BackStory: How Reconstruction Transformed the Constitution

Roughly 0:00-0:10

• What are the Reconstruction amendments?
• Why does Foner think that it is important to revisit the Reconstruction amendments?
• What are common narratives about Reconstruction that contribute to the "ideological edifice of the Jim Crow era"?
• How has Gone with the Wind affected popular perceptions of Reconstruction?
• What are the consequences of the association of Reconstruction with "failure"?

Roughly 0:10-0:20

• How does Foner define "Reconstruction"?
• How are perceptions of Reconstruction changing? What factors are contributing to those changes?
• Why did the United States need a "second founding"?
• What is the difference between abolition and emancipation?
• Why did resistance to abolition endure for so long, even in the Union?
• What makes the 13th amendment a "constitutional revolution"?

Roughly 0:20-0:35

• How did the 14th amendment change the meaning of citizenship in the United States? What have been some repercussions of these changes?
• Before the 15th amendment, who controlled the right to vote?
• Why is the 15th amendment a "negative amendment"? According to Foner, why is it so deeply flawed?
• What loophole exists in the 13th amendment?
• How do these amendments continue to be relevant today?

• How can studying the process by which a law or amendment was created shape our understanding of its purpose?
• The Library of Congress has compiled a selection of primary source documents about the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. Select one of the newspaper articles or pamphlets. Use this primary source analysis worksheet to analyze it.

Reconstruction

• Teacher's Guide: The Reconstruction Era
• Curriculum: The Battle Over Reconstruction (grades 9-12)
• Lesson Plan: Birth of a Nation, the NAACP, and the Balancing of Rights (grades 9-12)

Civil Rights

• Curriculum: NAACP's Anti-Lynching Campaigns: The Quest for Social Justice in the Interwar Years (grades 9-12)
• Lesson Plan: Picturing Freedom: Selma-to-Montgomery March, 1965 (grades 6-12)
• Lesson Plan: The Green Book: African American Experiences of Travel and Place in the U.S. (grades 6-12)
• Lesson Plan: The Freedom Riders and the Popular Music of the Civil Rights Movement (grades 9-12)
• Lesson Plan: JFK, Freedom Riders, and the Civil Rights Movement (grades 9-12)
• Lesson Plan: Civil Rights and the Cold War (grades 6-12)
• Curriculum: Competing Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (grades 9-12)

Founded in 2008, BackStory is a weekly podcast that explores the historical roots of current events. Hosted by a team of historians of the United States, the show features interviews with other scholars and public historians, seeking to bring U.S. history to life. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the show do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Learn more at the BackStory website.