How did congress ensure that southerners followed their radical reconstruction plans?

This reading examines measures of the Reconstruction Acts of 1867, which enacted the plan that became known as Radical Reconstruction.

Last Updated: May 12, 2020

• Save

• History

• Democracy & Civic Engagement
• Racism

In 1866, many Americans felt that the Union had not been adequately reconstructed, that the way freedom had been defined for black Americans was not adequate, and that Presidential Reconstruction had led to neither healing nor justice. As a result, a majority Republican Congress was elected and pushed for the passage of the Reconstruction Acts of 1867, which enacted the plan that became known as Radical Reconstruction. Here, measures of those laws are laid out. 

• The South was divided into five military districts and governed by military governors until acceptable state constitutions could be written and approved by Congress.
• All males, regardless of race, but excluding former Confederate leaders, were permitted to participate in the constitutional conventions that formed the new governments in each state.
• New state constitutions were required to provide for universal manhood suffrage (voting rights for all men) without regard to race.
• States were required to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment in order to be readmitted to the Union.

paperclip

Use this rich collection of Reconstruction era primary sources, videos, and a 3-week unit to engage your students in this pivotal period in US history and its legacies today.

paperclip

Enrich your teaching on the Reconstruction era with these primary source documents and images.

paperclip

Students review the First Amendment, understand the importance of a free press, and consider how that freedom can conflict with other societal needs through journalists’ experiences in Ferguson.

paperclip

Students identify the responsibilities of citizen watchdogs, summarize strategies for combatting confirmation bias and responsibly consuming and sharing news and information, and complete a culminating essay.

paperclip

Students define explicit, implicit, and confirmation bias, and examine why people sometimes maintain their beliefs in the face of contradictory information.

paperclip

Students review the US Department of Justice report, revisit how confirmation bias impacts our understanding of events, and consider how to bridge the gap in understanding that often surrounds events like Ferguson.

paperclip

Students learn about education, identity, and activism through an exploration of the East Los Angeles school walkouts, when thousands of students protested unequal educational opportunities for Mexican American students.

paperclip

Students explore the first year of the Delano grape strike, when grape workers in California's San Joaquin Valley went on strike to demand higher wages and better work conditions.

paperclip

Students experience the challenges to reporting objectively by writing a news piece and watching a video about how journalists counteract bias in the newsroom.

paperclip

Students explore the potential negative impact of images through the social media protest #IfTheyGunnedMeDown and develop a decision-making process for choosing imagery to represent controversial events.

paperclip

Students explore how identity impacts our responses to other people and events by examining a cartoon and analyzing an opinion poll from a week after Ferguson.

paperclip

Students examine how identity and biases can impact how individuals interpret images and experience the challenge of selecting images to represent news events, particularly connected to sensitive issues.

Most teachers are willing to tackle the difficult topics, but we need the tools.

— Gabriela Calderon-Espinal, Bay Shore, NY

How did Congress ensure that Southerners followed their radical Reconstruction?

What did Congress's Reconstruction plan require the Southern states to do?

How did congressional Reconstruction transform the South and the nation?

What did Radical Republicans in Congress want to do to the South Why?