspeople
who had opposed secession in 1860. They wanted to forget the war and get on with rebuilding the South.
Conservatives Resist Reform (p. 578-579)
 Most white southerners who had held power before the Civil War resisted Reconstruction. These conservatives resented the changes
imposed by Congress and enforced by the military. They wanted the South to change as little as possible.
Political Problems and Legislative Reform (p. 579-580)
 Reconstruction governments tried to rebuild the South. They built public schools for both black and white children. Many states gave
women the right to own property. In addition, Reconstruction governments rebuilt railroads, telegraph lines, bridges, and roads.
Between 1865 and 1879, the South laid 7,000 miles of railroad track. However, political problems due to controversial government
policies and political corruption impacted southerners and hindered progress.
Economic Problems During Reconstruction (p. 581-582)
 In the first months after the war, freedmen left the plantations on which they had lived and worked. They found new opportunities,
however.
~Guided Reading and Discussion Questions
 See Small Group Purposeful Talk Question Stems from the previous page for this portion of the lesson.
~Analyzing Maps and Charts & Digital Activity
 See Online Resources from the previous page for this portion of the lesson.
~Assign the Digital Lesson Quiz for this lesson (p. 582). Teachers can also opt to have students demonstrate mastery by responding to the
following questions on paper:
 Explain why white southern conservatives resisted Reconstruction.
 Why didn’t any southern states elect an African American as governor?
 Summarize the purpose and activities of the Ku Klux Klan.
 What was the central challenge to rebuilding the South and how did the southern states meet this challenge?
 Why did the freedmen have such difficulty finding work in the South after the war, and why did so many of them turn to
sharecropping?
FRAME THE LESSON
The Aftermath of Reconstruction
TEACHER:
CLASS: 8th Grade
DATE: April 20-22
M T W TH F
Student Expectations Bundled in Lesson
Noun=Underline
Verb=Italicize
Resources/Materials
1A: identify the major eras and events in U.S. history through 1877, including colonization, revolution, drafting of the Declaration
of Independence, creation and ratification of the Constitution, religious revivals such as the Second Great Awakening, early
republic, the Age of Jackson, westward expansion, reform movements, sectionalism, Civil War, and Reconstruction, and describe
their causes and effects
9A: evaluate legislative reform programs of the Radical Reconstruction Congress and reconstructed state governments
9C: explain the economic, political, and social problems during Reconstruction and evaluate their impact on different groups
U.S. History
Textbook
Colonization through
Reconstruction
(p. 583-587)
Interactive Reading
Notepad (p. 583)
Online Editable
Presentation (p. 583)
11A: analyze how physical characteristics of the environment influenced population distribution, settlement patterns, and
economic activities in the United States during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries
Analyze Maps
(p. 584)
11B: describe the positive and negative consequences of human modification of the physical environment of the United States
23C: identify ways conflicts between people from various racial, ethnic, and religious groups were resolved
Interactive Timeline:
Oppression of
African Americans
(p. 585)
Objective/Key Understanding:



Summarize the events that led to the end of Reconstruction.
Explain how the rights of African Americans were restricted in the South after Reconstruction.
Identify industries that flourished in the “New South.”
Digital Lesson Quiz:
(p. 586)
Introduce Vocabulary Activity (p. 583)
Poll tax
“New South”
literacy test
Plessy v. Ferguson
grandfather clause
Compromise of 1877
segregation
Jim Crow Laws
Stop & Check for Understanding—High Level Questions



Digital Activity: The
Effects of
Reconstruction
(p. 586)
Explain why southern Democrats did not fight the decision by the special commission to give the presidential election of
1876 to Rutherford B. Hayes.
Summarize the ways in which southern governments restricted the rights of freedom.
Compare the post-Reconstruction economy of the South with its pre-Civil War economy.
Interactive Before
and After: Change in
Southern Industry
(p. 587)
Informal Assessment Questions 1-5 (p. 588)
 What was life like for African Americans in the South after Reconstruction ended?
 Why did the South become a Democratic stronghold?
 Summarize the effect of Jim Crow laws.
 How was the decision in Plessy v. Ferguson inconsistent with reality?
 How did the South change to improve its economic situation?
Small Group Purposeful Talk Question Stems
Critical Writing Prompt:
Reconstruction Ends (p. 584-585)
 What factors caused Reconstruction to end?
New Legislation Restricts African American Rights (p. 585-586)
 Give examples of new laws passed in the South and explain their impact on African Americans.
The “New South” Moves Toward Industry (p. 587-588)
 How did the physical characteristics of the environment influence economic activities in the South during the nineteenth century?
Online Resources, Analyzing Maps and Charts & Digital Activity
Interactive Reading Notepad (p. 583)
You may also use the questions found in the Interactive Reading Notepad (p. 583) for this lesson to guide your class discussion.
Online Editable Presentation (p. 583)
Use the Online Editable Presentation (p. 583) found on the Digital Course to present the main ideas for this lesson.
Online Start Up Activity (p. 583)
You can project the Start Up Activity from the course. Tell students that in 1896, the Supreme Court rules that segregation was legal in public facilities
as long as the facilities were equal. Justice John Marshall Harlan disagreed and said, “Our constitution is color-blind and neither knows nor tolerates
classes among citizens.”
 Write a paragraph explaining why Harlan disagreed with the decision.
Tell students that in this lesson they will be learning about the political, social, and economic impacts of Reconstruction following the end of the
Reconstruction Era.
Analyze Maps (p. 584)
Review the map, Election of 1876, on page 584.
 Based on the information in the map, why might Hayes’s victory in the 1876 election have come as a surprise to some?
Interactive Timeline: Oppression of African Americans (p. 585)
Project the Interactive Timeline: Oppression of African Americans (p. 585) and read through the events.
 Discuss the political problems that led to the erosion of African American rights.
Digital Activity: The Effects of Reconstruction (p. 586)
Project the Digital Activity: The Effects of Reconstruction (p. 586). Have students fill in the graphic organizer, answer the questions, and share their views about the
overall effectiveness of Reconstruction and the ways it changed life in the South.
 Consider the effects of Reconstruction and how they impacted relations between the North and South.
Digital Lesson Quiz: (p. 586)
Assign the Digital Lesson Quiz. Pose these questions:
 Why did Reconstruction come to a close? What were the effects of its ending?
 How did Reconstruction change life for African Americans socially and politically?
 In what ways did a “New South” develop following the Civil War?
Engage
~Have students preview the lesson objectives and the list of key terms (p.583). Use the Editable Presentation found on the digital course to present the main ideas of the
lesson (p. 583).
Complete the Start Up Activity on p 583. Tell students that in 1896, the Supreme Court rules that segregation was legal in public facilities as long as the facilities were
equal. Justice John Marshall Harlan disagreed and said, “Our constitution is color-blind and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.”
 Write a paragraph explaining why Harlan disagreed with the decision.
Explore
Explain
Elaborate
Evaluate
Tell students that in this lesson they will be learning about the political, social, and economic impacts of Reconstruction following the end of the Reconstruction Era.
~Divide the class into groups. Each group is to read a section and be prepared to discuss and share findings with the class. Students are to read assigned sections and use
the Note Taking Study Guide to help them take notes and understand the text as they read.
 Reconstruction Ends (p. 584-585)
 New legislation restricts African American Rights (p. 585-586)
 The “New South” Moves Toward Industry (p. 587-588)
~Tell students that in this lesson they will be learning about the political, social, and economic impacts of Reconstruction following the end of the Reconstruction Era.
Reconstruction Ends (p. 584-585)
 Disclosure of widespread corruption also hurt Republicans. President Grant appointed many friends to government offices. Some used their position to steal
large sums of money from the government. Grant won reelection in 1872, but many Northerners lost faith in Republicans and their policies.
New Legislation restricts African American Rights (p. 585-586)
 As federal troops withdrew from southern states, Conservative Democrats tightened their grip on southern governments. These Conservatives found new ways
to keep African Americans from exercising their rights. Many of these were laws that restricted the right to vote.
The “New South” Moves Toward Industry (p. 587-588)
 During Reconstruction, the South made some progress toward rebuilding its economy. Cotton production, long the basis of the South’s economy, slowly
recovered. By 1880, planters were growing as much cotton as they had in 1860.
~Guided Reading and Discussion Questions
 See Small Group Purposeful Talk Question Stems from the previous page for this portion of the lesson.
~Analyzing Maps and Charts & Digital Activity
 See Online Resources from the previous page for this portion of the lesson.
~Assign the Digital Lesson Quiz for this lesson (p. 588). Teachers can also opt to have students demonstrate mastery by responding to the following questions on
paper:
 What was life like for African Americans in the South after Reconstruction ended?
 Why did the South become a Democratic stronghold?
 Summarize the effect of Jim Crow laws.
 How was the decision in Plessy v. Ferguson inconsistent with reality?
 How did the South change to improve its economic situation?