Reconstruction & Its Aftermath
Aligned to C3.D2.His.1 — C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.
What this lesson teaches
After the Civil War (1865), the federal government tried to rebuild the South and define the rights of four million freed people. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments abolished slavery, granted citizenship, and protected Black men's right to vote. When federal troops withdrew in 1877, Southern states passed Jim Crow laws that stripped away those gains.
Worked example
In 1870, Hiram Revels of Mississippi became the first Black U.S. senator, taking the very seat once held by Confederate president Jefferson Davis. Within two decades, poll taxes and literacy tests had pushed nearly all Black voters off Mississippi's rolls.
Practice questions
- Name the three Reconstruction Amendments and what each one did.
- Explain why the removal of federal troops in 1877 mattered for freed people's rights.
- Analyze how Jim Crow laws could exist alongside the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments.
Watch the lesson
Every lesson comes with a video taught in English and Spanish — the same video the QR code in the printed workbook opens.
▶ Watch this lessonEn español
La Reconstrucción y sus consecuencias
Tras la Guerra Civil (1865), el gobierno federal intentó reconstruir el Sur y definir los derechos de cuatro millones de personas liberadas. Las Enmiendas Decimotercera, Decimocuarta y Decimoquinta abolieron la esclavitud, otorgaron la ciudadanía y protegieron el derecho al voto de los hombres negros. Cuando las tropas federales se retiraron en 1877, los estados del Sur aprobaron las leyes de Jim Crow que anularon esos avances.
Ejemplo: En 1870, Hiram Revels de Misisipi se convirtió en el primer senador negro de EE. UU., ocupando el mismo escaño que antes tuvo el presidente confederado Jefferson Davis. En dos décadas, los impuestos electorales y las pruebas de alfabetización habían borrado a casi todos los votantes negros de los registros de Misisipi.
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