Reconstruction Middle School Video

0:02 Welcome to the museum.

0:04 Today we’re heading into one of the most challenging and important

0:07 chapters in American history reconstruction.

0:10 The time period

0:11 when the nation was brought back together right after the Civil War.

0:16 We’ll be looking at two pieces of artwork

0:18 to help us understand our big historical question.

0:21 How successful was reconstruction in addressing the challenges

0:24 of rebuilding the nation and ensuring equal rights for African-Americans?

0:28 Let’s examine how artists use their work to reflect the struggles,

0:31 hopes, and setbacks of the reconstruction era.

0:34 Let’s start with this political cartoon.

0:38 This is a political cartoon by Thomas

0:40 Nast, published in 1874.

0:43 NASA was known for using art to express strong political opinions.

0:47 And this piece is full of symbolism.

0:49 The title The Union as it was is bitterly ironic.

0:53 Let’s look closely in the center we see a black family cowering

0:57 beneath a skull and crossbones.

0:58 Above them hovers a Ku Klux Klan

1:01 or a KKK member in white robes and a man labeled White League.

1:04 These were two groups that used violence and intimidation

1:07 to stop African Americans from exercising their right to vote.

1:11 And the words worse than slavery.

1:13 This is a white man’s government and lost cause.

1:15 Complete the foreground, revealing NASA opinion that the restrictions

1:19 on and condition of Black Americans was dire.

1:23 In the background, we see what appears to be destruction with a schoolhouse sign

1:28 book spread on the floor.

1:29 Flames are smoke and sadly, a lynched or hung body.

1:33 This visual in particular, combined with a cowering family and presses upon

1:37 the viewer the terror and fear inflicted upon black citizens during this time.

1:42 Through the symbolism and text.

1:43 NASA’s arguing that reconstruction is failing

1:46 not because of laws, but because of violence and resistance in the South.

1:51 Now compare that to this lithograph from just two years before

1:55 showing the first African-American members of the US Congress.

1:59 Here we see seven black legislators, including Hiram Revels,

2:02 the first African-American senator, and Joseph Rainey,

2:06 the first black member of the House of Representatives.

2:09 Each man is labeled dressed formally

2:12 and presented with professionalism and dignity.

2:16 This artwork shows the immense progress made by black people

2:19 politically in the early years of reconstruction.

2:22 These leaders were elected thanks to new laws

2:24 like the 15th amendment, which gave African American men the right to vote.

2:29 This success came with challenges.

2:31 Many white Southerners resisted black political power using new restrictive

2:36 voting laws, intimidation and violence, just like we saw in NASCAR.

2:40 Tune.

2:42 The rights guaranteed to Black Americans that were enshrined in the Constitution

2:46 by Congress were then overshadowed by a number of restrictions on voting,

2:51 including poll taxes, grandfather clauses, and literacy tests.

2:56 Together, these two images tell a fuller story of reconstruction.

3:00 Both the achievements and the fierce opposition.

3:13 Now that we know more about the history

3:15 and our sources, let’s go back to our historical question.

3:18 How successful was reconstruction in addressing the challenges

3:21 of rebuilding the nation and ensuring equal rights for African-Americans?

3:25 To answer that, we need to use our skills.

3:28 I’m going to walk through five of them, just like I would in my own thinking.

3:32 First, I ask myself, how can I group the sources?

3:36 Well, I see that one image shows failure and violence

3:39 while the other shows progress in representation.

3:42 That’s two strong categories resistance to reconstruction.

3:46 Achievements of reconstruction.

3:48 Grouping this way helps me organize my evidence.

3:51 Let’s use the view method to analyze Nass cartoon voice.

3:56 The artist is Thomas Nast, a northern

3:58 political cartoonist who supported equal rights.

4:01 Intent is criticizing southern violence

4:04 and warning northern audiences that reconstruction is collapsing.

4:08 Environment. It’s 1874.

4:11 Many northern politicians are losing interest in enforcing reconstruction laws.

4:15 Who NASA wants the public and lawmakers to see what’s happening in the South.

4:21 View helps us understand why Nast made this cartoon so emotional and alarming.

4:26 Next, I pulled direct evidence from the sources from Nast cartoon.

4:30 A black family is hovered over by the Klu Klux Klan and the White League.

4:34 There is a burning schoolhouse and a hanging body

4:37 that shows that African-Americans face extreme violence.

4:40 From the Currier and Ives print.

4:42 Hiram Revels and Joseph Rainey are shown with their names and roles in Congress

4:47 that proves some African-Americans did gain political power.

4:52 Let’s add historical context.

4:54 After the Civil War,

4:55 the federal government passed the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment,

4:59 which ended slavery and gave African American citizenship and voting rights.

5:04 During reconstruction, U.S.

5:05 troops protected these rights in the South because of the failure of the states.

5:09 But over time, federal support weakened.

5:12 White supremacist groups

5:13 grew stronger, and southern states violated the rights of black citizens.

5:17 That context explains why we see both progress and backlash in these images.

5:22 Now let’s write a thesis, a

5:24 1 or 2 sentence answer to the DB2 question.

5:28 How about this?

5:29 Reconstruction achieves some success in rebuilding the nation and securing

5:33 African-Americans political rights, as shown by the election of black leaders.

5:37 But it also faced strong resistance, including violent attacks

5:41 that limited the success of these efforts.

5:44 That thesis includes both sides of the story.

5:47 Just like the sources.

5:50 Reconstruction

5:51 wasn’t perfect, and it faced a lot of resistance,

5:54 but it was a time when Americans took bold steps toward justice.

5:58 And those steps matter.

6:00 African Americans organized, voted, ran for office, built

6:04 schools, and pushed the nation to live up to its founding ideals.

6:07 When movements are grounded in principles like equality and justice,

6:11 they have the power to spark real change, even when it’s hard.