African American Studies

Unit 3

Unit 3- From War to Reconstruction

Essential Standards Competency Goal 4: 4.01; 4.02; 4.03; and 4.04

HISTORY

GEOGRAPHY &
ENVIRONMENTA
L LITERACY

CIVICS AND
GOVERNMENT

ECONOMICS &
FINANCIAL
LITERACY

CULTURE

Unit Overview
In this unit, the students will study the causes of the Civil War and how it created a more
unified nation. They will also analyze the Reconstruction Period in our nation and its
efforts to heal, unify and rebuild. The students will also study the plight of African American
as freedmen and the steps that the government takes to ease their transition as they take
their place in postwar America. They will also see the Jim Crow laws and their impact on the
freedom of African Americans and the rebuilding of the nation.

Generalizations
1.
2.
3.
4.

If slavery had not ended, the south would have eventually become agriculturally poor.
The Civil War saved the republic from completely falling apart.
Reconstruction failed to meet the needs of the newly freed slaves.
The end of slavery placed the newly freed slaves in a new type of servitude under Jim
Crow.
5. The new organizations were created at the end of the Civil War to bridge the gap
between the Reconstruction legislation (Federal) and the Jim Crow laws (state).
6. Juneteenth was a mindset not a reality for the newly freed slaves. OR Juneteenth is a
commemorative event signifying the end to slavery, similar to the 4th of July representing
the day American colonist ended their connections to tyranny.

Essential Questions
1. How did changes to the Constitution change African Americans lives and American
society?
2. How would you explain the emergence and development of African American
institutions?
3. Why did Jim Crow laws impact the African American economy?
4. Why do you think President Lincoln changed his position on African American issues?

Unit3

From War to Reconstruction

African American Studies

Unit 3
5. Why did blacks fight on both sides of the war effort?
6. How did Reconstruction change the lives of freemen?
7. What if any were the successes and failures of Reconstruction?
8. How did the achievements of African Americans after Reconstruction help the progress of
the world during the turn of the century?

Unit Vocabulary
Antislavery movement,
Conflict,
Civil War,
Emancipation,
Reconstruction,
Sectionalism,
Black political leaders,
Jim Crow era,
Progressive Movement,
African Americans move
west,
African American
achievements

Unit3

Abolitionist movement,
Missouri Compromise of
1850,
Popular sovereignty,
Fugitive Slave Act,
Kansas-Nebraska Act,
Dred Scott decision,
Confederate States of
America,
Civil Rights Act of 1866,
54th Massachusetts
Infantry,

From War to Reconstruction

Emancipation
Proclamation,
Juneteenth,
Contraband,
Reconstruction,
Wade-Davis Bill,
13th Amendment,
14th Amendment,
Freedmens Bureau,
10% Plan,
Black Codes

African American Studies

Unit 3

Key People
John Brown,
Frederick Douglas,
Sojourner Truth,
John Brown,
Dred Scott,
Abraham Lincoln,
Andrew Jackson

Unit 3

From War to Reconstruction

Unit 3- Goals
What do students need to KNOW?

What do students need to be able to DO?

The reasons why Lincoln changed his position

about African Americans.

Evaluate Lincolns changing position on African

Americans.

The reasons why the Civil War was fought.

Identify the roles of black soldiers, spies, and

slaves to the war effort in both the North and the
South.

The key players involved in the Civil War.

Why African Americans fought for both the North
and the South during the Civil War.
The pros and cons of the Reconstruction Period.
The difficulties that African Americans faced as the
settled in to their lives as newly freed men and
women.
The failures of Reconstruction.
Why Jim Crow Laws were proposed and their
impact.
How African Americans/whites responded to the
Jim Crow laws.
The purpose and the response of African
Americans responded to the Niagara Movement.
The history, successes and failures of the NAACP
and the Urban League.
The legal responses to segregated society both
from blacks and whites.

Analyze the effects of Reconstruction on the legal,

political, social, cultural, educational, and
economic life of freedmen.
Analyze the successes and failures of
Reconstruction.
Examine the rise of Jim Crow and its effects on the
life experiences of African Americans in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centurys.
Investigate the legal ramifications of segregation
laws and court decisions on American society.
Compare and contrast the political movements
that developed in response to Jim Crow laws
including, but not limited to, the Niagara
Movement, the NAACP, the Urban League, and the
Anti-Lynching Crusade.

I Can Statements

I
I
I
I

can
can
can
can

explain how President Lincoln changed his position on the institution of slavery.
analyze the pros and con of the Reconstruction Period.
explain how the new Jim Crow laws negated the work of the Freedmans Bureau.
explain for the newly freed slaves benefited from the laws passed during the

Reconstruction Period.
I can explain how full freedom was not truly achieved by the law that were put into place
after the Civil War, by the work of the Freedmans Bureau or the new organizations that were
created to help the newly freed slave.

Unit 3- Common Core Standards

READING

WRITING

CMS CCSS Power Standards:

CMS CCSS Power Standards:

R.9-10.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support

analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to
such features as the date and origin of the information.

W. 9-10.1 Write arguments focused on disciplinespecific content.

R. 9-10.10 Read and comprehend history/social

studies texts in the grade 9-10 text complexity band
independently and proficiently.

W. 9-10.2 Write informative/explanatory texts,

including the narration of historical events,
scientific procedures/ experiments, or technical
processes.

Additional Reading Standards:

Additional Writing Standards:

R. 9-10.2. Determine the central ideas or information of

a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate
summary of how key events or ideas develop over the
course of the text.

W. 9-10.3 not applicable as a separate requirement

R. 9-10.3. Analyze in detail a series of events described

in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later
ones or simply preceded them.
R. 9-10.4. Determine the meaning of words and
phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary
describing political, social, or economic aspects of
history/social studies.
R. 9-10.5. Analyze how a text uses structure to
emphasize key points or advance an explanation or
analysis.
R. 9-10.6 Compare the point of view of two or more
authors for how they treat the same or similar topics,
including which details they include and emphasize in
their respective accounts.
R. 9-10.7 Integrate quantitative or technical analysis
(e.g., charts, research data) with qualitative analysis in
print or digital text.
R. 9-10.8 Assess the extent to which the reasoning and
evidence in a text support the authors claims.

W. 9-10.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which

the development, organization, and style are appropriate
to task, purpose, and audience.
W. 9-10.5 Develop and strengthen writing as needed by
planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new
approach, focusing on addressing what is most
significant for a specific purpose and audience.
W. 9-10.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to
produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing
products, taking advantage of technologys capacity to
link to other information and to display information
flexibly and dynamically.
W. 9-10.7 Conduct short as well as more sustained
research projects to answer a question (including a selfgenerated question) or solve a problem; narrow or
broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize
multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating
understanding of the subject under investigation.
W. 9-10.8 Gather relevant information from multiple
authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced
searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each
source in answering the research question; integrate
information into the text selectively to maintain the flow
of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard

R. 9-10.9 Compare and contrast treatments of the same

topic in several primary and secondary sources.

format for citation.

W. 9-10.9 Draw evidence from informational texts to
support analysis, reflection, and research.
W. 9-10.10 Write routinely over extended time frames
(time for reflection and revision) and shorter time frames
(a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of disciplinespecific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Unit 3- Assessment Options:

W1- Literacy Common Core Power Standard: Writing Arguments
Create a blog about the Civil War and at least 3-4 major issues. You
must include the major issues from both the Union and Confederate
side of the war. You should also include the point of view of several
individuals, ex: civilians, slaves, free blacks, farmers, manufacturers,
importers, exporters, the Queen of England and Parliament, Canadians,
and Mexicans. You should have substantial evidence to support your
claims. Your bibliography must accompany your blog.
W2- Literacy Common Core Power Standard: Writing Informative Texts
Write an article for the newspaper to explain the duties and
responsibilities of the freedmans bureau.
R1/R10- Literacy Common Core Power Standard: Reading Closely Over Time
with a Variety of Texts
A variety of primary and secondary sources.

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