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4th grade · Social Studies · Unit 2 of 12

Reconstruction

New rights, and rights rolled back

What your child practices

Reconstruction from 1865 to 1877 as a bridge to high school US history: the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, Black officeholders, the violence that opposed them and how gains were later rolled back.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: 4.15 · the major events of Reconstruction, the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, and how its gains were rolled back

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Reconstruction (1865–1877) rebuilt the South after the Civil War.
  2. The 13th Amendment ended slavery, the 14th gave citizenship and equal protection, and the 15th gave Black men the vote.
  3. After it ended, many of these rights were taken away through poll taxes, literacy tests and violence.

Example: Which amendment gave Black men the right to vote? The 13th ended slavery and the 14th gave citizenship. The voting amendment came next. Answer: the 15th Amendment

Reconstruction in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 2 of 12 in 4th grade Social Studies, after States & Capitals and before Colonial Regions & Work.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Black Codes passed in Southern states after the war…

    • Limited the freedom and rights of Black Americans
    • Gave Black Americans equal rights
    • Ended segregation
    • Created schools

  2. Question 2

    Which statement about Reconstruction is accurate?

    • It brought real gains in rights, many of which were later rolled back
    • It changed nothing
    • It happened before the Civil War
    • It ended racism forever

  3. Question 3

    Andrew Johnson, who became president after Lincoln, was impeached because…

    • He clashed with Congress over Reconstruction and was accused of breaking a law
    • He won the war
    • He bought Alaska
    • He freed enslaved people

  4. Question 4

    Reconstruction (1865–1877) was the period of…

    • Rebuilding the South and bringing Southern states back into the Union
    • Westward removal
    • Building the Erie Canal
    • The Revolution

  5. Question 5

    Why were many freedpeople eager to attend school?

    • Schools paid them
    • It was required by the Confederacy
    • They had nothing else to do
    • Learning to read had been denied under slavery and opened new opportunities

  6. Question 6

    Why did the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause matter beyond Reconstruction?

    • It was never used
    • It became the basis for many later court cases on equality
    • It applied only in 1868
    • It covers only taxes

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