Table of Contents
-GPS
-What was the Reconstruction Era?
-13th Amendment
-14th Amendment
-15th Amendment
-Reconstruction Amendments Chart
-The Freedman’s Bureau
-Sharecropping
-Farmer vs. Landowner
-Statistics on sharecropping in GA
-Map of Sharecropping in the South
-Math Connection
-Jim Crow Laws
-Timeline of Events
At any point during
the production,
click the map icon
to return to the
table of contents.
Georgia Performance Standards
SS5H2 The student will analyze the effects of
Reconstruction on American life.
• a. Describe the purpose of the 13th, 14th, and 15th
Amendments.
• b. Explain the work of the Freedmen’s Bureau.
• c. Explain how slavery was replaced by
sharecropping and how African-Americans were
prevented from exercising their newly won rights;
include a discussion of Jim Crow laws and customs.
What was the
Reconstruction Era?
• After the Civil War and Sherman’s
March to the Sea, the South was
in extreme need of repair.
• The Reconstruction Era focused
on how to mend a shackled South
and the effects of the
emancipation of slaves.
• Would slaves have the freedom
that they longed for?
13th Amendment
• This amendment officially abolished
slavery in America.
14th Amendment
• This amendment was put in place to provide
equal citizenship to all and that no state shall
deprive any person of life, liberty, or
property.
15th Amendment
• This amendment was put in place to prohibit
(not allow) the federal and state governments
from denying a citizen the right to vote based
on that citizen’s “race, color, or previous
condition of servitude.”
Reconstruction Era Amendments
Amendment
Meaning
13th
Abolished slavery
in America
1865
14th
Equal
Citizenship to all
(men only)
1868
15th
All men are able
to vote without
having to pay
tolls or take a
test.
Image
Year Ratified
1870
The Freedman’s Bureau
• Congress created the Freedman’s Bureau,
which was a group whose job was to help
the Southern blacks and whites make a
smoother transition (change) from slavery
to freedom.
• It was only successful in helping set up
colleges and training schools for blacks.
• It did not help much between black and
white relationships because Southern
white males still felt angry towards
blacks.
Sharecropping
How would
you feel if you
were me?
• Click the icon below to watch a video about
sharecropping. While watching, decide for
yourself if this is a primary or secondary
account.
• Journal Response: After watching this short
clip about sharecropping, describe your
feelings towards sharecropping. Do you feel
it was fair? How would you feel if you were
a sharecropper? What would you do as a
landowner?
Sharecropping
Landowner
Farmer (Often
Black)
-Assigned each
Received a share
-Farmed the land. of crops family a small area
although the
-Required to buy landowner’s of land to farm.
feed, materials, share was more.-Able to still have
etc. and care for
labor (in similar
the farm.
form to slavery)
1880 Georgia State Farms
Percentage of GA Farms With
and Without Sharecropping
80%
68%
70%
60%
Sharecropper
Farms
50%
40%
32%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1880
Non
Sharecropping
Farms
Sharecropper
Farms
68%
32%
Non
Sharecropping
Farms
Map of Sharecropped Farms
Math Connection
• The New Georgia Encyclopedia states that
“By 1910 sharecroppers operated 37
percent of the state’s 291,027 farms.”
• Challenge: Using the information above,
figure out the number of farms that
weren’t operated by sharecroppers.
• Stumped? Hint: Find out how much 37% of
291,027 is. Remember the relationship
between decimals and percentages.
What were Jim Crow Laws?
• Jim Crow laws made all public places,
“separate but equal”. Blacks and
whites could not go to school together,
use the same water fountain, or ride
the same public transportation.
• Visit
for more
information about Jim Crow Laws and
their effects on racial oppression and
segregation that would haunt America
for decades to come.
A Timeline of the Reconstruction Era
1865
• Reconstruction Era
Begins
1865
• 13th
Amendment
abolishing
slavery is
ratified
1865
• Freedman’s
Bureau is
created by
Congress
1868
• 14th
Amendment
declaring
equal
citizenship is
ratified
1870
• 15th
Amendment
is ratified
allowing all
men, white
and black to
vote without
paying a toll
or passing a
literacy
exam.
1877
• Reconstruction Comes
to an End