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Reconstruction Timeline

1865 The Civil War ends.

Republican President Abraham Lincoln is assassinated.

Democrat Andrew Johnson becomes president.

13

th

Amendment to the Constitution passes.

Congress creates the Freedmen’s Bureau to help freed

men and women transition from slavery.

1866 Civil Rights Act of 1866 allows African Americans to own

property and to be treated equally in court.

The Ku Klux Klan is founded.

1867 Radical Republicans take over the United States

government.

1868 14

th

Amendment to the Constitution passes.

First African American elected to United States Congress.

1869 Ulysses S. Grant is elected president.

1870 15

th

Amendment to the Constitution passes.

1871 Congress passes the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 in

response to reports of widespread violence in the South.

1872 The Freedmen’s Bureau ends.

1874 Democrats take control of the United States Congress.

Radical Republicans are no longer in power.

1877 Rutherford B. Hayes is elected President and officially

ends Reconstruction. Hayes pulls all remaining Northern

troops out of the Southern states.

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Document A: The Reconstruction Amendments (Modified)

The 13

th

, 14

th

and 15

th

amendments to the United States Constitution are

sometimes called the “Reconstruction Amendments.” They were passed in

order to abolish slavery and to establish the rights of former slaves.

13

th

Amendment: 1865

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a

punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted,

shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their

jurisdiction.

14

th

Amendment: 1868

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States . . . are

citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State

shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or

immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any

person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to

any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

15

th

Amendment: 1870

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be

denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race,

color, or previous condition of servitude.

Vocabulary

jurisdiction: legal control

naturalized: made citizens

abridge: limit

immunities: rights

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Document B: Black Codes (Modified)

In the years following the Civil War, many Southern states and cities

passed Black Codes. These laws laid out what freed blacks were and were

not allowed to do. The document below, passed July 3, 1865, is a Black

Code from Opelousas, Louisiana.

SECTION 1. No negro shall be allowed to come within the limits of

the town of Opelousas without special permission from his employers.

SECTION 3. No negro shall be permitted to rent or keep a house

within the limits of the town under any circumstances.

SECTION 4. No negro shall reside within the limits of the town of

Opelousas who is not in the regular service of some white person or former

owner.

SECTION 5. No public meetings of negroes shall be allowed within

the limits of the town of Opelousas under any circumstances without the

permission of the mayor or president of the board of police. This, however,

does not prevent the freedmen from attending the usual church services.

SECTION 7. No freedman who is not in the military service shall be

allowed to carry firearms, or any kind of weapons, within the limits of the

town of Opelousas without the special permission of his employer, in

writing, and approved by the mayor or president of the board of police.

SECTION 11. All the foregoing provisions apply to freedmen and

freedwomen.

Source: Black Code from Opelousas, Louisiana, July 3, 1865.

Vocabulary

reside: to live in

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Document C: Henry Adams Statement (Modified)

In September 1865 I asked the boss to let me go to the city of Shreveport.

He said, "All right, when will you come back?" I told him "next week." He

said, "You had better carry a pass." I said, "I will see whether I am free by

going without a pass."

I met four white men about six miles south of town. One of them asked me

who I belonged to. I told him no one. So him and two others struck me with

a stick and told me they were going to kill me and every other Negro who

told them that they did not belong to anyone. They left me and I then went

on to Shreveport. I saw over twelve colored men and women, beat, shot and

hung between there and Shreveport.

Sunday I went back home. The boss was not at home. I asked the madam

[the boss’s wife], "where was the boss?" She said, "You should say 'master'.

You all are not free . . . and you shall call every white lady 'missus' and

every white man 'master.'"

During the same week the madam took a stick and beat one of the young

colored girls, who was about fifteen years of age. The boss came the next

day and whipped the same girl nearly to death. . . . After the whipping a

large number of young colored people decided to leave that place for

Shreveport. [On our way], out came about forty armed white men and shot

at us and took my horse. They said they were going to kill every colored

person they found leaving their masters.

Source: Former slave Henry Adams made this statement before the U.S.

Senate in 1880 about the early days of his freedom after the Civil War.

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Document D: Elected Black Officials during Reconstruction

During Reconstruction, thousands of African Americans were elected to local

and state governments throughout the Southern states. In addition, 17 African

Americans were elected to the United States Congress from Southern states

between 1870 and 1877. Here are photographs of 6 of these 17 elected

officials.

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Document E: Education (Modified)

In 1865 the United States government created the Freedmen’s Bureau to

help former slaves in Southern states. The Freedmen’s Bureau helped

people by providing medical supplies and health care and establishing

schools.

The creation of schools for former slaves was an important part of

Reconstruction. Before the Civil War, Southern states outlawed the

teaching of reading and writing to slaves.

Many of the negroes . . . common plantation negroes, and day laborers in

the towns and villages, were supporting little schools themselves.

Everywhere I found them hoping to get their children into schools. I often

noticed that workers in stores and men working in warehouses, and cart

drivers on the streets, had spelling books with them, and were studying

them during the time they were not working. Go outside any large town in

the South, and walk among the negro housing, and you will see children

and in many cases grown negroes, sitting in the sun alongside their cabins

studying.

Source: Sidney Andrews quoted in the Joint Report on Reconstruction,

1866. The document above is an excerpt from a report by a Northern white

man to the United States government in 1866.

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Name_____________

Guiding Questions

Document A: The Reconstruction Amendments

1. When were the 13

th

, 14

th

and 15

th

amendments passed?

2. Why do you think they were passed?

3. What rights did they guarantee for American citizens?

Document B: Black Codes

1. When were these Black Codes written? Who do you think wrote these laws?

2. List three things that freed men and women were not allowed to do according to the

Black Codes.

3. Why would white Southerners pass laws that controlled the movement of African

Americans? What would happen if African Americans left the South in huge

numbers?

4. How do these laws help you to understand what life was like in Louisiana and other

Southern states after the Civil War?

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Document C: Henry Adams’s Statement

1. Who wrote this document? When and why was it written?

2. According to Adams, what was life like for freed men and women after the Civil War?

3. Do you trust the account in this document? Why or why not?

Document D: African American Political Representation

What does this information about African-American politicians tell you about what life was

like for African Americans during Reconstruction?

Document E: Education

1. Why do you think education was important to former slaves during Reconstruction?

2. How does this description of life for freedmen compare to Henry Adams’s statement?

STANFORD HISTORY EDUCATION GROUP sheg.stanford.edu

Structured Academic Controversy:

Reconstruction

Reconstruction was the period between 1865 and 1877, when the nation tried to build

itself after the Civil War.

During today’s class, you will work in teams to discuss whether or not African

Americans were free during Reconstruction. Your goals for today should include looking

at all the issues, seeing both sides, and finding common ground.

SAC QUESTION: Were African Americans free during

Reconstruction?

Team A will argue: YES, African Americans were free during Reconstruction.

Team B will argue: NO, African Americans were NOT free during

Reconstruction.

PROCEDURE

30 minutes With your teammate, read the documents in the Reconstruction

document set. Find four pieces of evidence which support your side

10 minutes Team A presents. BOTH PARTNERS MUST PRESENT!!!

Team B writes down Team A’s arguments and then repeats them

back to Team A.

10 minutes Team B presents. BOTH PARTNERS MUST PRESENT!!!

Team A down arguments of Team B and then repeats them back to

Team B.

10 minutes Everyone CAN ABANDON their positions. Group of 4 attempts to develop

a consensus.

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Name_____________

ORGANIZING THE EVIDENCE

Use this space to write your main points and the main points made by the other side.

African Americans WERE free during Reconstruction: List the 4 main

points/evidence that support this side.

1) From Document _____:

2) From Document _____:

3) From Document _____:

4) From Document _____:

African Americans were NOT free during Reconstruction: List the 4 main

points/evidence that support this side.

1) From Document _____:

2) From Document _____:

3) From Document _____:

4) From Document _____:

STANFORD HISTORY EDUCATION GROUP sheg.stanford.edu

Coming to Consensus

STARTING NOW, YOU MAY ABANDON YOUR ASSIGNED POSITION AND ARGUE

FOR EITHER SIDE.

Use the space below to outline your group’s agreement. Your agreement should

address evidence and arguments from both sides.

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