The Importance of Getting History Right
Historian James Grossman describes the importance of establishing an accurate history of Reconstruction.
![A drawing of the first Black 7 senators and representatives in the 41st and 42nd Congress of the United States.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/First_colored_senator_and_reps.jpg?h=a7421b6e&itok=EPFRKxDN)
Presidential Reconstruction
Investigate aspects of President Andrew Johnson’s plans for Reconstruction that outlined how to bring former Confederate citizens and states back into the Union.
![A photograph of Andrew Johnson.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/03751u.jpg?h=8c44f663&itok=SOBBoTvF)
Reconstructing Mississippi
Learn about the accomplishments of the first interracial legislature in Mississippi from the account of John Roy Lynch, a freedman who served in the state’s House of Representatives.
![Photograph shows a montage of seventy-five portraits of members of the Mississippi State Legislature (1874-1875)](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/mississippi-legislature-1874-75.jpg?h=6c376ef6&itok=NdPaXqS1)
Reconstructing Mississippi (en español)
In Spanish, learn about the accomplishments of the first interracial legislature in Mississippi from the account of John Roy Lynch, a freedman who served in the state’s House of Representatives.
![Photograph shows a montage of seventy-five portraits of members of the Mississippi State Legislature (1874-1875)](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/mississippi-legislature-1874-75.jpg?h=6c376ef6&itok=NdPaXqS1)
The Reconstruction Acts of 1867
This reading examines measures of the Reconstruction Acts of 1867, which enacted the plan that became known as Radical Reconstruction.
![An image of the document “The policy of Congress in reference to the restoration of the Union”](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/reconstruction_act.jpg?h=ff0754a0&itok=gvvtIEwi)
A Right to the Land
Freedman Bayley Wyatt advocates for freedpeople's rights to their land at a public meeting.
![A photo of Black children and young adults on their porch.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/8a16176v.jpg?h=bb50dc57&itok=J6eq8ZB_)
A Right to the Land (en español)
In Spanish, Freedman Bayley Wyatt advocates for freedpeople's rights to their land at a public meeting.
![A photo of Black children and young adults on their porch.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/8a16176v.jpg?h=bb50dc57&itok=J6eq8ZB_)
The Role of Carpetbaggers
Alexander White, a white congressman from Alabama, describes the role that “carpetbaggers” and “scalawags” played in Reconstruction politics.
![Caricature of Carl Schurz carrying bags labeled, "carpet bag" and "carpet bagger South."](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Carpetbagger.jpg?h=b7ce557f&itok=XJcyhTwu)
Savannah Freedpeople Express Their Aspirations for Freedom
Read an excerpt from the transcript of the Savannah Colloquy, a meeting between Union officials and Savannah’s Black community in January 1865. This reading is available in Spanish.
![A photo of General Sherman's headquarters.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/03227v.jpg?h=d763378d&itok=qwcC0DDT)
Savannah Freedpeople Express Their Aspirations for Freedom (en español)
In Spanish, read an excerpt from the transcript of the Savannah Colloquy, a meeting between Union officials and Savannah’s Black community in January 1865.
![A photo of General Sherman's headquarters.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/03227v.jpg?h=d763378d&itok=qwcC0DDT)
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)