Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Mini-research questions and resources
GROUP 1: Reconstruction Era
Questions
1. What time period does “Reconstruction” refer to? Why was there a need for
reconstruction?
2. What was the Freedmen’s Bureau? What were some of its successes and failures?
3. Which three amendments to the Constitution were passed during Reconstruction,
and what do they say?
4. What does the Ku Klux Klan have to do with Reconstruction, and what impact did it
have on the South during this time period?
Resources:
Use chapter 22 of The American Pageant.
GROUP 2: Mortgages
Questions and resources
1. Why do people apply for mortgages when they are buying land or houses?
2. What is a mortgage and how does it work?
https://www.loanresolve.com/how_mortgage_works.html
3. When did the “subprime mortgage crisis” happen? What is a “subprime mortgage”?
4. Why did subprime mortgages cause a crisis in the economy?
http://banking.about.com/od/mortgages/a/mortgagecrisis.htm
GROUP 3: The Great Depression & farmers
Questions
1. How did farm production contribute to the Great Depression?
1. What were some specific challenges for farmers during the Great Depression?
2. How did the U.S. government try to help farmers recover?
Resources
1. http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/life_01.html
2. Chapters 32-33 of The American Pageant: “Frustrated Farmers” and “Hooked on the
Horn of Plenty” in chapter 32; “Paying Farmers Not to Farm” in chapter 33
GROUP 4: Sharecropping
Questions and resources
1. How does sharecropping work?
2. Who “wins” and who “loses” in a sharecropping arrangement?
Use the two handouts provided in class as well as the following website.
http://mshistory.k12.ms.us/articles/228/farmers-without-land-the-plight-of-white-tenantfarmers-and-sharecroppers
3. What is the law that ended most sharecropping in the US, and when was it passed?
4. What is one modern-day situation that is somewhat similar to sharecropping?
http://www.ruralwomyn.net/sharecrop.html (SCROLL DOWN TO “Down on the Farm,” the
second article on the page)
GROUP 5: Jefferson Davis, Confederacy, Confederate flag
Questions and resources
1. Who was Jefferson Davis?
2. What was the Confederacy?
3. What did the Confederate flag look like? Find and print a picture of it for the class to
see. (Use Google images for this.)
http://www.tulane.edu/~latner/Davis.html
http://americancivilwar.com/south/jeffdavi.html
4. What are some recent controversies about the Confederate flag?
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/jan-june00/flag_5-29.html
GROUP 6: Dick & Jane readers
Questions and resources
1. What are the Dick & Jane readers? When were they first used?
2. How would you describe the contents of the Dick & Jane readers? Please print some
images for the class to look at.
3. Why did some people criticize them?
http://faculty.valpo.edu/bflak/dickjane/
http://www.rarebookschool.org/2005/exhibitions/dickandjane.shtml
4. How are the literature anthologies and readers that children use today similar to Dick &
Jane readers, and how have they changed? Look at the literature anthology we use in
school (or, if possible, borrow a reader from a child in elementary school to bring in).
GROUP 7: Lynchings
Questions and resources
1. What is a lynching?
2. Which groups have used lynching the most, against which groups, and why?
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/g_l/lynching/lynching.htm
3. How have people fought back against lynching? Describe the strategies people used
to oppose lynching.
4. Name at least two leaders in the anti-lynching movement and briefly describe their
contributions.
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1979/2/79.02.04.x.html#d
WARNING: There are many very disturbing images of lynchings available online. You are
NOT required to look at these for this assignment. If you believe you should view them,
please do so at home, and I encourage you to talk to me about what you’ve seen.
GROUP 8: Boycotts
Questions and resources
1. What is a boycott? (Google the phrase “define: boycott”)
2. What kinds of organizations do people boycott? Why do people call for boycotts?
http://www.boycottwatch.org/faq.htm#01
3. Find two or three examples of boycotts from the last 20 years. Who was the target?
What was the reason for the boycott? What was the outcome?
http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/Boycotts/successfulboycotts.aspx (Try downloading the
PDF from this page)