Review and identify relevant information on the linked PBS American Experience site, Reconstruction The Second Civil War
White Men UniteLinks to an external site.
State by State: Reconstruction timelineDownload State by State: Reconstruction timeline
This link will direct you to the full transcript of the Wade-Davis Bill.Links to an external site. What does it suggest about the prevailing Reconstruction sentiments in Congress?
Read the section in Chapter 17 which discusses the Black Codes, and the linked site on the Black Codes.Links to an external site.
Read the linked document, a selection from The Ills of the South, Download The Ills of the South, written by Charles H. Okten, a Mississippi Baptist preacher, and schoolteacher, in which he describes conditions for Black Americans under the sharecropping and crop-lien system.
After you have completed your readings, post your response to ONE of the following questions:
Were the Black Codes another form of slavery?
Based on Okten’s statements, discuss how the sharecropping/crop lien system created a vicious cycle. Was this system simply another version of slavery? Why or why not.
Consider the following statement: “The persistence of racism in both the North and the South lay at the heart of Reconstruction’s failure.” Agree or disagree, and explain your position.
