Unit 5: Reconstruction of a Nation (1865-1880)
Unit Overview: Reconstruction of a Nation
This unit covers the years 1865 to 1880. Major events/themes covered in this unit:
Closing battles of the Civil War
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln and trial of his assassins
Reconstruction plans for the South
The struggles between President Andrew Johnson and congress
Congressional Reconstruction and presidency of U.S. Grant
Southern reaction to Reconstruction and the Black Codes
Freedmen's Bureau and 19th Century Civil Rights legislation
Plessy v Ferguson and the end of Reconstruction
Unit Essay: Reconstruction
In order to get credit for this project you must write an essay on the following topic:
ReconstructionIn 1865, after four grueling years of war, the Confederacy had been defeated and their society had been in many ways destroyed. Before he died, Lincoln understood that the South would be in need of reconstruction and had begun to make plans for its rebuilding. The great problem that the Federal government faced in Southern reconstruction was how to integrate African Americans as equals in a society where they had previously been slaves, all the while facing a hostile and resistant population. Using the knowledge you have gained from your lessons in this unit, write a well-developed essay of no less than 600 words on whether or not the Reconstruction can be viewed as a success.
Helpful links for this essay:
US Civil War and Reconstruction in 10 minutes (10:21)
"Worse than Slavery", a Reconstruction Era political cartoon
Unit Videos:
Civil War Episode 9: The Better Angels of Our Nature
God in America 3: A Nation Reborn
US Civil War and Reconstruction in 10 minutes (10:21)
Unit Lectures:
Unit Primary Sources:
Civil War Unit 5 Key Terms
Civil War Unit 5 Key Terms
For this project you must define the terms listed below and explain each term's significance to the unit/era being studied. Your definition should be 2-3 sentences long and may be copied and pasted from a source like Wikipedia, but the significance of the term must be in your own words and based on your own understanding. To fill out a term's significance, ask yourself, "Why is this item included in my study of this unit? Why is this term in a history book?" The answer to this question is your term's significance.
Unit 5 Key Terms:
Battle of Fort Stedman
Battle of Five Forks
Appomattox Campaign
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Ten Percent Plan (of Reconstruction)
President Andrew Johnson
Radical Republicans
Reconstruction Era
Black Codes
Carpetbaggers/Scalawags
The 13th Amendment
Civil Rights Act of 1866
Ku Klux Klan
Freedmen's Bureau
The 14th Amendment
The 15th Amendment
Civil Rights Act of 1871
Election of 1876
Compromise of 1877
Plessy v Ferguson
Below is an example of a key term done with the proper format:
William the Conqueror: William I (c. 1028[2] – 9 September 1087), also known as William the Conqueror (Guillaume le Conquérant), was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II. Before his conquest of England, he was known as William the Bastard because of the illegitimacy of his birth.To press his claim to the English crown, William invaded England in 1066, leading an army of Normans, Bretons, Flemings, and Frenchmen (from Paris andÎle-de-France) to victory over the English forces of King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest.[3] (I copied and pasted this definition from Wikipedia)
Significance: William the Conqueror is significant because his conquest of England created the first nation state in Europe. His rearrangement of English feudal territories to give himself dramatically more power than the the barons and nobles around him caused him to be the most powerful monarch in Europe and eventually led to the rise of other nation states over the next few centuries. (These are my words based on my knowledge of English and European history.)