End of Reconstruction Writing Prompt

1. In descibing the achievements of the Reconstruction period, Civil Rights leader, W.E.B. Dubois stated, "It was Negro loyalty and the Negro vote that restored the South to the Union; established the new democracy, both for white and black."  Using a key piece of evidence from your webquests or notes fom the subsequent presentations, in a paragraph, analyze what Dubois meant regarding the success of Reconstruction.
2. In describing Reconstruction, Frederick Douglass said, "You gave us no acres.  You turned us loose to the sky, to the storm, to the whirlwind and worst of all, you turned us loose to the wrath of our infuriated masters."  Using a key piece of evidence from your webquests or notes from the subsequent presentations, in a paragraph, analyze what Douglass meant regarding the lack of success for Reconstruction.
3. If you had to choose, who was right, Dubois or Douglass?  Was Reconstruction a success or failure?  Use evidence from the webquest or subsequent presentations to justify your response.

Thinking about Reconstruction

You will be working in groups today to process the work we did with the Reconstruction website.

Your task is to create a page of bullet-pointed notes to present to the class, then post onto the blog.

You need to discuss and explain:

1- What are the key concepts?  What are the goals?  (think - political / physical / societal / other)

2- Methods - what was attempted?  Why?

3- Did it work?  What happened?  Why?  What was the impact / what were the consequences?

Reconstruction and its Effects

Reconstruction, one of the most turbulent and controversial eras in American history, began during the Civil War and ended in 1877. It witnessed America's first experiment in interracial democracy. Just as the fate of slavery was central to the meaning of the Civil War, so the divisive politics of Reconstruction turned on the status the former slaves would assume in the reunited nation. Reconstruction remains relevant today because the issues central to it -- the role of the federal government in protecting citizens' rights, and the possibility of economic and racial justice -- are still unresolved.
-America's Reconstruction:People and Politics After the War. Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, 2003. Web. 11 November 2012. http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/exhibits/reconstruction/introduction.html

Today, you will explore whether or not the United States' efforts to reconstruct from 1865-1877 successfully answered the issues raised by the end of the Civil War and whether there is unfinished work that we are still dealing with today.  To do so, open this document and follow its instructions carefully.  You will need to do a "save as" to your own documents in order to edit it.

Last Few Days Before the Election...How do you know who you would vote for?

Explore the following "candidate match" quizzes.  They are designed to match your opinions and ideas about the issues with a candidate's ideas about those same issues.  As you work, make a page in your notebook labeled Election 2012 and take some notes.  What issues are emerging as the most important?  What do you need to know about these issues (identify facts and details here)?  What are the candidates saying about these issues?  What policies do they support?

USA Today Candidate Match (be sure to click on the links and read what the candidates said about the issues that are most important to you.  Write down some key quotes or ideas).

VoteSmart (after doing the Presidential race,  click on the link for the Congressional Races.  Enter your zip code and see which Congressional candidate you align with).

ISideWith

SelectSmart



When finished, underneath your notes, do a response to this activity.
What do you think of your results (Note-you do not have to say what your results showed if you prefer to keep those private)?  Which issues did you value most highly and why? Are there any biases in any of these surveys? Are you surprised by your results? Why or why not?  Did your results vary from one test to the other? If so, why do you think this was so?