History, Civics & Social Studies · Grade 11

Civil War, Emancipation and Reconstruction

Learners trace how a war to preserve the Union became a war that destroyed slavery, through the actions of enslaved people, soldiers, Congress and Lincoln. They read Lincoln's own words on the war's meaning, analyze the political struggles, achievements and violent overthrow of Reconstruction, and compare how historians from the Dunning School to W. E. B. Du Bois and later scholars have interpreted the era.

4 lessons
About 135 minutes
War and Reconstruction check: 9 questions
Ways to answer: choose an answer, highlight a text, match pairs, type a number, put in order and sort into groups

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What learners will discover

Explain emancipation as a process shaped by enslaved people, the Union army, Congress and Lincoln.
Analyze how Lincoln and Black soldiers defined the meaning of the war, using primary sources.
Evaluate Reconstruction's policies, achievements and the forces that overthrew it.
Compare historians' interpretations of Reconstruction and explain why they changed.

Lessons

Emancipation as a process 5 steps4 practiceabout 33 min
The meaning of the war 6 steps3 practiceabout 33 min
Reconstruction: achievements and overthrow 5 steps3 practiceabout 34 min
How historians have interpreted Reconstruction 5 steps4 practiceabout 35 min
War and Reconstruction check 9 questions at the end