Post-Reconstruction, Migration, and Urbanization
Unit 3
Lesson One: Introduction and Pre-Assessment
Students reflect on what they already know about the reconstruction period through a "walk about," and consider why this period of time is labeled "Post-Reconstruction." Students complete a pre-assessment.
Lesson Two: Was Reconstruction Successful?
Students participate in a Structured Academic Controversy to consider whether reconstruction was a success or a failure.
Lesson Three: The Emergence of Jim Crow
Students will examine the emergence of Jim Crow era laws that take newly won rights away from African Americans. Students will also listen to and analyze personal narratives of people who experienced segregation under Jim Crow laws.
Lesson Four: Can Separate be Equal?
Students engage in a case study of the U.S. Supreme Court case Plessyv. Ferguson and the court's assertion that Jim Crow segregation laws are constitutional by arguing that "separate but equal" is constitutional.
Lesson Five: Du Bois v. Washington
Students participate in Socratic Seminar discussions of excerpted versions of either Du Bois's essay "The Talented Tenth" or Washington's "Atlanta Compromise Speech" in order to better understand the mens' philosophies for African American progress and their beliefs about the role of education.
Lesson Six: Transformation of the West
Students read and discuss a variety of sources of information about the factors that influenced groups of Americans and new immigrants to migrate to the west. Students also complete a mapping activity to visualize the patterns of migration.
Lesson Seven: Manifest Destiny or Hostile Takeover?
Students take a historiographical look at conflicts in the west between American Indian tribes and settlers or the Federal Government. Students work in groups using sources from differing viewpoints to critique a historical account of their case of conflict and then share it with the class.
Lesson Eight: The New Immigrants
Students read vignettes of individuals who immigrated to America and analyze census data documenting the country origin of immigrants from 1860-1890.
Lesson Nine: Farms to Cities
Students attempt to recognize the perspectives of new immigrants and migrants through a simulation of tenement housing, by examining the migratory patterns of African Americans and artwork by Jacob Lawrence, and from a case study of immigrants and urbanization in Chicago.
Lesson Ten: New Immigrants, Nativism, and New Immigration Policies
Students examine immigration restriction laws to determine how the U.S. government began limiting or halting certain groups of immigrants from entering the United States.
Lesson Eleven: The Gilded Age: The Second Industrial Revolution
Students analyze historical evidence to identify the reasons for the second industrial revolution of the late 1800s and the emergence of the new group of industrial leaders. Students will also decide whether these industrial leaders should be viewed as "captains of industry" or as "robber barons."
Lesson Twelve: The Gilded Age: Labor Unions and Working Conditions
Students trace the growth and decline of the first major organized labor union, the Knights of Labor, and examine the experiences of the men, women, and children who worked in factories during the Gilded Age through their personal narratives.
Lesson Thirteen: Agents of change in Post-Reconstruction America
Students learn about individuals who saw a need during the post-reconstruction period and set out to solve problems arising from immigration, industrialization, discrimination, and a perceived moral degradation. Small groups of students read about individual change agents and then prepare mock interviews, videotaping the result to share with the entire class.
Lesson Fourteen: What Have We Learned? Gallery Walk and Post-Assessment
Students create and evaluate a gallery of visual representations they have prepared to spotlight key ideas from the unit. Students also complete a post-assessment.
