SS8H6c

Georgia’s History:
Reconstruction

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 Standards
SS8H6 The student will analyze the impact of the Civil War
and Reconstruction on Georgia.
c. Analyze the impact of Reconstruction on Georgia and other
southern states, emphasizing Freedmen’s Bureau; sharecropping
and tenant farming; Reconstruction plans; 13th, 14th, and 15th
amendments to the constitution; Henry McNeal Turner and black
legislators; and the Ku Klux Klan.

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 Teacher Directions – Human-True False
• Have students go out into the hallway. Designate one end of the hallway to be the “True” side and the opposite
end to be the “False” side. Students will start off in the middle before each question is read aloud.
• Read the first question from the Human True-False teacher sheet. After hearing the question, the students
should walk to the side of the hall that they think is the correct answer. After all students have moved, say the
correct answer and briefly discuss why it’s correct.
• Continue this process for the remainder of the questions.

• *I like to do this activity BEFORE the lesson as a preview, and then once again AFTER the lesson to check for
understanding.
• *There is a copy without the answers that you can give the students after the lesson as a quick quiz.

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 Reconstruction True-False
Questions Answer
s
1 The 13th amendment banned slavery.
2 Abraham Lincoln was president during Reconstruction.
3 The Freedmen’s Bureau is still going strong today.
4 The 15th amendment granted all male citizens the right to vote.
5 Both the worker and the owner were satisfied with the sharecropping agreement.
6 Henry McNeal Turner was a black minister elected to the GA House of Representatives.

7 The 14th amendment granted citizenship to all people born in the US.
8 The Freedmen’s Bureau used a poll tax to keep many African Americans from voting.

9 Tenant farmers had little chance of making a profit and getting ahead.
10 The Ku Klux Klan was a hate group that spread terror throughout the South.
© 2014 Brain Wrinkles
 Teacher Info – Who’s & What’s

• Print off the Who’s & What’s handout for each student. (Print front and
back so that it’s only 1 page!)

• BEFORE the unit, have students fill in the squares with what they think
each term means.
• AFTER the presentation, the students will write down new (factual)
information about each term.

• Check the answers as a class.

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles
 Who’s & What’s
Directions: BEFORE the unit, write what you think each term means. AFTER the presentation, you
will write down new information about each term.
Reconstruction Freedmen’s Bureau
What I think this means:
What I think this did:
Definition:
Definition:
Sharecropping Tenant Farming
What I think this means: What I think this means:
Definition: Definition:
13th Amendment 14th Amendment
What I think this did: What I think this did:
Definition: Definition:
© 2014 Brain Wrinkles
 Who’s & What’s
Directions: BEFORE the unit, write what you think each term means. AFTER the presentation, you
will write down new information about each term.
15th Amendment Henry McNeal Turner
What I think this did:
Who I think this is:
Definition:
Definition:
Ku Klux Klan
What I think this is:
Definition:
© 2014 Brain Wrinkles
 Teacher Directions – CLOZE Notes

• The next pages are handouts for the students to use for note-
taking during the presentation. (Print front to back to save ink
and paper.)

• Check the answers as a class after the presentation.

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 Reconstruction
CLOZE Notes 1
Reconstruction
• Reconstruction means to _____________________________________ .
• It is the name given to the time period after the Civil War, from
_____________________________________ .
• Georgia and the other southern states needed to be rebuilt and
_____________________________________ .
• President Lincoln’s plan for _____________________________________ had
three parts:
• First, one-tenth of the people in the state had to take an oath to
_____________________________________.
• Second, the state had to _____________________________________ .
• Third, they had to _____________________________________ .
• While Lincoln wanted to be fair to the South, many Radical Republicans felt that
_____________________________________ .
• They felt that _____________________________________ for their actions
during the Civil War.
13th Amendment
• After Lincoln’s assassination, _____________________________________
took over the presidency and committed to carrying out Lincoln’s Reconstruction
plan.
• In December 1865, ratification of the
_____________________________________ to the Constitution
_____________________________________ in the United States.
• It _____________________________________ in the US and any of its
territories.
• President Johnson said that once the amendment passed, Southern states could
_____________________________________ .
14th Amendment
• In 1868, the
______________________________________________________________
of the United States.
• It granted citizenship to all persons born in the United States, and it guaranteed all
citizens _____________________________________ .
• At first, ______________________ was the only Southern state to approve it, but
Congress told the states they must approve it to be
_____________________________________ .
15th Amendment
• In 1870, the _____________________________________ declared that no
citizen of the United States could be
_____________________________________ on account of race, color, or
previous servitude.
• It granted the right to vote to all _____________________________________ .
• African Americans could _____________________________________ .
© 2014 Brain Wrinkles
 Reconstruction
CLOZE Notes 2
Freedmen’s Bureau
• In March 1865, the federal government set up the
_____________________________________ , an organization that helped
feed, clothe, and provide medical care
_____________________________________ .
• It also established _____________________________________ and helped
African Americans with legal problems.
• The bureau also helped poor whites, many of whom
_____________________________________ .
• Georgia had a
_____________________________________________________ (who were
uneducated and unemployed) than any other state.
• _____________________________________ in Georgia prior to the Civil War.
• The Freedmen’s Bureau created the
_____________________________________ for blacks and whites in the state
and set the stage for Georgia’s modern public school system.
• It established Clarke Atlanta University and
_____________________________________ .
Sharecropping
• Many former slaves were forced to return to plantations because they
_____________________________________ .
• Freed slaves knew how to grow crops, and landowners
_____________________________________ .
• In the sharecropping arrangement, the owner would lend the worker a
___________________________________________________________.
• Sharecroppers received almost no pay, just a
_____________________________________ .
• Because the worker had _____________________________________ , he
would give the owner a share of the crop, plus extra for the cost of rent and
supplies.
• The workers had _____________________________________ because they
rarely made a profit.
Tenant Farmers
• Tenant farmers made similar arrangements with landowners where they
_____________________________________ .
• However, unlike sharecroppers, tenant farmers often
____________________________________________________ , so they
received more of the harvest.
• Even so, after money was deducted for rent, there was
_____________________________________ for the farmer.
• It was _____________________________________ as a sharecropper or tenant
farmer.
© 2014 Brain Wrinkles
 Reconstruction
CLOZE Notes 3
Right to Vote
• For a brief period during Reconstruction, Freedmen were given
_____________________________________ than they had ever had (and
would not have again for 100 years).
• With this freedom, _____________________________________ were elected
to the Georgia General Assembly in 1867.
• Among the delegates was Henry McNeal Turner, an
_____________________________________ who had served as the first black
chaplain in the U.S. Army.
Henry McNeal Turner
• _____________________________________ was born in 1834 to a family that
had been free for at least two generations.
• At the age of 15, he went to _____________________________________ in
South Carolina where his employers provided him with an education.
• In 1853, he received his _____________________________________ and
traveled throughout the South.
• In 1867, Turner helped _____________________________________ in the
state and was elected to the Constitutional Convention of 1867 and the Georgia
House of Representatives.
• In 1868, the Georgia legislature _____________________________________ ,
saying that the Georgia Constitution denied blacks the right to
_____________________________________ .
• Turner spoke out against the policy and soon after, he began
_____________________________________ from the Ku Klux Klan.
• Other black legislators were threatened by the KKK--over 25% were killed, beaten,
or _____________________________________ .
Ku Klux Klan
• The first Ku Klux Klan (KKK) began in 1867 as a
________________________________________________________ ;
however, they became more political and violent.
• The Ku Klux Klan used
______________________________________________ and keep them from
exercising their civil rights.
• Klansmen dressed up in white sheets and hooded masks, and would terrorize blacks
(__________________________________________________________ ).
• The KKK used tactics of intimidation, physical violence, and murder in hopes of
_____________________________________ over African Americans and their
white allies.
• The _____________________________________ and the southern United
States both during and after Reconstruction.
• _____________________________________________________ became the
norm in Georgia, and the rest of the South, for several decades.
© 2014 Brain Wrinkles
 SS8H6c

Georgia’s History:
Reconstruction

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 Reconstruction
• Reconstruction means to build something again.

• It is the name given to the time period after the

Civil War, from 1865 to 1877.

• Georgia and the other southern states needed to be

rebuilt and brought back into the Union.

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 Railroad Lines Ruins
that had to be Rebuilt

Atlanta 1864

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 Ruins on
Peachtree
Street

Atlanta 1864

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 Reconstruction
• President Lincoln’s plan for rebuilding the South had
three parts:

• First, one-tenth of the people in the state had to take an

oath to obey the U.S. Constitution.

• Second, the state had to set up a new government.

• Third, they had to abolish slavery.

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 Reconstruction
• While Lincoln wanted to be fair to the South, many
Radical Republicans felt that Lincoln’s plan was too
lenient.

• They felt that Southern states should be punished for

their actions during the Civil War.

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 13 Amendment
th
• After Lincoln’s assassination, Andrew Johnson took over the
presidency and committed to carrying out Lincoln’s
Reconstruction plan.
• In December 1865, ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the
Constitution freed all slaves in the United States.
• It banned slavery in the US and any of its territories.

• President Johnson said that once the amendment passed, Southern

states could come back into the Union.

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 13th Amendment

It was approved
by Abraham
Lincoln in
February, but
was not ratified
until December.

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 14 Amendment
th
• In 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment made all former
slaves citizens of the United States.

• It granted citizenship to all persons born in the United

States, and it guaranteed all citizens equal rights under
the law.

• At first, Tennessee was the only Southern state to approve

it, but Congress told the states they must approve it to be
readmitted to the Union.
© 2014 Brain Wrinkles
 14th Amendment
(Original)

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 15 Amendment
th
• In 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment declared that no
citizen of the United States could be denied the right to
vote on account of race, color, or previous servitude.

• It granted the right to vote to all male citizens.

• African Americans could now vote and run for office.

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 “The First Vote”

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 Freedmen
Voting in
New Orleans,
1867

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 Freedmen’s Bureau
• In March 1865, the federal government set up the
Freedmen’s Bureau, an organization that helped feed,
clothe, and provide medical care to former slaves.

• It also established thousands of schools and helped

African Americans with legal problems.

• The bureau also helped poor whites, many of whom lost

everything in the war.

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 A Freedmen’s
Bureau Agent
Stands Between
Armed Groups of
Whites and Freed
men
1868

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 Freedmen’s Bureau
• Georgia had a higher population of freed black slaves (who were
uneducated and unemployed) than any other state.
• Educating slaves was forbidden in Georgia prior to the Civil
War.

• The Freedmen’s Bureau created the first public school program

for blacks and whites in the state and set the stage for Georgia’s
modern public school system.

• It established Clarke Atlanta University and Morehouse College.

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles
 Sharecropping
• Many former slaves were forced to return to plantations
because they could not find work.

• Freed slaves knew how to grow crops, and landowners

still needed labor.

• In the sharecropping arrangement, the owner would lend

the worker a place to live, his seeds, and farm equipment.

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 Sharecroppers Picking
Cotton

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 Sharecroppers and
Cotton Bales

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 Mississippi
Sharecroppers

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 Children of African
American
Sharecroppers in
Arkansas

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 Sharecropping
• Sharecroppers received almost no pay, just a small share of
the crops.

• Because the worker had no money for rent, he would give

the owner a share of the crop, plus extra for the cost of rent
and supplies.

• The workers had little hope of ever owning land because

they rarely made a profit.

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles
 Sharecropper’s Cabin
Surrounded by Cotton
and Corn

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 Inside a
Sharecropper’s Home

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 The Families of
Evicted Sharecroppers
in Arkansas

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 •
Tenant Farmers
Tenant farmers made similar arrangements with landowners
where they rented sections of land.

• However, unlike sharecroppers, tenant farmers often owned

animals, equipment, and supplies, so they received more of the
harvest.

• Even so, after money was deducted for rent, there was little left
over for the farmer.

• It was impossible to get ahead as a sharecropper or tenant farmer.

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles
© 2014 Brain Wrinkles
 Right to Vote
• For a brief period during Reconstruction, Freedmen were
given more political rights than they had ever had (and would
not have again for 100 years).

• With this freedom, 32 black legislators were elected to the

Georgia General Assembly in 1867.

• Among the delegates was Henry McNeal Turner, an educated

minister who had served as the first black chaplain in the U.S.
Army.
© 2014 Brain Wrinkles
© 2014 Brain Wrinkles
 Henry McNeal Turner
• Henry McNeal Turner was born in 1834 to a family that had been free
for at least two generations.

• At the age of 15, he went to work for a law firm in South Carolina
where his employers provided him with an education.

• In 1853, he received his preaching license and traveled throughout the

South.

• In 1867, Turner helped organize the Republican Party in the state and
was elected to the Constitutional Convention of 1867 and the Georgia
House of Representatives.

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 Henry McNeal Turner

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 Henry McNeal Turner
• In 1868, the Georgia legislature expelled its black
legislators, saying that the Georgia Constitution denied
blacks the right to hold political office.

• Turner spoke out against the policy and soon after, he

began receiving threats from the Ku Klux Klan.

• Other black legislators were threatened by the KKK--over

25% were killed, beaten, or jailed during their term.

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 Ku Klux Klan
• The first Ku Klux Klan (KKK) began in 1867 as a social club for
former confederate soldiers; however, they became more political
and violent.

• The Ku Klux Klan used violence to frighten African-Americans

and keep them from exercising their civil rights.

• Klansmen dressed up in white sheets and hooded masks, and

would terrorize blacks (and whites who tried to help them).

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 Ku Klux Klan
• The KKK used tactics of intimidation, physical violence, and
murder in hopes of establishing social control over African
Americans and their white allies.

• The KKK grew in Georgia and the southern United States

both during and after Reconstruction.

• White supremacy and racial segregation became the norm in

Georgia, and the rest of the South, for several decades.

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles
© 2014 Brain Wrinkles
 Teacher Info – Reconstruction Questions

• Print off the Reconstruction Questions handout for each student.

• They should answer the questions after discussing the
presentation. Afterwards, check and share answers as a class.
• *You can also use this as a quiz!

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 Reconstruction Questions
1. What does “reconstruction” mean? What was Reconstruction in America?
2. What did the 13th Amendment do?
3. What did the 14th Amendment do?
4. What did the 15th Amendment do?
5. What was the purpose of the Freedmen’s Bureau?
6. Who were sharecroppers?
7. What was the difference between tenant farmers and sharecroppers?
8. Why was sharecropping and tenant farming bad for workers?
9. Who was the black minister that was elected to the Georgia House of
Representatives?
10. What hate group spread terror to African Americans throughout the South during
Reconstruction?
© 2014 Brain Wrinkles
 Teacher Directions – Foldable
• The next page is for an Interactive Foldable.

• Print out the foldable page for each student.

• The students will cut the template out along the thick outside lines.
• Next, they will cut along the thin center line that divides each half, stopping at the
gray rectangle.
• They should attach the side of the template (gray rectangle) to their notebooks.
• They will now be able to open up each flap and write the notes underneath.

• *If time allows, have students color the flaps.

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

Reconstruction

Positive Negative
Effects Effects
 Teacher Info – Amendments Chart
• Print off the Amendments chart for each student.

• The students will write notes about each amendment (that they
learned from the presentation).

• They will also draw a quick symbol to represent the amendment

so that they can remember it.

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 Amendments
13th
14th
15th

Description

Symbol

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 Teacher Info – Amendments Commemorative
Stamps
• Print off the Commemorative Stamps handout for each student.

• The students will design a stamp for each amendment.

• They will also write a caption that describes the design.

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 Amendment Commemorative Stamps
Directions: Design a stamp to represent the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Also, write a caption that describes each stamp’s design.

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 Teacher Info – Freedmen’s Bureau Business
Card
• Print out the business card template for each student.

• Have the students create a business card for a worker in the Freedmen’s
Bureau during Reconstruction.

• Project the red directions slide onto the screen so that the students know
what goes in each section.

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 Job Description:
Logo
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________ Name: __________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________ Company: ______________________
_____________________________
_____________________________ Number: _______________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________

Slogan:
Awards:
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________________________________________

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 Teacher Info – Reconstruction Caricatures
• Have the students create a caricature for a former slave and a plantation
owner during Reconstruction.

• They will draw clothes, belongings, and facial expressions to represent

the person’s situation during this time period.

• Also, they will answer the questions from perspective of each person.

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 Reconstruction Caricatures
Directions: Create a caricature for former slave and a plantation owner during Reconstruction. Draw clothing and belongings/items on each person that represents the person’s situation during
Reconstruction.

Former Slave Plantation Owner

• How has Reconstruction affected • How has Reconstruction affected

your life? your life?

• How do you feel about the new • How do you feel about the new
Amendments? Amendments?

• What changes would you like to • What changes would you like to
see in the government? see in the government?

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 Teacher Info – KKK WANTED Poster
• Have the students create a WANTED poster for the Ku Klux Klan after
Reconstruction.

• They will include information about what the KKK was and the crimes
that it committed.

• Inside the photograph, they will draw an action shot of the KKK and
include a caption.

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 KKK WANTED Poster
Directions: Created a WANTED Poster for the Ku Klux Klan. Include information about the KKK, a description of the KKK’s crimes, and a photograph.

WANTED: __________________________
Reward Amount:

Who is this group?

What crimes did this group commit?

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 Teacher Directions –What Would Lincoln
Think?
• Have the students write a paragraph about how Lincoln would
react to Reconstruction.

• They should include how he would feel about the new

Amendments, sharecropping and tenant farming, Ku Klux
Klan, etc.

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 What Would Lincoln Think?
Directions: What would Lincoln think about what happened during Reconstruction? Do you think he would agree with the amendments and plans put into place? How do you think he would
react to the South’s treatment of former slaves? Write a paragraph sharing Lincoln’s “thoughts” below.

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles

 Thank You!
Thank you so much for downloading this file. I sincerely hope you find it helpful and that your students learn a
lot from it! I look forward to reading your feedback in my store.

If you like this file, you might want to check out some of my other products that teach social studies topics in
creative, engaging, and hands-on ways.

Best of luck to you this school year,

Ansley at Brain Wrinkles

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles
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through my store.

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Ansley at Brain Wrinkles

© 2014 Brain Wrinkles