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...
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Slavery and the Making of America: Freedom & Emancipation
Using primary documents, oral histories and other historical resources, learn about the African American reaction to emancipation and to events from the Reconstruction period following the Civil War.
Black Past
Black Past: Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback
An interesting biography of P.B.S. Pinchback, first African American to be governor of any state. Read about his childhood, his life in politics, and his education to be a lawyer.
![Digital History: The Problem of Reconstruction [Pdf] Website](https://d15y2dacu3jp90.cloudfront.net/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/FPO-knovation.png "Digital History: The Problem of Reconstruction [Pdf] Website")
Digital History
Digital History: The Problem of Reconstruction [Pdf]
How does a country put itself back together after a civil war? Read about the problems with the destruction of the Southern economy and land, the recognition of former slaves as freedmen, and the ways to bring the Southern states back...
Black Past
Black Past: Hampton University
This informative encyclopedia article traces the evolution of Hampton University from an agricultural and vocational institute for African Americans after the Civil War to a well-respected university offering graduate and research programs.
Black Past
Black Past: Wright, Jonathan
The importance of Jonathan Wright's legal career is explained in this encyclopedia article.
Black Past
Black Past: Berea College
In this brief encyclopedia article, you will read about Berea College, the first fully integrated college in the South.
Other
Black Hills Institute of Geological Research, Inc.: Stan T. Rex
Stan T. Rex is the name given to a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton that was excavated and reconstructed by the Black Hills Institute. Stan is sixty-five percent bone and among the most complete T. Rex skeletons in the world that scientists...
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: Black Segregation Timeline
This article features short, interesting facts in a historical timeline format on black segregation in America in the years before the Civil War up to the Civil Rights Movement in the late 1900s.
Other
Alabama.gov: Reconstruction
Learn facts about life in the state of Alabama after the Civil War.
Other
Celebrating Rights and Responsibilities: Story of the 15th Amendment in Maryland
This resource houses an essay on the passing of the 15th Amendment in Maryland. The essay discusses the political motivations behind the passing and how this affected the black population of the state.
Other
Dogon Village: Blanche Kelso Bruce
Blanche Kelso Bruce was a Republican Senator from Mississippi, and the first Black U.S. Senator. He advocated for relief for newly freed slaves, for improving navigation on rivers, and for desegregation of the United States Army. He also...
Other
Afgen.com: Address to the Colored People
This page from Afgen.com contains the address delivered to the colored people at Galesburg, Illinois, 1867 by Robert G. Ingersoll. It emphasizes the rights of blacks as a result of the Civil War and Ingersoll encourages African-Americans...
Library of Congress
Loc: From Slavery to Civil Rights
This interactive timeline lets students select an era in the history of blacks in United States. Text tells the highlights of the time and primary source materials are linked that pertain as well.
Other
Black Baltimore 1870 1920: The Fifteenth Amendment Parade and Celebration
Contains a great picture and description of the Fifteenth Amendment parade that was held in Baltimore, to emphasize its importance. Provides links to other civil rights articles.
Black Past
Black Past: Hiram Rhodes Revels
Read about the life and political career of Hiram Rhodes Revels, the first African American to serve in the United States Senate.
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: Racial Segregation History in the United States
This article contains numerous facts about black segregation history in the United States from the Civil War through the end of the Civil Rights Movement.
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Woodrow Wilson Center: Digital Archive: North Korea & American Radical Left
A collection of documents on North Korea's ties to groups associated with the American radical left, including the Black Panther Party, in the 1960s and 1970s. The documents were obtained from the personal papers of Eldridge Cleaver, a...
US National Archives
Samuel Chapman Armstrong: A Biographical Study
A book-length biography of Samuel Chapman Armstrong, founder of Hampton Institute, a historically Black school founded during Reconstruction. The biography was written by Armstrong's daughter, Edith Armstrong Talbot, in 1904. The book is...
Curated OER
National Park Service: Homestead National Monument: Exodusters
Read about the reasons for the extensive black migration to Kansas, especially in the 1870s. These emigrants were called Exodusters. From the National Park Service.
Library of Congress
Loc: American Memory: African American Odyssey
An online version of the exhibit, "The African American Odyssey: A Quest for Full Citizenship", on the struggle of African Americans from Slavery to Civil Rights. Information about voting issues can be found under Reconstruction and the...
Library of Congress
Loc: African Immigration: Africans in America: Life in a Slave Society
An excellent overview of the African American experience in America beginning with West Africa during the slave trade, through emancipation and reconstruction, to "New beginnings."
Library of Congress
Loc: American Memory: Voice of the Carpet Bagger
The Library of Congress provides the full text to The Voice of the Carpet Bagger, a 48 page pamphlet defending Reconstruction and protesting lynching and violence against blacks. The pamphlet was originally published in 1901.
OpenStax
Open Stax: Congress and the Remaking of the South, 1865 1866
This section from a chapter on "The Era of Reconstruction" describes the efforts made by Congress in 1865 and 1866 to bring to life its vision of Reconstruction and explains how the Fourteenth Amendment transformed the Constitution.