Ch. 16 Introduction

Few times in U.S. history have been as turbulent and transformative as the Civil War and the twelve years that followed, which are referred to as the Reconstruction era. Between 1865 and 1877, one president was murdered and another impeached. The Constitution underwent major revision with the addition of three amendments.

However, these efforts to impose Union control and create equality in the defeated South ignited a fierce backlash as terrorist and vigilante organizations, most notably the Ku Klux Klan, battled to maintain a society in which whites held complete power. These groups unleashed a wave of violence, including lynching and arson, aimed at freed blacks and their white supporters.

Historians generally claim that the effort to reconstruct the South in this era faltered and ultimately failed.
However, as Amy Dru Stanley argues in the article we're reading this week, while those efforts failed in the late 19th-century, they had long-lasting effects on our concept of human rights. I look forward to hearing from you in our Discussion if you find her claim convincing or not.

Objectives

By the end of this module, you should be able to...

Identify key terms, events, and people of the Reconstruction era (Cerego set & quiz)
Analyze the use of primary sources as evidence to explain historical cause and effect (Article annotation)
Demonstrate critical thinking through evaluation of a secondary source (Discussion forum)

Reading Guide

As you complete the readings, pay special attention to these topics:

black codes
carpetbagger
Colfax Massacre
Compromise of 1877
crop-lien system
Freedman's Bureau
Ironclad oath
Ku Klux Klan
Radical Republicans
Reconstruction
Redeemers
scalawags
sharecropping

Tip: Use the Discussion prompt to guide your reading of the article annotation.

Click next at the bottom-right of the screen to start this week's readings.