Grade 8 Lesson at a Glance: Chapter 13, Lesson 2

Houghton Mifflin Social Studies
A More Perfect Union

Lesson at a Glance
Chapter 13, Lesson 2: Radical Reconstruction (pp. 385-390)

The Big Idea
Framework Concept: Rights Republicans in Congress pushed for control over the South and greater rights for blacks while white Southerners resisted.

Describe the struggles between President Johnson and the Republican-controlled Congress. Discuss the Republican plan for Reconstruction and the effect it had on the former Confederate states (except Tennessee), and freedmen. Explain how martial law was needed to protect black voters.

Summarize the activities of carpetbaggers and scalawags, and point out that corruption was occurring at the state and local level in both the North and South. Outline the reason for the Fifteenth Amendment and discuss what it guaranteed and what it did not guarantee.

Lesson Outline
Use the Lesson Outline to preview the content of the lesson. You may wish to print it for your students as a guide during reading.

Check for Understanding

Divide the class in half. One half should support the carpetbaggers and the other half should oppose them. Based on those assigned positions, have each student write a letter to the editor of a newspaper describing the intentions and work of the carpetbaggers. When finished, have them share their letters and discuss.
Ask students to study the cartoon on page 389, then use similar elements (Union soldiers, General Grant, a figure representing the South, etc.) to draw a cartoon that is pro-Reconstruction. If necessary, discuss some ideas to get students started.

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