Sharecropping Contract
In this sharecropping contract, farmer Thomas J. Ross agrees to employ Freedmen to plant and raise a crop on his Rosstown Plantation in Shelby County, Tennessee.
![A black and white image of two cotton sharecroppers in a field.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/8b32081v.jpg?h=40282f03&itok=vNvAN43D)
South Carolina Freedpeople Demand Education
Read an excerpt of the resolution passed at an 1865 convention of freedmen in South Carolina that demanded, among other rights, education.
![A black and white image of African American schoolchildren in Liberty County, circa 1890.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Copy_of_m-11013.png?h=d1cb525d&itok=BZqbljCV)
South Carolina Freedpeople Demand Education (en español)
In Spanish, read an excerpt of the resolution passed at an 1865 convention of freedmen in South Carolina that demanded, among other rights, education.
![A black and white image of African American schoolchildren in Liberty County, circa 1890.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Copy_of_m-11013.png?h=d1cb525d&itok=BZqbljCV)
Speech by Senator Charles Hays Reaffirming the Rights of African Americans (1874)
Republican congressman Charles Hays of Alabama, a former slaveholder, shares his views on a new civil rights bill that would end segregation of public transportation and public accommodations.
![Print shows a campaign banner for the 1876 Republican presidential ticket.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Hayes-Wheeler.jpg?h=2cf6f983&itok=MzMPM0qt)
What the Black Man Wants
Frederick Douglass demands voting rights and civil equality for Black Americans in an 1865 speech.
![A portrait of Frederick Douglass, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing right.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/3a18122v.jpg?h=28b1f63e&itok=LuMCd-Xt)
What the Black Man Wants (en español)
In Spanish, Frederick Douglass demands voting rights and civil equality for Black Americans in an 1865 speech.
![A portrait of Frederick Douglass, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing right.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/3a18122v.jpg?h=28b1f63e&itok=LuMCd-Xt)
Statistics From the Civil War
This reading features statistics on the number of deaths during the Civil War.
![Ruins of a building and carriages.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Charleston_sc_1865.jpg?h=02857a37&itok=Qup7m3tC)
Statistics from the War (en español)
In Spanish, this reading features statistics on the number of deaths during the Civil War.
![Ruins of a building and carriages.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Charleston_sc_1865.jpg?h=02857a37&itok=Qup7m3tC)
W. E. B. Du Bois Reflects on the Purpose of History
W. E. B. Du Bois questions the way that Reconstruction was studied and taught in an excerpt from his 1935 book Black Reconstruction in America.
![A portrait of W.E.B. Du Bois, head-and-shoulders, facing slightly right.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/3a53178u.jpg?h=87584735&itok=bgkKYE0Q)
The White Citizens Councils
Historian David Halberstam describes the White Citizens’ Councils and their efforts to actively oppose integration in the South in the 1950s.
![Man "White League" shaking hands with Ku Klux Klan member over shield illustrated with African American couple with dead(?) baby. In background, man hanging from tree.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/1874_WorseThanSlavery1874_FH140921.jpg?h=7fc8cdf2&itok=807BJ2Zj)
Being Well Born: New Civic Biology by George William Hunter
Read excerpts of George William Hunter’s book about the now-disproved idea that traits like intelligence and morality are handed down from generation to generation.
![Photograph of journal bindings in an anthropology library, showing the transition where Eugenics Quarterly was renamed to Social Biology in 1969.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/2006_EugenicsQuarterlytoSocialBiology_FH2169993.jpeg?h=73f03467&itok=V_UX5PAx)