Primary Source Spotlight: Reconstruction
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Primary Source Spotlight: Reconstruction

Civil War & Reconstruction Primary Source Set Reconstruction images Reconstruction sheet music Newspaper articles related to Reconstruction 1865-99 Books and other texts related to Reconstruction Oral histories related to Reconstruction Jim Crow & Segregation primary source set & teachers’ guide 13th Amendment to the Constitution (1865) Today in History: 14th Amendment Today in History: Juneteenth…

Primary Source Spotlight: Freedmen’s Bureau

Primary Source Spotlight: Freedmen’s Bureau

Freedmen’s Bureau image set Freedmen’s Bureau texts Freedmen’s Bureau correspondence and other texts Freedmen’s Bureau historical newspaper articles 1865-1872 Freedmen’s Bureau Records Preservation Act of 2000 Freedmen’s Bureau, 1865–1872 online exhibition items African American Odyssey: Reconstruction online exhibition Freedmen’s Bureau Records Smithsonian Freedmen’s Bureau Transcription Project Smithsonian “The Freedmen’s Bureau” by W.E.B. Du Bois The Atlantic Monthly Volume…

Primary Source Learning: U.S. History by Time Period

Primary Source Learning: U.S. History by Time Period

The U.S. History Primary Source Timeline spans nearly 400 years, covering 9 time periods. Each time period includes an overview and several subsections and each of these, in turn, provide background information and a selection of curated primary sources. Colonial Settlement, 1600s – 1763 The American Revolution, 1763 – 1783 The New Nation, 1783 –…

Guided Primary Source Analysis: First Post-War Legislature

Guided Primary Source Analysis: First Post-War Legislature

Use the Library of Congress primary source analysis tool to analyze the image. What do you notice? What do you find surprising? What can you learn from the bibliographic record? Why do you suppose the men in the image were referred to as radical members? What questions do you have? Next, analyze the two sources below…

Primary Source Learning: Black American History & Heritage

Primary Source Learning: Black American History & Heritage

Primary Source sets with teacher guides Guided primary source analysis activities Lesson plans Collection Connections: primary source activity ideas Timely Connections: ideas for linking past to present Teaching with the Library: Primary Sources & Ideas for Educators More teaching resources Primary Source Spotlight: Black American History & Heritage

Primary Source Learning: Slavery (U.S.)

Primary Source Learning: Slavery (U.S.)

Lesson plans & activities Collection Connections: Arts & Humanities, Critical Thinking & U.S. History teaching ideas Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936-1938 From Slavery to Freedom: The African-American Pamphlet Collection, 1822-1909 Slaves and the Courts, 1740-1860 Guided primary source analysis activities Afro-American Monument Slave market of America Synopsis of the…

Guided Primary Source Analysis: The Carpet-bagger

Guided Primary Source Analysis: The Carpet-bagger

Read this brief description of carpetbaggers and scalawags from History.com. Next review this Encyclopedia of Virginia entry on Benjamin F. Butler, being sure to read at least the introductory paragraph as well as the first paragraph under the New Orleans header. Now look closely at the cover of this sheet music. Describe the perspective of carpetbaggers that you think…

Today in History: Fourteenth Amendment

Today in History: Fourteenth Amendment

Today in History–July 28–the Library of Congress features the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. On this date in 1868, Secretary of State William Seward issued a proclamation certifying the ratification of the amendment. The 14th amendment granted citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States”, including former slaves freed…

Guided Primary Source Analysis: The Constitutional Amendment

Guided Primary Source Analysis: The Constitutional Amendment

What is the purpose of this poster? What emotions does this poster tap into? Use specific evidence from the source to support your responses. Who is the audience for this primary source? How do you know? What more do you learn from the source record? Do  you think this poster was effective with its target…

Today in History: Howard University

Today in History: Howard University

Today in History–November 20–the Library of Congress features Howard University, founded on this day in 1866. Originally established as a seminary for African-American clergymen, the founders soon broadened their mission to include liberal arts and medicine. The university was named for one of its founders, Major General Oliver O. Howard, a Civil War hero and commissioner of the Freedmen’s Bureau. Find out…

Primary Source Learning: Civil War & Reconstruction Primary Source Set

Primary Source Learning: Civil War & Reconstruction Primary Source Set

Have students use the primary sources in this set to tell a story about a timeframe from the period 1861-1877 when the United States was wracked by civil war, fighting to preserve the Union and end slavery. This costly war (recent research puts the death toll at 750,000) raged for four years but putting the…