The Successes and Failures of Reconstruction
Learning Objectives
- Identify the protections in the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments
- Explain how the federal government expanded its power during Reconstruction
- Describe Southern resistance to federal policies and the clash between federal and state power
- Identify achievements and errors made during Reconstruction and how those events impacted people’s lives
Overview
The period of Reconstruction was complicated. The federal government’s efforts were a mixed bag of accomplishments and missteps. In this lesson, students examine the progress created by federal laws and actions. They also explore how states circumvented federal laws and were allowed to establish a system of inequality and oppression that denied civil rights to Black Americans.