Week 2 Outline

Week 2: Reconstruction and Segregation

Monday: No Class, Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Wednesday: Slavery and Reconstruction
Friday: Segregation

DISCUSSION SECTIONS: Black and White in America

READINGS:

1.John David Smith, Black Voices from Reconstruction 1865-1877.
2.Documents: 14th Amendment to the Constitution, 1868; 15th Amendment to the Constitution, 1870; Civil Rights Act of 1875

ADDITIONAL INTERNET RESOURCES:

America at 1877

The era of the Civil War and Reconstruction marks a very important point in United States
history. The War raised the question of whether the U.S. would continue as a united nation,
while decisions made during the war and in the following years shaped national destiny in a
number of crucial ways.

Reconstruction was a time of hammering out the political and social relations between local and
national authority. It was also a period in which newly freed slaves tried to become full citizens
by exercising both the right to vote and the right to hold office. This attempt to achieve equality
met with resistance on various levels. Some southern states enacted the Black Codes in order to
restrict the new civic freedoms of former slaves. This legislation along with various voting
restriction acts had the effect of returning newly freed slaves to their former social status.
Across the south, pervasive racism gave rise to white supremacist groups such as the infamous
Ku Klux Klan. White southerners felt threatened not only by the newly freed slaves, but also by
northern investors who took advantage of the south's precarious economic position. Thus, the
terms "Carpetbagger" and "Scalawag" became part of the national vocabulary.

Controversy and tension were not limited to the south. In Congress the Radical Republicans
launched an assault on President Andrew Johnson. While the President strove to reconstruct
the nation in his own conservative framework he also fought to maintain his office. Johnson was
the first President to fight a full scale impeachment battle. While the Legislative and Executive
branches of the government struggled for power, the Supreme Court was busy handing down
some of its most historic decisions. The Court greatly increased its influence by hearing cases
which challenged newly minted Amendments to the Constitution. This was an exciting time in
our nation's history and one which has shaped the contours of the modern nation.

WEEKLY ASSIGNMENT:

YOUR ASSIGNMENT IS DUE AT BEGINNING OF YOUR DISCUSSION SECTION, JANUARY 17-19

Written Assignment:

John David Smith's book attempts to capture the voices of a whole range of Black Americans at the time of Reconstruction - men and women, farmers and politicians, illiterate and educated. The book contains various letters, newspaper articles, congressional testimony, and other comments by African-Americans who sensed the importance of Reconstruction as the defining moment for their future. Please read the Civil Rights Act of 1875 (located off of the class website), and think about how this Act portrays equality.

How does the picture of the United States, as conveyed through the Civil Rights Act of 1875 compare to the experiences and vision of the men and women in John David Smith's Black Voices from Reconstruction? Choose one example (a person or quote) from Smith's book, and write one page comparing this view to the promise of the Civil Rights Act of 1875.

created: February 10, 2000
last updated: February 23, 2000