African American Rights During Reconstruction


Students brainstorm what challenges people might face when they become free. Then they learn about issues facing freed African Americans, including sharecropping and education. Next they examine the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and Black Codes, and they explain how these were forms of extreme violence. Finally they read about some of the early African American politicians in Texas.

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Here are the teacher pack items for African American Rights During Reconstruction:

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Overview

Students brainstorm what challenges people might face when they become free. Then they learn about issues facing freed African Americans, including sharecropping and education. Next they examine the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and Black Codes, and they explain how these were forms of extreme violence. Finally they read about some of the early African American politicians in Texas.

If you have access to leveled readers about sharecroppers or other freedmen’s experiences, assign them to the students in parallel to this experience.

Estimated duration: 35-45 minutes

 

Discovery Reading

A printable Discovery Reading is included in the student pack as a support for understanding the experience’s core content and concepts. This Discovery Reading is not necessary to complete the experience and serves as an optional support resource.

Vocabulary Words:

These vocabulary words are used in the experience or connect closely to the standards and content students examine. Students should understand these terms as they work through the experience.

  • Freedmen’s Bureau: a government agency created after the Civil War to help formerly enslaved people find family members, get medical care, find jobs, and go to school.
  • sharecropping: a farming system in which workers farmed land owned by someone else and received part of the crop in return.
  • segregation: the separation of people by race, such as Black children and white children going to different schools.
  • Black Codes: unfair laws passed after the Civil War to control Black people’s work and limit their rights.
  • Ku Klux Klan (KKK): a hate group that used threats and violence against Black people and people who supported equal rights.
  • Reconstruction: the period after the Civil War when the United States worked to rebuild and formerly enslaved people tried to build new lives with freedom.
  • political representation: having leaders in government who speak for a group of people and work to protect their rights.
 

Objectives

  • Explain how African American rights were both protected and limited during Reconstruction.
  • Identify the contributions of prominent African American Texans during the Reconstruction period.


Engage


Among the people whose lives changed most after the Civil War were formerly enslaved people. Freedom brought new opportunities, but it also brought many challenges. People who had been enslaved had to seek education, find work, and build safe and stable lives for themselves and their families. In this experience, you will continue to learn about the challenges African Americans faced during Reconstruction.

Objectives

  • Explain how African American rights were both protected and limited during Reconstruction.
  • Identify the contributions of prominent African American Texans during the Reconstruction period.


old photograph of a Black man sitting on a wooden step, holding a large horn

A formerly enslaved person living in Texas in 1939.
The horn he is holding was once used to call enslaved people in from the fields.


Imagine you were not allowed to make your own choices and had to work for someone else your whole life. You did not get paid, and you could not decide where to live or what to do. The person in charge gave you food, clothes, and a place to stay, but you were not free.

Then one day, the government announces that you are free. Now you can make your own choices—but you don’t have a home, money, or a place to go. How might you feel? What challenges might you face?

Post your answer

Guide students to think about what it would feel like to suddenly be free but without resources or support. Encourage them to share ideas about emotions (such as excitement, confusion, or fear) and challenges (like finding food, shelter, or work). You may want to model a response first to help students get started. As students share, gently connect their ideas to the experiences of formerly enslaved people after the Civil War, helping them understand that freedom was an important change, but it also came with many difficulties.


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The Complete List of Learning Experiences in Reconstruction and Frontiers Unit.
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