Lesson 5: Black Codes
SWBAT assess the extent to which Black Codes contradicted freedoms ensured to freedmen by the Reconstruction amendments.
Contradiction
Two ideas that oppose each other.
To speak to the opposite of something.
Reconstruction Amendments
What did the 13 th , 14 th and 15 th amendments guarantee to freed slaves?
Which actions committed by white Southerners would contradict the freedoms granted in these amendments?
Discussion
Why would the President and radical Republicans in congress allow southern states to contradict the newly received rights of slaves?
Slave-Master mentality
Increased social stratification after the war
Whites still control the economy
Freed slaves thrown into the mix
Also known as Jim Crow laws
Every Southern State passed Black Codes
Laws designed to subjugate newly freed slaves.
Southern governments composed of former slaveholders and
Confederate soldiers.
Black Codes opposed almost all personal freedoms.
Created second class citizens.
“You know if we were to look back and how we were in 1955 living in
Jim Crow, living in segregation, living in segregated schools, it's hard to believe that it was America, but it really was.”
What’s the main idea of this quote?
1 minute to write down a response to this question:
Why does Anna Smith believe that Jim Crow laws contradict the idea of
America?
Turn & Talk: 30 seconds per partner
Share Out
Focus Question: How do Black Codes contradict the amendments of the Reconstruction era?
Read Black Codes during Reconstruction
Tips for completing this activity:
1. Review the questions first to familiarize yourself with the focus of the reading (questions are chronological).
2. Read the article carefully looking for keywords or phrases that stand out.
3. Answer the questions in complete sentences.
Share Out
Exit Ticket
How did the Black Codes restrict personal freedoms from newly freed slaves?
Parking Lot
Develop one critical thinking question from today’s mini-lesson or activity.
Write onto post-it and place onto parking lot. You will address these questions as a class during the initial-activity each following day.