United States History: Reconstruction - 21st Century
Unit 1: THE UNION IN PERIL, 1850 – 1877
"After four years of bloody fighting, the Union wore down the Confederacy and won the war. The Union victory confirmed the authority of the federal government over the states. After the Civil War, the nation embarked on a period known as Reconstruction, during which attempts were made to readmit the South to the Union. The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, passed as part of Reconstruction, extended civil rights to Americans of all races." - The Americans: Reconstruction to the 21st Century
Student Learning Objectives:
Speech on Slavery, 1854
Proclamation of Amnesty & Reconstruction, 1863
A More Perfect Union? The Reconstruction Era: The Difference 10 Miles Makes
Unit 2: IMMIGRANTS AND URBANIZATION, 1877 – 1914
"Immigration was nothing new to America. Except for Native Americans, all United States citizens can claim some immigrant experience, whether during prosperity or despair, brought by force or by choice. However, immigration to the United States reached its peak from 1880-1920. The so-called "old immigration" brought thousands of Irish and German people to the New World. This time, although those groups would continue to come, even greater ethnic diversity would grace America's populace. Many would come from Southern and Eastern Europe, and some would come from as far away as Asia. New complexions, new languages, and new religions confronted the already diverse American mosaic." -USHistory.org
Student Learning Objectives:
Chapter 20: Toward an Urban America
Unit 3: THE PROGRESSIVE ERA, 1890 – 1920
"The turn of the 20th century was an age of reform...The Progressives were urban, Northeast, educated, middle-class, Protestant reform-minded men and women. There was no official Progressive Party until 1912, but progressivism had already swept the nation... What united the movement was a belief that the laissez faire, Social Darwinist outlook of the Gilded Age was morally and intellectually wrong. Progressives believed that people and government had the power to correct abuses produced by nature and the free market. The results were astonishing. Seemingly every aspect of society was touched by progressive reform." USHistory.org
Student Learning Objectives:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair
"After four years of bloody fighting, the Union wore down the Confederacy and won the war. The Union victory confirmed the authority of the federal government over the states. After the Civil War, the nation embarked on a period known as Reconstruction, during which attempts were made to readmit the South to the Union. The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, passed as part of Reconstruction, extended civil rights to Americans of all races." - The Americans: Reconstruction to the 21st Century
Student Learning Objectives:
- Students will examine the effects of the Civil War & Reconstruction including demographic shifts and the emergence in the late 19th century of the U.S. as a world power
- Students will describe the changing landscape, including the development of cities divided according to race, ethnicity, and class
- Students will analyze the international and domestic events, interests, and philosophies that prompted attacks on civil liberties and the response of organizations to those attacks
- Students will describe the constitutional claims of both the President and the Congress (in the generic rather than specific sense) for controlling Reconstruction policy.Students will give a general accounting of the differences between some of the leading representatives in Congress and both Presidents Lincoln and Johnson.
- Students will distinguish between the purposes of Johnson and Lincoln in advocating a stronger executive role.
- Students will explain how the divisions between President Johnson and the Congress eventually led to his impeachment.
- Students will distinguish between the main and competing visions for Reconstruction as they began to emerge at the end of the Civil War.
- Students will distinguish the central and driving ideas at work in original documents surrounding Reconstruction and discuss their impact on events.
Speech on Slavery, 1854
Proclamation of Amnesty & Reconstruction, 1863
A More Perfect Union? The Reconstruction Era: The Difference 10 Miles Makes
Unit 2: IMMIGRANTS AND URBANIZATION, 1877 – 1914
"Immigration was nothing new to America. Except for Native Americans, all United States citizens can claim some immigrant experience, whether during prosperity or despair, brought by force or by choice. However, immigration to the United States reached its peak from 1880-1920. The so-called "old immigration" brought thousands of Irish and German people to the New World. This time, although those groups would continue to come, even greater ethnic diversity would grace America's populace. Many would come from Southern and Eastern Europe, and some would come from as far away as Asia. New complexions, new languages, and new religions confronted the already diverse American mosaic." -USHistory.org
Student Learning Objectives:
- Students will analyze the relationship among the rise of industrialization, large-scale rural-to-urban migration, and massive immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe
- Students will describe the changing landscape, including the growth of cities linked by industry and trade, and the development of cities divided according to race, ethnicity, and class.
Chapter 20: Toward an Urban America
Unit 3: THE PROGRESSIVE ERA, 1890 – 1920
"The turn of the 20th century was an age of reform...The Progressives were urban, Northeast, educated, middle-class, Protestant reform-minded men and women. There was no official Progressive Party until 1912, but progressivism had already swept the nation... What united the movement was a belief that the laissez faire, Social Darwinist outlook of the Gilded Age was morally and intellectually wrong. Progressives believed that people and government had the power to correct abuses produced by nature and the free market. The results were astonishing. Seemingly every aspect of society was touched by progressive reform." USHistory.org
Student Learning Objectives:
- Students will know the effects of industrialization on living and working conditions, including the portrayal of working conditions and food safety in Upton Sinclair's The Jungle.
- Students will analyze the similarities and differences between the ideologies of Social Darwinism and Social Gospel
- Students will understand the effect of political programs and activities of the Progressives (e.g., federal regulation of railroad transport, Children's Bureau, the 16th Amendment, Theodore Roosevelt, Hiram Johnson)
The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair