Unit 10: Reconstruction- Performance Level Descriptors
Level I Descriptor: Identify significant individuals, events, and issues in U.S. history
 the Dawes Act- federal legislation passed in 1887 that changed land allotments for Native Americans, allowing them to give up their communal tribal lands
and instead receive personal property to farm and citizenship in the United States; this law was an attempt to assimilate the Native Americans into white
society and also be able to sell excess lands to settlers moving in to those territories.
 the Homestead Act- passed in 1862, the Homestead Act provided for any citizen (or would-be citizen) who hadn’t rebelled against the government
(Confederates) and was at least 21 to earn free land by settling on it and improving it (farming, building a house, etc.); while the law was intended to
encourage settlement of the western territories by loyal Americans, most of the land went to speculators (people who buy up land to resell it) and railroads
 the Morrill Act- passed in 1862, provided for lands in each new county and state to be set aside for public education and land and financial allotments for
higher education
 Andrew Johnson- President Lincoln’s second vice-president; Johnson was from Tennessee- a slave state that had not seceded- and was chosen to help
Lincoln win re-election; after Lincoln’s assassination, Johnson’s plan for Reconstruction is seen as too lenient (easy) on the rebelling states, and he eventually
loses support from the Congress, who gain enough seats in the 1866 election to hold a super-majority and override his vetoes; he is the first President to have
impeachment charges brought against him, but is saved from indictment by one vote! His attempt to fight Congress earned him the nickname “King
Andrew II” and he is defeated in his re-election attempt in 1868 by Republican candidate and war hero General Ulysses S. Grant
 Hiram Rhodes Revels- born in 1827to a free black family in North Carolina, Revels was a minister and civil rights activist who helped raise up black troops
to fight during the Civil War; after the war, he moved with his family to Mississippi where he continued to lead a church and was eventually selected to fill
a vacant Senate seat by the Reconstruction state Congress; he took the seat formerly held by Confederate President Jefferson Davis (before he had resigned
following secession); while Revels held the office for only a year before resigning and leading a school, his symbolism as the first African American Senator
was an important stride in the Reconstruction Era
 Thirteenth Amendment- ratified in 1865; made slavery illegal in the United States
 Fourteenth Amendment- ratified in 1868; mostly known for granting citizenship to all peoples born or naturalized in the United States (making former
slaves automatically citizens); the amendment also stated that all people are counted equally in representative proportions (blacks aren’t 3/5ths human
anymore), that no one could hold office if they were a part of a rebellion or insurrection (unless Congress voted to lift their ban), that debts to put down a
rebellion was the tax payers responsibility, but that debts to stage a rebellion were not!
In more simplistic language: 1) former slaves are fully citizens 2) former Confederates cannot hold office until approved 3) Confederate debts cannot be paid
back, but Union ones can
 Fifteenth Amendment- ratified in 1870; simply states that a citizen’s right to vote cannot be inhibited (blocked) due to race or ethnicity (but gender still ok!)
Level I Descriptor: Define major social studies terminology
 allot/ allotment- to assign or distribute as a share
 assimilate- to take in and incorporate as one’s own; absorb; make a part of
 Reconstruction- literally to rebuild; the period- as defined by the capital “R”- takes place from the end of the Civil War to roughly 1876 (though specific
ending dates vary from state to state); Reconstruction is the decade of recovery and rebuilding in the South and touches every aspect of life (ESPeN:
economic, social, political, and environmental)
Unit 10: Reconstruction- Performance Level Descriptors
Level I Descriptor: Recognize major historical points of reference
 1865- Civil War ends; Lincoln is assassinated less than a week later, leaving Reconstruction up to Vice-President Andrew Johnson; Johnson is a Southern
Democrat, but a Unionist (didn’t support secession); this middle ground means he’s either going to be liked by everyone, or disliked by everyone (it turns
out to be the latter)
 1868- Radical Reconstruction, also called Congressional Reconstruction, begins; this phase is marked by Congress’s control of Reconstruction that sees an
opportunity to punish the South for the war; punishments include disenfranchisement (losing rights to vote and hold office), martial law (military control of
government), and government interference in nearly every aspect of life; while the Republicans who controlled Congress rightfully felt this was necessary in
order to bring about changes in the South, it also creates an enormous amount of resistance, revenge, and hatred amongst Southerners.
 1876- with most states having been readmitted to the Union (no more military control), former Confederates now get their rights back and “redeem” local,
state, and national offices from the Republicans who had “won” them during Reconstruction. Many laws are put back in to find legal ways to discriminate
against African Americans (known as “Black Codes”, similar to later “Jim Crow laws” that you learned about in Reading last year)
Level II Descriptor: Explain the political development of the United States, including the influence of historical documents, significant individuals, representative
government, constitutional principles, the amendment process, and the ideals of citizenship
TEKS Assessment Alignment
8.16(B): describe the impact of 19th-century
amendments, including the 13th, 14th, and
15th amendments, on life in the United
States
Foundational TEKS
8.1 (A): identify the major eras and events in U.S. history through 1877, including …Reconstruction, and describe their
causes and effects
Level II Descriptor: Analyze the causes and effects of the Civil War, including slavery, the development of sectionalism, states’ rights, and Reconstruction
TEKS Assessment Alignment
8.9(A): evaluate legislative reform
programs of the Radical Reconstruction
Congress and reconstructed state
governments
8.9 (C): explain the economic, political, and
social problems during Reconstruction and
evaluate their impact on different groups
Foundational TEKS
8.9(D): identify the effects of legislative acts such as the Homestead Act, the Dawes Act, and the Morrill Act
8.9 (B): evaluate the impact of the election of Hiram Rhodes Revels