The Devastation of War
Students learn about the aftermath of the Civil War and examine primary source documents that provide insight into the difficult task of reuniting the nation.
![The ruins of Mills House and nearby buildings, Charleston, South Carolina, at end of American Civil War.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Civil_Rights_1865_MillsHouseCharleston_FH21291.jpg?h=dfc3751c&itok=xxOQb9az)
Choosing to Participate
Students use the “levers of power” framework to identify ways they can bring about positive change in their communities.
![Agosin Tapestries of Hope, Threads of Love Pg. 76](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/HHB_Chapter_12_Medium_res.jpg?h=0704619c&itok=WsQTWf0G)
The Concept of Race
Students analyze the socially constructed meaning of race and examine how it has been used to justify exclusion, inequality, and violence throughout history.
![Black ink etching on white paper with the words "I do not always feel colored" written repeatedly. The ink gets smudged and illegible toward the end](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/D11335_Medium_res.jpg?h=38731381&itok=Jh7iUy6T)
Before Apartheid
Understand the history of people living and settling in the South African region and explore how racial and ethnic identities created tension in the years leading to apartheid.
![Sol Plaatje was the co-founder of the African National Congress (ANC). As an activist and politician, he spent much of his life fighting for the enfranchisement and liberation of the South African people.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Sol_Plaatje.png?h=0bcf1b58&itok=yGWQuP50)
Healing and Justice
Students examine President Andrew Johnson's plan for Reconstruction and the debate it provoked with Congress while reflecting on deeper issues of healing and justice.
![Columbia with black union soldier with amputated leg in ornate Greco-Roman style building](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Civic_Engagement_1865_Pardon_Franchise_Columbia_FH21375.jpg?h=5bba1fc0&itok=DENbKk8S)
Early Apartheid: 1948-1970
Learn about the early development of apartheid as the white South African government formed a legal system of racial hierarchy and non-white South Africans resisted these laws.
![A group of women hold signs in demonstration against the pass laws in Cape Town on August 9, 1956, the same day as the massive women’s protest in Pretoria.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Democracy_1956_WomenResistPassLaws_FH281823.jpg?h=cb9047e7&itok=NA94IMQt)
Growing Resistance Meets Growing Repression
Investigate the resurgent wave of international and domestic anti-apartheid activism that led to increased violence before both sides compromised over a legal conclusion to apartheid.
![A group of mourners carry a United Democratic Front Banner during a mass funeral.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/1985_MournersCarryUDFBannerDuringMassFuneral_FH282024.jpg?h=30a9cc90&itok=53pmDBJm)
Transition to Democracy
Examine the continuing struggle for South Africa as it creates a representative democracy, attempts to heal from the legacy of apartheid, and searches for a new, inclusive identity.
![The signing of the Republic of South Africa's Constitution in May 1996.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/1996_SigningoftheSouthAfricanConstitution_FH281937.jpg?h=c4482f5d&itok=pkPRL5nQ)
Citizen Power Makes Democracy Work
Students explore citizenship, power, and responsibility using the work of civic entrepreneur Eric Liu.
![Student speaking](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/SL_190522_0675.jpg?h=0f4230fa&itok=3-vI66f_)
Defining Democracy
Students brainstorm different definitions of democracy and consider democracy's relationship to their own communities and cultures.
![Student writing and discussing](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/SL_190522_0668.jpg?h=0f4230fa&itok=7bJ88-IJ)
Free Press Makes Democracy Work
Students explore the importance of a free press to democracy through recorded conversations with journalists from the United States and South Africa.
![Student speaking](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/SL_190522_0675.jpg?h=0f4230fa&itok=3-vI66f_)