U3 L4

​Presidential vs. Congressional Plans

By DALLAS GILLELAND

Lesson Objective

Students will evaluate how the Civil War’s end led to competing Reconstruction plans and analyze the short- and long-term impacts these plans had on reunifying the nation. They will also examine how freedmen and other marginalized groups influenced political and social institutions through their demands for rights, federal protection, and participation in newly created Reconstruction-era programs and amendments.

Standards: HS.H2.3 – Evaluate the short- and long- term impacts of conflicts and their resolutions.

HS.H4.1 – Examine how marginalized groups affected political and social institutions (Abolitionists, Freedmen, African Americans in government).

To be successful...

I can compare the main ideas and goals of different Reconstruction plans.

• I can explain what Lincoln, Johnson, and Congress wanted to do after the Civil War, and how their plans were different.

I can describe how Reconstruction changed the country and affected people’s lives.

• I can give examples of laws, programs, and amendments, and explain how they helped reunite the nation and impacted freedmen and other groups.

I can show how freedmen and other marginalized groups fought for their rights and shaped new laws.

• I can use evidence from documents or laws to explain how African Americans and others demanded rights and influenced government decisions.

Open Ended

Compare these two letters, one written by a northerner (Caroline Barrett White) and one written by a Southerner (Kate Stone). How do these letters show the social and economic damage caused by the war, and why would this make Reconstruction more difficult?

Success Hints:
Start with Caroline Barrett White’s letter (April 10, 1865):

Look at the tone: words like “Hurrah! Hurrah!” and “great triumph” show excitement.

Ask yourself: Why would Northerners feel this way at the end of the war?

Notice her references to “jubilation,” “justice & freedom,” and “our starry banner.”

Think about what these ideas suggest about the North’s hopes for the future.

Pay attention to her mention of “no slave shall look upon its glorious folds.”

Ask: How does this connect to the goals of Reconstruction?

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Now look at Kate Stone’s letter (May 15, 1865):

Focus on words like “Conquered,” “Submission,” “humiliated,” and “future without hope.”
Ask yourself: How do these words show the emotional state of Southerners after defeat?

Notice her description of “sacrifices,” “blood,” and “graves.”
Think about what this tells you about Southern losses and bitterness.

Look at the phrase “slaves, yes slaves, of the Yankee Government.”
Ask: How might this attitude affect cooperation during Reconstruction?

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Put it together:

Compare the two tones: one is joyful and hopeful, the other is bitter and despairing.

Ask: How could these contrasting emotions make rebuilding the nation difficult?
Think about issues like trust, resentment, and willingness to accept change.

Multiple Choice

What was the main purpose of the Freedmen’s Bureau?

• To promote agricultural development
• To assist freed slaves and refugees
• To enforce labor contracts
• To provide military training

Open Ended

Based on this document, how did the Freedmen’s Bureau attempt to protect the rights and lives of formerly enslaved people?

Success Hints

Look for what the Bureau is telling the superintendent to do.
The instructions list several responsibilities — take note of each one.
Ask yourself: What do all these tasks have in common?

Pay attention to anything involving the rights of freedmen.
The document mentions protecting African Americans from their former masters.
Look for phrases like “protect the negroes in their rights as freemen.”

Notice the parts about helping freedmen with work.
The Bureau talks about making contracts, finding employment, keeping a register of workers, and preventing exploitation.
This tells you one of their major priorities.

Find language about independence.
Toward the end, the document says they won’t be “really free” until they can support themselves without government aid.
What does that show about their goals?

Look at how the Bureau deals with problems.
For example, helping those without work, preventing oppression, supervising contracts, and managing vagrancy.
This shows how they tried to maintain order and fairness in the transition from slavery to freedom.

Put it all together:
Think about how a government agency would help people who were newly freed after centuries of slavery — the tasks listed in the document are clues to their priorities (protection, rights, work, independence) and objectives (smooth transition to free labor, prevent abuse, support economic stability).

Categorize

Options (12)

Only 10% of voters from 1860 had to swear loyalty to the Union

Offered broad pardons to Confederates who took an oath of loyalty.

Goal was to reunite the nation quickly and peacefully.

Wanted to restore Southern states quickly, even before the war fully ended.

Required wealthy Southerners to personally ask for a presidential pardon.

Did not protect the rights of newly freed African Americans.

Opposed the 14th Amendment, claiming it gave too many rights to formerly enslaved people.

Black Codes were allowed to spread under this plan.

Required Southern states to ratify the 14th Amendment.

Placed the South under military districts to enforce federal law.

Passed the Reconstruction Acts of 1867 to take control from Johnson.

Created the Freedmen’s Bureau to protect and support freedpeople.

Drop the correct pieces of reconstruction plans under the correct person/establishment

Lincoln

Johnson

Congress

Multiple Choice

What does the 13th amendment abolish?

• Indentured servitude and serfdom.
• Prison labor and forced labor.
• Slavery and involuntary servitude.
• Child labor and human trafficking.

Open Ended

How did the 13th and 14th Amendments overturn the Dred Scott decision and expand rights for African Americans?

Success Hints

Start by remembering the Dred Scott decision.
Ask yourself: What did the Supreme Court say about African Americans in that case?
(Hint: The Court ruled that African Americans could not be citizens.)

Now look at the FIRST line of the Civil Rights Act.
It clearly says “all persons born in the United States… are hereby declared to be citizens.”
Think about how that directly overturns the Dred Scott ruling.

Find the list of rights in the document.
It mentions the right to:
• make contracts
• sue and testify
• own property
• receive the “full and equal benefit” of the law
These are all rights formerly denied to enslaved people.

Connect this to the 14th Amendment.
The 14th Amendment puts the idea of birthright citizenship and equal protection into the Constitution, which makes it permanent.
Ask yourself: How does this protect African Americans in the long term?

Put it together:
This law and the 14th Amendment give African Americans legal citizenship, protection under the law, and civil rights that states must respect — the opposite of what happened in Dred Scott.