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5th grade · Social Studies · Unit 8 of 10

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.

Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 5.C4.1; 5.H4.1 · Reconstruction and the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. The 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments ended slavery, made citizenship and protected the vote.
  2. Freedpeople started schools and churches; sharecropping often kept farmers in debt.
  3. After Reconstruction, poll taxes, unfair voting tests, violence and segregation took many rights away.

Example: Which amendments are called the Reconstruction Amendments? They were passed between 1865 and 1870. They are the three right after the 12th. Answer: the 13th, 14th and 15th

Reconstruction in Arizona

In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 8 of 10 in 5th grade Social Studies, after The Civil War and before Earning & Saving.

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: Arizona Department of Education

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…

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

  2. Question 2

    Many Black families searched for relatives after the war because…

    • They wanted to move to Europe
    • They were bored
    • They had lost maps
    • Slavery had separated families through sale

  3. Question 3

    Which amendments are called the Reconstruction Amendments?

    • The 18th, 19th and 20th
    • The 1st, 2nd and 3rd
    • The 13th, 14th and 15th
    • The 10th, 11th and 12th

  4. Question 4

    Reconstruction ended in 1877 when…

    • Federal troops left the South
    • Lincoln was elected
    • Slavery was restored
    • The Civil War began

  5. Question 5

    Historically Black colleges such as Howard University were founded during Reconstruction to…

    • Teach only farming to planters
    • Replace public schools
    • Educate Black students who were shut out of other schools
    • Train Confederate soldiers

  6. Question 6

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

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

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