The Reconstruction Era and the Fragility of Democracy
Use this rich collection of Reconstruction era primary sources, videos, and a 3-week unit to engage your students in this pivotal period in US history and its legacies today.
![African American and Radical Republican members of the South Carolina Legislature in the 1870s.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Recon_Crop.jpeg?h=3d25abbd&itok=3H_YJPTl)
Back to School: Building Community for Connection and Learning
These back-to-school activities and teacher resources will help you lay a foundation for a reflective and caring community at the start of the school year.
![Students move around the classroom in conversation with each other. One student looks directly into the camera with a smile on their face.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/LA_ClassroomImage_2018_FH287148.jpg?h=a141e9ea&itok=lbbZPe6H)
The Reconstruction Era Primary Sources
Enrich your teaching on the Reconstruction era with these primary source documents and images.
![Portraits superimposed on an image of the American flag](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Reconstruction_2022_FH2174814.png?h=8e4088dc&itok=zv81hdEs)
The Reconstruction Era 3-Week Unit
Teach a 3-week study of the Reconstruction era guided by the essential question "What can we learn from the history of Reconstruction as we work to strengthen democracy today?"
![Portrait of a family](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-11/service-pnp-ppmsc-00000-00057v_0.jpg?h=fba49d59&itok=n7irMmx4)
Teaching the Holocaust and Armenian Genocide: For California Educators
Designed for California 10th grade world history courses, this unit guides students through a study of the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide that focuses on choices and human behavior.
![Teacher and Students](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Facing-History_SJLA_033.jpg?h=f2fcf546&itok=6k0Syi0f)
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)
What is Power?
Students define power and then analyze five perspectives about power in order to understand its many sources and the different ways it can be experienced.
![Two male students write at their desks.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Cleveland_Classroom_2019_FH2100139.jpg?h=78aab1d8&itok=eGCF5ua2)
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)
Introducing Agency
Students explore the concept of agency, both in literature and in life, and examine the societal forces that play a role in an individual’s agency.
![Two Volta Elementary School students work at their desks.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-07/Chicago_Classroom_2019_%20FH2101627.jpg?h=56d0ca2e&itok=Pd3sRqZO)
Agency, Choice, and Action
Students apply their thinking about power and agency to an analysis of four personal narrative essays written by young people.
![Uniformed students work together in class.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Chicago_Classroom_2019_FH2101464.jpg?h=0f4230fa&itok=eqY000u8)