Correcting the Past Assignment- Carter 1

Post-Civil War Reconstruction

NC 8th Grade Essential Standards:
8. H.2.1 Explain the impact of economic,
political, social, and military conflicts on the
development of North Carolina and the United
States.
8. C&G.1.4 Analyze access to democratic rights
and freedoms among various groups in North
Carolina and the United States.
8. C&G.2.2 Analyze issues pursued through
active citizen campaigns for change.
8. C&G.2.3 Explain the impact of human and
civil rights issues throughout North Carolina and
United States history.

Unit Rationale:
During the eighth grade, all social studies students will take a survey course in North Carolina
history. They will look into our past to try make and sense of our vast history in order to
understand our current issues, and examine how our past has greatly influenced our future. In
classrooms all over our great state, we teach students about the horrors of chattel slavery, and the
Civil War, but we seem to gloss over the period of time when our country was in shambles and
former enslaved people were left destitute and the southern part of our country was impoverished
and stripped of its free laborers. From 1865- 1877, the US went under massive reconstruction.
Freedman tried to form lives for themselves and obtain constitutional rights, and the north and
south had to compromise in order to reunite the country. This unit will focus on the failures of
reconstruction. We will uncover how systematic oppression hurt freedman, how southern
ignorance stopped progression, and lastly how the political parties shifted before, during, and
after Reconstruction. At the conclusion of this unit, students will be able to articulate the
strengths and weaknesses during the era of reconstruction, and use their 21st century skills to
develop artifacts that display their new knowledge of reconstruction, which will in turn,
contradict the traditional messages that students are taught about the outcomes of reconstruction.
Essential Question: How did the United States recover after the Civil War, and did the period of
Reconstruction actually produce change, enhancing the lives of the American people?

Correcting the Past Assignment- Carter 2

Lesson 1: The South Has Surrendered and The Slaves are Free, Now What?
Romance: To begin the lesson, students will be read two excerpts from the National Humanities
Center and Documenting the American South by UNC Chapel Hill, recounting the end of the
war from the perspective of a former white slave owner, Edward J. Thomas, and a freedwoman,
Mary Anderson. Immediately following the readings, they will be asked to complete a five
minute quick write. During this quick write, students will be asked to write down every thought,
opinion, and question that they have regarding the reading; this is essentially their stream of
consciousness in regards to the reading.
Readings are listed belowMary Anderson, enslaved in North Carolina, interviewed in North Carolina, 1937
Source:
National Humanities Center, 2009: nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/. Text and photographs of
interviewees courtesy of the Library of Congress, Manuscript Division: WPA Slave Narrative Project,
Federal Writers Project, U.S. Work Projects Administration (USWPA). Digital images of the typed
transcribed interviews at memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html. Bracketed annotations and some
paragraphing added, and several typographical errors corrected by NHC when necessary for clarity.
Complete image credits at nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/maai/imagecredits.htm.
The war was begun and there were stories of fights and freedom. The news went from plantation to plantation and
while the slaves acted natural and some even more polite than usual, they prayed for freedom. Then one day I heard
something that sounded like thunder and missus and marster began to walk around and act queer. The grown slaves
were whispering to each other. Sometimes they gathered in little gangs in the grove. Next day I heard it again,
boom, boom, boom. I went and asked missus is it going to rain? She said, Mary, go to the ice house and bring me
some pickles and preserves. I went and got them. She ate a little and gave me some. Then she said, You run along
and play. In a day or two everybody on the plantation seemed to be disturbed and marster and missus were crying.
Marster ordered all the slaves to come to the great house at nine oclock. Nobody was working and slaves were
walking over the grove in every direction. At nine oclock all the slaves gathered at the great house and marster and
missus came out on the porch and stood side by side. You could hear a pin drop everything was so quiet. Then
marster said, Good morning, and missus said, Good morning, children. They were both crying. Then marster
said, Men, women and children, you are free. You are no longer my slaves. The Yankees will soon be here.
Marster and missus then went into the house, got two large arm chairs, put them on the porch facing the avenue, and
sat down side by side and remained there watching. In about an hour there was one of the blackest clouds coming up
the avenue from the main road. It was the Yankee soldiers, they finally filled the mile long avenue reaching from
marsters house to the main Louisburg road and spread out over the mile square grove. The mounted men
dismounted. The footmen stacked their shining guns and began to build fires and cook. They called the slaves,
saying You are free. Slaves were whooping and laughing and acting like they were crazy. Yankee soldiers were
shaking hands with the Negroes and calling them Sam, Dinah, Sarah, and asking them questions. They busted the
door to the smoke house and got all the hams. They went to the icehouse and got several barrels of brandy, and such
a time. The Negroes and Yankees were cooking and eating together. The Yankees told them to come on and join
them, they were free. Marster and missus sat on the porch and they were so humble no Yankee bothered anything in
the great house. The slaves were awfully excited. The Yankees stayed there, cooked, eat, drank and played music
until about night, then a bugle began to blow and you never saw such getting on horses and lining up in your life. In

Correcting the Past Assignment- Carter 3

a few minutes they began to march, leaving the grove which was soon silent as a grave yard. They took marsters
horses and cattle with them and joined the main army and camped just across Cypress Creek . . . When they left the
country [area], lot of the slaves went with them and soon there were none of Library of Congress Freed slaves on the
Mill plantation, Port Royal Island, South Carolina, April 1862; photograph by Timothy H. OSullivan (detail)
National Humanities Center 7 marsters slaves left. They wandered around for a year from place to place, fed and
working most of the time at some other slave owners plantation and getting more homesick every day. Library of
Congress Jenny Proctor It seems impossible dat any of us evr lived to see dat day of freedom. Martin Jackson
One of my grandfathers in Africa was called Jeaceo, and so I decided to be Jackson. The second year after the
surrender our marster and missus got on their carriage and went and looked up all the Negroes they heard of who
ever belonged to them. Some who went off with the Yankees were never heard of again. When marster and missus
found any of theirs they would say, Well, come on back home. My father and mother, two uncles and all their
families moved back. Several of the young men and women who once belonged to him came back. Some were so
glad to get back they cried, cause fare [food] had been mighty bad part of the time they were rambling around and
they were hungry. When they got back marster would say, Well you have come back home, have you, and the
Negroes would say, Yes marster. Most all spoke of them as missus and marster as they did before the surrender,
and getting back home was the greatest pleasure of all.
Edward J. Thomas, Savannah, Georgia
Thomas, E. (1934). Memoirs of a Southerner1840-1923 Narrative of my life: Written for my children and
grandchildren, an humble way of keeping alive and, [sic] interest in our family (pp. 57-58, 63-64). Savannah,
Georgia: Documenting the American South: UNC Chapel Hill.
I HAD NOT as yet, since the slaves were free, visited our old plantation home, Peru, in McIntosh County, but I had
heard that a goodly number of our old slaves had returned, and, without leave or license, simply considered it their
privilege to come home, after they were scattered by Sherman's raid.
They had taken up their abode in what cabins were left standing and had begun to cultivate the land. I was
pleased to hear this and made up my mind to pay them a visit. So, just before Christmas, with a pair of mules to a
buggy, I drove to the old plantation. If I had been a king returning to his subjects, I could not have been more regally
received. The men gathered around my buggy, and bodily carried me to the front piazza of the old home, and some
of the women pulled out an old arm chair in which I was deposited in state. I had soon, however, to get up from the
chair and stand as erect as possible, to keep old Mammy Peggy from putting her arms around my neck and kissing
me. My mules were soon stabled and well provided for, and then the preparations began for entertaining "Mars' Ed."
One provided a mattress, another the sheets, and so on until a most comfortable bed was secured. At supper I found
that each of my old friends insisted that something should be on the table from his or her larder, and I never expect,
during my life, to sit down to such a supper again: fried chicken, pork, smoked raccoon, eggs, fried fish, oysters,
crabs, shrimps, honey, rice, corn, corn bread, peas, collards, potatoes, and coffee! And Mammy Peggy insisted on
my eating some of her stewed 'possum, which she brought me in a nice little bowl with a silver spoon. When leaving
home I had intended spending my nights at my cousin's, Mrs. Anderson, who lived on the adjoining plantation, but
they would not listen to it! "Marse Ed wan't gwine to leab 'em to go nowhar else."That was not long after the war
when they had many of the comforts provided them by their masters. Should I go there today, I know I would find
no such bed and supper, and as the old folks are almost all dead, no such welcome. The feelings of the old slaves for
their master, and of the masters for their slaves, will never be understood by coming generations.
Is it to be wondered at, then, that the South, of almost pure Caucasian blood, would not submit to this indignity?
Surely the real man of the North must have sympathized with us when, as by magic, thousands of white-robed,
resolute men sprung from the womb of our dear old Southern mother and scattered the wretched scalawags to their
own respective slums! The poor black man was not to blame. He reaped none of the reward - was only used as a

Correcting the Past Assignment- Carter 4

tool; he was accustomed to follow his white master, and when this master was supplanted by the scoundrel, he knew
no better.
Well, my story is finished. I am an old man now, in my eighty-third year, but young in every feeling. I am white
and wrinkled, but my soul shall be young. Providence has been good to me; my health is good, and I have the
respect and confidence of all who know me; my children are all grown and are my greatest comfort. Many
grandchildren have come to me, all fine chaps, and at my knees frequently my two little great grandsons sit and hear
me tell of that war which I passed through fifty-seven years ago.
As time passes how vividly is reflected from Memory's mirror the stirring events of those historic years. How
loyal we of the South have always been to the teachings of the Constitution of the United States, and the highest
decisions of our Courts, and how safe we felt under these protections, when lo! to our amazement, we heard these
things classed by our Northern fanatics as "being in league with the devil." All this is now in the past; but we shall
always stand in the presence of our God, proving by our pious homage to the dear old Confederacy, our loyal
devotion to the living Union.

Precision: Now that students have listened to the firsthand accounts and written for five minutes,
it is time to share their ideas and begin putting some content area knowledge into the
conversation.
Separate the room into two sides, one half of the room will represent the south and the other half
of the room will represent the north. Based off their knowledge of the Civil War, students will be
asked to have a debate about the issues and how they can be addressed. Students will have fifteen
minutes to come up with a spokesperson that will represent the group and argue on their behalf.
After the groups are ready to begin, you will have them line up on the sides of the room and
begin the discussion. In this debate, students will challenged to critically think on the spot to
defend their issue and come up with solutions to the problems facing America. The teacher will
facilitate the conversation and pose the following questions:
Should the states be responsible for providing aid to the newly freed persons? And should
they become equal, protected citizens under the law?
2. What needs to happen in order for the southern states to rejoin the union? Should we
require them to prove their loyalty?
3. Can freed people still work on former plantations, and should they get paid for their
labor?
4. If a Freedmans bureau is created, what services should be offered and what is the goal
for this program?
1.

This activity requires students to think critically about the issues that people living during this
period in history had to face. After the debate, students will return to their seats and a lecture will
begin.
Facts about Reconstruction:

Correcting the Past Assignment- Carter 5

o During the war 617,000 people died fighting for various reasons. Some believed that the
war was about states rights, other thought it was about slavery. The Civil War was
fought so that the issue of slavery was finally settled. Every white American, although
not directly involved, benefited from slave labor, and the thought of seeing free laborers
go free, wasnt an option for most slave owning individuals.
o The period of Reconstruction lasted from 1865-1877.
o At the beginning of the Reconstruction movement, General Sherman issued he Field
Number 15 Order, permitting freedmen to claim land that was abandoned during the war
so they could establish lives for themselves. The land consisted mostly of old plantations
from South Carolina to Florida.
o In March of 1965, the Freedmans Bureau was voted on and passed through Congress.
o Things drastically changed in April of 65 due to the assignation of Lincoln and Andrew
Johnson becoming president. Andrew Johnson was a racist and undermined all of
Lincolns previous efforts to provide freemen with real opportunities for success.
o Johnson allowed for former Confederates the opportunity to reclaim their abandoned
land, under an amnesty clause. This meant that freedmen were kicked off land and were
displaced, again.
o Johnson also establishes terms that are lenient on former Confederates, allowing them to
rejoin the union without much effort.
o The Black Codes came soon after, which restricted blacks greatly. These codes were
introduced to allow white men to regain power in political arenas and return the
traditional power dynamic back to what it had always been in the US.
o Freedmen did not take these codes lightly, and worked together to protest against them.
Across the southern states, Colored Conventions occurred as organized protests against
the Black Codes.
o In 1866, the Civil Rights Act was vetoed by Johnson, but was later overridden by
Congress making way for bills such as the 14th to eventually be passed, giving freedmen
protection and citizenship. Women were not included in the bill!
o In July of 68, the 14th amendment was ratified.
o The effort to ratify the amendment was supported mainly by southern states, which
supported the ratification to be readmitted to the union. So, they did not necessarily
support the effort. They just played the governments game to regain their status.
o The 15th Amendment was passed in 1869. And the amendment was ratified in the 1870s.
o In 1876 U. the Colfax Massacre resulted in 100 black and only 3 white deaths.
o Rutherford B. Hayes became President in 87. And Reconstruction soon ends.
Generalization
Throughout this unit, students will create three Vlogs after the lesson. After this introductory
lesson, students will be asked to talk about their stream of consciousness paper/reflection for
their homework assignment.

Correcting the Past Assignment- Carter 6

Flipped Classroom Homework Assignment

In preparation for the next lesson in this unit, students will be required to research one of the
following topics.
a. The Freedmans Bureau
b. Share Cropping
c. Field No. 15 Order and its revocation after Johnson took office.
Lesson 2: Political Parties and Their Place in The Society After The War