Reconstruction
Resources:
Books
Foner, Eric. A Short History of Reconstruction. New York: Harper & Row, 1990. An
examination of many themes of Reconstruction, including African Americans as agents
of change during Reconstruction, the ways that the South was changed during the
period, and the evolution of racial attitudes and patterns.
Berlin, Ira, Barbara J. Fields, Steven F. Miller, Joseph P. Reidy, and Leslie S. Rowland,
eds., Free at Last: A Documentary History of Slavery, Freedom, and the Civil War. New York:
New Press. This book includes numerous primary sources that look at slavery around
the time of emancipation.
Winik, Jay. April 1865: The Month That Saved America. New York: HarperCollins
Publishers, 2001. Winik’s account includes a thorough examination of the circumstances
around Lincoln’s assassination, and interesting biographical information about Andrew
Johnson.
Carter, Dan T. When the War Was Over: The Failure of Self-Reconstruction in the South,
1865-1867. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1985. A general account of
Presidential Reconstruction and the social changes in the South immediately after the
war’s end.
Hakim, Joy. A History of US: Reconstructing America. New York: Oxford University
Press, 2003. An excellent supplementary reading resource for students.
Websites
African-American Odyssey
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/aointro.html
A Library of Congress on-line exhibit entitled “The African-American Odyssey: A
Quest for Full Citizenship”, that includes many primary sources (especially images)
about African-Americans during Reconstruction.
Reconstruction: The Second Civil War
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reconstruction/index.html
A PBS American Experience website that includes video clips, primary sources, links to
other resources, historians’ perspectives about Reconstruction, and a Reconstruction
timeline.
America’s Reconstruction
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/reconstruction/index.html
“America’s Reconstruction: People and Politics after the Civil War.” This digital history
exhibit, with text written by Eric Foner, has extensive primary and secondary sources
on thematic elements of Reconstruction.
Digital History
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/hyper_titles.cfm
This University of Houston Digital History online textbook includes excellent
secondary sources that provide a clear understanding of the Reconstruction period.
National Archives
http://www.nara.gov
The website for the National Archives includes document analysis worksheets as well
as numerous primary sources.
Valley of the Shadow
http://valley.vcdh.virginia.edu
An excellent compilation of primary resources for two communities during the Civil
War. Includes Freedmen’s Bureau records, letters, diaries, newspapers, images, and
maps.
Freedmen's Bureau Online
http://www.freedmensbureau.com/
A collection of documents and links to documents relating to the work of the
Freedmen’s Bureau, including labor contracts and marriage certificates.
With an Even Hand: Brown v. Board at 50
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/
A Library of Congress on-line exhibit entitled, “With an Even Hand: Brown v. Board at
50”. The section entitled “A Century of Racial Segregation” is helpful for understanding
the aftermath of Reconstruction.
Henry Blake Talks About Sharecropping after the Civil War
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6377
A text version of a first-person account of sharecropping after the Civil War.
Toward Racial Equality: Harper's Weekly Reports on Black America, 1857-1874
http://blackhistory.harpweek.com/
Materials from Harper’s Weekly magazine that illustrate attitudes toward AfricanAmericans during the late 19th century.
After Reconstruction: Problems of African Americans in the South
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http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/lessons/rec/rhome.html
A lesson plan that is part of the Library of Congress’s Learning Page. The lesson plan is
geared toward high-school students, but could be adapted for middle school students to
use some of the resources.
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