Post 1 of 3
Notes from the Professor:
This Unit 4 discussion asks you to review the Unit 4 textbook readings and video lectures. This assignment asks you to put yourself in the shoes of someone living in 1860. From here, you will gather your evidence and examples of ways to fix Reconstruction.
This assignment has three parts that span three individual posts. In the first post, you will state the most daunting problems you see regarding fixing Reconstruction. Be sure to provide evidence and examples of why you believe these items to be the biggest challenges.
Actual Discussion Question instructions:
The year is 1870. This class has been hired to fix Reconstruction – the federal attempt to get former Confederate states to abide by the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, and to re-accept the Constitution as the Law of the Land.
The question is, how do you do that? How do convince people to change? How do you address centuries of racialism, the trauma and destruction of the Civil War, ninety percent illiteracy among the formerly enslaved, twenty percent illiteracy among free whites, power remaining in the hands of a few Southern political figures who still have land and power, lingering poverty among all races, national divisions after the assassination of a President, and many more issues? How can you turn problems into opportunities?
Required Reading/Watching
Prior to this discussion, you should have:
- Read chapters 13, 14, and 15 in The American Yawp and take notes on what you viewed as most significant concerning conditions and problems in the US South.
- Watched video lectures 14 and 15, taking notes on what you viewed as most significant.
- Completed the Unit 4 paper assignment Exploring Williamson County Freedmen’s Bureau Contracts
- Read and become familiar with the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution
Purpose
This discussion will focus on collective problem-solving. The topic here is the largely failed federal policy of Reconstruction from 1865 to 1877, especially the Federal Government’s inability to convince southern white state governments to follow the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments of the US Constitution. You should know these Amendments well by now, and how many former Confederates refused to obey these laws.
Learning Outcomes:
- Analyze historical facts and interpretations.
- Analyze and compare political, geographic, economic, social, cultural, religious, and intellectual institutions, structures, and processes across a range of historical periods and cultures
- Recognize and articulate the diversity of human experience across a range of historical periods and the complexities of a global culture and society
- Recognize the impact of geography, environment, and the natural world on the course of history and how choices are often limited by physical factors beyond the control of human beings
- Grasp the capacity of human beings to make a difference in history, and recognize the complexities of cause and effect and of intended and unintended consequences
Tasks:
Step 1: Gather evidence as you can from the Unit 4 textbook readings, and video lectures. Gather statistics events and examples regarding conditions in the South up to 1870.
Step 2: Analyze that evidence and see what it is telling you: What are the largest problems concerning conditions in the South, including race relations, political conditions, extremes in wealth and poverty, poor education systems, etc.? Explore possible options among those conditions in the South up to 1870. Note: you and no one else can see the future, but you can examine the past and present to determine your best options.
Step 3: Communicate your findings honestly to yourself and others: Each of you will submit a minimum of three highly detailed posts:
- Your first post will state what you see to be the most daunting problems facing your task. Show all the historical evidence you gathered that tells you why you see these problems as your biggest challenges.
