University of Virginia
The University of Virginia Library: Reconstruction, by Fredrick Douglass
A document on Reconstruction written by Fredrick Douglass. He argues particularly for voting rights for blacks as the most necessary step to avoid the kinds of state's rights conflicts that brought about the Civil War.
Library of Congress
Loc: American Memory: Reconstruction and Rights
Historical documents give evidence to the question of rights in the South following the Civil War. Historical narratives and government reports tell of giving the male slaves the right to vote and hold office while denying these rights...
Digital History
Digital History: America's Reconstruction: Rights and Power
This resource provides information about Reconstruction, the United States Government, slavery, and civil rights.
Virginia History Series
Virginia History Series: Virginia State History Reconstruction to 1900 [Pdf]
Much of Virginia was devastated after the Civil War so a period of rebuilding commenced. Follow Reconstruction through the different plans, the effects on African-Americans and the South. This slideshow has pictures,charts, and maps to...
University of Virginia
Miller Center at Uva: u.s. Presidents: Andrew Johnson
An extensive look at Andrew Johnson and his administration. Includes a biography, information on his cabinet, and most importantly, an essay on the impact and legacy of his presidency. Don't miss reading this.
The History Cat
The History Cat: The Jim Crow Era: The Life and Death of Jim Crow
Looks at how Southerners continued to discriminate against blacks after the Civil War through Black Codes, or Jim Crow laws, which permitted practices such as segregation in public places and requiring literacy tests in order to vote.
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Beginnings of the Movement: Abolition and Early Women's Rights Movement
How was the anti-slavery movement tightly connected with women's right to vote? Explore the efforts of women abolitionists, who realized that "the injustice they wanted to remedy for blacks also applied to women." Primary texts at this...
Curated OER
Etc: Maps Etc: Women Suffrage Before the Amendment, August 1, 1920
A map of the United States showing the progression of suffrage prior to the Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution, ratified on August 18, 1920. "The map shows the status of women suffrage, or the right of women to vote on an equality...
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Texas Joins the Battle: A Haunting Question
Suffragists in Texas attempted to have their voice heard. However, the issue of race often tore these women apart, and ultimately ended the Texas Equal Rights Association in 1896. Explore the words and strategies of this period's...
Digital History
Digital History: Voting Rights
In 1964 African Americans won the right to vote, but still had to jump through several hoops in some states before actually casting a ballot. Find out how voiting evolved into 1965.
National Women’s History Museum
National Women's History Museum: Lucretia Mott
Lucretia Mott argued as ardently for women's rights as for black rights, including suffrage, education, and economic aid.
Social Studies for Kids
Social Studies for Kids: Frederick Douglass: Great Foe of Slavery
One of the most important Black Americans in the history of the country was Frederick Douglass. Find out more about this outspoken foe of slavery.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Gains and Pains
Read about the legal gains made by the civil rights movement, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, juxtaposed against the real-life actions meant to deny African Americans their right to racial equality not just legally, but...
National Women's Hall of Fame
National Women's Hall of Fame: Mary Ann Shadd Cary
The National Women's Hall of Fame provides a brief biography of Mary Ann Shadd Cary, an educator, abolitionist, editor, attorney, and feminist of the Civil War era.
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Race and Voting in the Segregated South
Article and activity in which students read and analyze the historic challenges faced by African Americans as they sought to gain an unimpeded right to vote in the segregated South followed by activity asking students to evaluate current...
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: The 1890s: Voting Rights
Though given the right to vote by 1870, African-American men faced several problems when it came to voting. This is a brief description of what they faced.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Mary Eliza Church Terrell
Learn about Mary Church Terrell, American social activist who was cofounder and first president of the National Association of Colored Women. She was an early civil rights advocate, an educator, an author, and a lecturer on woman...
Digital History
Digital History: The Ending of Reconstruction
In the 1870's, violent opposition in the South and the North's retreat from its commitment to equality, resulted in the end of Reconstruction. By 1876, the nation was prepared to abandon its commitment to equality for all citizens...
US National Archives
Docsteach: From Dred Scott to Civil Rights Act of 1875: Eighteen Years of Change
In 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Dred Scott decision that African-Americans were not citizens of the United States. Yet within 18 years, Black Americans would not only have citizenship, but would be guaranteed the right to...
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Texas Joins the Battle: African American Women, 1890s
See photos that are representative of the lives of African-American women at the turn of the century and read about the discrimination black women and men faced: Jim Crow laws, poll taxes, and the "white primary" rule. A brief...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: The Vote, Making of African American Identity: V. 2
An appeal for black voting rights and an editorial cartoon opposing them. This resource explains that while the 15th Amendment granted black men the right to vote, southern states fought to block its implementation.
Other
Basd: Reconstruction [Pdf]
A very clear document outlining the various reconstruction plans, the problems for both whites and blacks during Reconstruction, and the amendments added concerning the abolition of slavery, civil rights, and suffrage. Requires Adobe...
Other
Amistad Digital Resource: Voting Rights
Article discusses African Americans and their push for the right to vote which eventually resulted in blacks being elected as officials in the 1940s.
Danuta Bois
Distinguished Women of Past and Present: Antoinette Louisa Brown Blackwell
Antoinette Blackwell was the first American woman to be ordained as a minister. She was a champion of woman's rights and lived to vote at age 95 after the adoption of the 19th amendment into the U.S. Constitution.