Civil War & Reconstruction

Civil War & Reconstruction Print All

Description

The Civil War and Reconstruction Era brought about the end of slavery and the expansion of civil rights to African Americans through the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. Compare the Northern and Southern states, discover the concepts of due process and equal protection, and understand how the former Confederate states reacted to the Reconstruction Amendments.

Objectives

Students will be able to:

identify the division of the U.S. at the outbreak of the Civil War.
describe the expansion of civil rights and liberties in the Civil War/Reconstruction Period.
explain the purposes of the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment.
identify the different perspectives on slavery during the Civil War period.
determine the differences between the Presidential and Congressional plans for Reconstruction.

Lesson Prep

all teacher and student materials.

Civil War and Reconstruction.pdf

Step by Step

ANTICIPATE by distributing the half sheet and giving students 2-3 minutes to list as many things related to the Civil War as they can. Ask students to share what they have on their lists.

DISTRIBUTE the reading packet to the students and read through the first page as a class. You may also ask the students to draw a line between the Northern and Southern states on the map, then explain that that was commonly called the Mason-Dixon line.

CONTINUE reading on the second page, pausing after the Reconstruction section.

PROJECT the What If ? transparency showing the Reconstruction plan options to the class.

READ each and discuss which items the class would agree on, marking the page as you proceed.

TALLY the selections for each column and reveal which plan the class favored. Column One reflects the aspects of Congressional Reconstruction plans, and Column Two reflects the plan of President Johnson.

CONTINUE though the rest of the reading with the students.

DISTRIBUTE and assign the activity sheets to the class.

REVIEW the answers to the activity pages. Discuss each ‘due process’ question and have the students discuss why the laws are constitutional or not. Is there an issue of reasonableness and fairness? Do the procedures make sense? (Number 6 of the Due Process questions is intended to be vague– discuss with your class.)