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)
Brave Girl Rising: A Refugee Story
Created in partnership with Girl Rising, this lesson invites students to engage with the story of a young refugee and to consider the power of storytelling to spark empathy.
![Young woman in red in front of trees](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/shorthand_image140of143.jpeg?h=4dc35482&itok=7UScoCil)
Different Perspectives on Migrant Detention
In this mini-lesson, students gain insight into migration and the systems surrounding migrant detention by considering the perspectives of migrants, an immigration lawyer and advocate, a border guard, and an immigration judge.
![Undocumented immigrant families walk from a bus depot to a respite center](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/PerspectivesonDetention_RTX6D3SR_fullres.jpg?h=2a871bf3&itok=i7w7FDb7)
The Union As It Was
Students examine documents that shed light on life in the South under the policies of Presidential Reconstruction in 1865 and 1866.
![Photo shows a group of six African American men and women posed picking cotton in a field.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Civil_Rights_Picking_Cotton_Savannah_1867_FH2177912.jpg?h=2b78d577&itok=DpnqiD0k)
Radical Reconstruction and the Birth of Civil Rights
Students learn about the responses to Johnson’s policies by Republicans in Congress and examine the fourteenth amendment that overturned Presidential Reconstruction.
![Photo of page 1 of the 14th amendment of the US Constitution](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Civil_Rights_1868_14th_Amendment_of_the_United_States_Constitution_%20FH21203.jpg?h=4359e9ca&itok=4j99BHvV)
Expanding Democracy
Students reflect on the revolutionary changes that occurred because of the landmark legislation and amendments passed during the Reconstruction era.
![A studio portrait shows African American members of the General Assembly from 1887 to 1888](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Civil_Rights_1887_Members_of_the_Virginia_GA_FH21416.jpg?h=4b21dcd5&itok=ZtAL-w-Y)
Voting Rights in the United States
In this mini-lesson, students learn about the history of voting rights in the United States and consider how current voting laws in different states impact voters today.
![General Election 2016, Voters in NY](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Midterm_Elections_high-res_AP_17307716664453_.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=_2pZdXA_)