Curriculum Guide for Teaching Community College English
Teaching for Social Change

Topics:   • Novel Offers...   • Issues/Topics   • Intro Ideas   • Vocabulary   • Chapter By Chapter   • Writing/In Class Assignments   • Supplementary Reading/Resources
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Curriculum Guide
Freedom Road

Summary of the novel

Freedom Road takes place during the reconstruction era immediately following the civil war, a profoundly important and controversial period of US history. It tells the story of the heroic effort of ex-slaves and poor whites to build agrarian democracy in the South. Gideon Jackson, an ex-slave is chosen by his black neighbors to represent them in the new state government. One of the 74 blacks among the 124 members of the South Carolina Constitutional Convention assembled in Charleston in 1868, Gideon overcomes his ignorance and illiteracy to provide leadership for his people. The wealthy and powerful planters, sulking about their defeat in the war, recognize the capabilities of the determined blacks, and decide to bide their time until they can strike back with force.

When Gideon returns home after the Convention, he persuades his neighbors, freed slaves like himself, and poor whites, to join together to buy pieces of the abandoned 22,000 acre Carwell Plantation and work together to build a community. They organize an integrated school and live in harmony. An abolitionist from the north helps Gideon’s oldest son, Jeff, go to medical school in Scotland and Jeff returns to marry his blind sweetheart. Still under the protection of Federal troops, the people build homes and mills, and prosper. Gideon becomes a congressman.

Then with the Tilden-Hayes compromise of 1876, Federal troops are withdrawn and the planter-aristocrat, Stephen Holm unleashes the Ku Klux Klan to destroy the fragile power base that the working class of the South has built. He says, "Gentlemen, the nigger will be a slave again, as he has been and as he is destined to be". Gideon tries to persuade the outgoing President Grant to maintain the army of occupation for another decade but fails. The community organizes a militia to defend itself. They make a heroic stand against the KKK, but in the end they are defeated.

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What does this novel have to offer students?

Many youth of today continually and painfully question why racism still exists when major historical movements over the last two centuries seem to have decided the question on the side of anti-racism, on the side of equality. For example, today, the Klan is widely condemned as a racist terrorist organization, racial integration is generally seen as a positive trend in society, and the idea of genetically based racial inferiority and superiority, an idea which justified slavery, is widely disputed and condemned. Therefore it remains a mystery to most youth as to why racial prejudice persists and racist differentials in wages, health care, and treatment in the criminal justice system continue to plague minority communities. Understanding the reconstruction period sheds some light on this burning question.

Most people have no knowledge of the mass movement in the South 150 years ago that had begun the process of eradicating the devastating effects of two centuries of chattel slavery. During the upheaval of the Civil War, the subsequent abolition of the slave system, and the twelve years of reconstruction, racism was fought more vigorously than perhaps any other time in US history. It was the defeat of this working class, anti-racist power base, built in the South from 1865 until its defeat in 1877 that largely explains the racism that has persisted through the 20th century and remains a major problem today. This is the period and the issue that Freedom Road explores in literary form.

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What are some issues or topics that could be explored in class?

Ⅰ.  Point of view in history

Until the 1940’s, the scholarship about the reconstruction era was by dominated by racist historians. They depicted blacks as ignorant neophytes and their northern supporters as corrupt and self-serving manipulators or idealistic ideologues, abusing their power and destroying the cultured beauty of the antebellum South. In the 1940’s through the 1970’s, however, serious scholarly works challenged the prevailing view of this misunderstood historical period. Students can be introduced to the concept of Point of View in the telling of history by comparing excerpts from the Dunningites (named after Dunning, one of the prime examples of racist historians) and the “revisionist” historians.

Ⅱ.  The origin of racism in the United States

Freedom Road graphically reveals how deeply racism is embedded in US society. Furthermore, it exposes the Ku Klux Klan as the brainchild of the aristocratic planters who employ terrorism to keep the black labor force living and working in slave-like conditions. An essay written by Lerone Bennett, “The Road Not Taken”, (included in this curriculum guide, along with a study guide in the section of Supplementary Readings) explores the roots of US racism as a practice and ideology that allowed the Southern ruling class of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to control the working class as they extracted mega profits from their labor.

Ⅲ.   Voting and democracy

For many decades now, the majority of the people living in the US don’t vote in elections. The explanations for this phenomenon vary, but most people agree that those people who don’t vote think that it won’t make a difference to their lives. The argument that is often used to get blacks to vote today is, “Your forefathers died so you could vote. To show your respect for their struggle yesterday, you must exercise your rights today.” Still, most people who do vote (of all ethnicities), vote for the “lesser of two evils”, rather than because they believe voting will change their lives for the better.
In contrast, the Freedmen (in Freedom Road) are introduced to the abstraction of “voting” and they embrace it and accept it at face value as a process that will lead to their fair share of political power. Taken out of historical context, their confidence in voting seems naïve and idealistic, but since they have been enslaved and kept outside of the political process, they have no reason to approach it with the kind of skepticism or cynicism that is so widespread today. This theme of the novel provides an opportunity to explore what voting means to people and why.
Also, the collective way in which the people of Carwell lived, leads us to ask questions about democracy, what it is and how is it achieved? Is voting for representatives who make the decisions for the people or collective decision-making the essence of democracy? What other ways, other than by voting, could good decisions be made?

Ⅳ.  Violence and social change

It was made clear through the unfolding of events in Freedom Road that there are different kinds of violence, and that the violence employed by the community at Carwell was nothing less than self-defense. At the end of the novel, when they were clearly outnumbered and outgunned, Gideon raises the all-important questions: Did the Civil War go far enough? What could they have achieved if they knew at the start of the reconstruction era what they came to know about the class character of the planters and aristocracy of the South? These questions are also elaborated in the film “The Deacons for Defense”, which tells the true story of a community’s fight against the Klan a hundred years later during the Civil Rights Movement in Bogalusa, Louisiana. This film, in which the movement is victorious, could be used in comparison to Freedom Road, possibly leading to a discussion of non-violence vs. militance as different philosophies for achieving social change.

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Ideas for introducing the curriculum

Ⅰ. Discuss the article (included in Supplementary Readings) about Martin Luther King. What parts of his life get left out during Black History Month? Why? Show the video clip of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and compare this to his Vietnam speech made at Riverside Church. Explore the issue of how history gets whitewashed to build patriotism and nationalism.
Ⅱ. Read and discuss excerpts from The Lies by Teacher Told Me by James Loewen or Black Indians by William Loren Katz (included in Supplementary Readings).
Ⅲ. Examine a time line of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Ⅳ. Watch the film “Glory” and discuss.
Ⅴ. Study the forward to Freedom Road written by W.E.B. Dubois. (Glossary and study guide included in Supplementary Readings.)

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Vocabulary

Chapter 1
raucousp. 5
dire p. 7
overseer(s) p. 7
hearsay p. 8
ominous p. 9
speculation p. 9
abstract(s) p. 11
Yankees p. 12
condescend p. 13

Chapter 2
lavish p. 15

Chapter 3
innovation p. 22
malleable p. 24
doomsday p. 24
poignant p. 26
chaos p. 26
grotesque p. 29
caricature p. 29
impotent p. 29
gist p. 30
die was cast p. 31
animosity p. 33

Chapter 4
ludicrous p. 42
stevedore(s) p. 43
taunt(s) p. 43
ruthless p. 46
ominous p. 47
wane(d) p. 49
abolitionist p. 50
salutation p. 51
incessant p. 56
ambiguity p. 57
blight p. 59

Chapter 5
qualitative p. 64
aristocrat p. 65
hypothesis p. 65
bucolic p. 66
capital p. 69
collateral p. 70
incipient p. 71
enigma p. 72
insoluble p. 75
universal suffage p. 76
conciliate p. 78
illiterate p. 78
cohesive p. 84
concession p. 85
prerequisite p. 85
infantile p. 88
partisan p. 88
unequivocal p. 89
subsidize p. 93

Chapter 6
vast p. 100
cease(d) p. 100
debauch(ed) p. 101
agility p. 104
vegetate p. 105
ominous p. 112
inevitable p. 112
inklingp. 112

Chapter 7
serf(s)p. 129
alleviatep. 129
eruptionp. 130
feudal p. 130
peon(s)p. 130
atheism p. 135
aloofp. 136
incisive p. 136
subtlep. 136
utopianp. 137
presumptuousp. 144
speculator(s) p. 156

Chapter 8
prima donnap. 167
abhorrentp. 168
vestigep. 168
insolent p. 171
immense(ly)p. 175
immaculate p. 179
demeanorp. 179
loathingp. 179
enigmap. 179
gloat p. 180
innuendoe(s) p. 180
degeneratep. 181

Chapter 9
smugp. 184
patriarchalp. 185
sensuousp. 188
malicep. 190
mar (red)p. 195
sedentary p. 196
counterpartp. 199
incompatiblep. 200
refugep. 204
militiap. 206

Chapter 10
philosophize(d)p. 217
relegate(d) p. 217
toil p. 226
debrisp. 230
buoy(ed)p. 231
venerablep. 232
elusivep. 233
inertp. 234
speculatingp. 238
elationp. 240
enduringp. 245
contention(s) p. 245
deprecatory p. 247
unencumberedp. 248
rational(ize)p. 257
comrade(s)p. 259
contemptuous(ly)p. 260

Vocabulary Study

For the words for each chapter, students will:
• Paraphrase the sentence or phrase from Freedom Road that contains each vocabulary word.
• Using the dictionary and the novel, come up with a working definition for each vocabulary word.
• Write original sentences using each vocabulary word.

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RESPONDING TO READING
QUESTIONS FOR HOMEWORK AND/OR IN-CLASS DISCUSSION/SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS

Chapter 1 (Read Aloud)

Questions
When you first begin a book, it can be difficult to situate yourself in the story. Through the description and dialogue, it is necessary to pick up the essential information about the plot, the characters and the setting. Answer the following questions: Where and when does the story take place? Who are the main characters? What is happening?
Voting was a new experience for the men from Carwell plantation. How did they see it? How does this compare to the way you see voting today?
What were they voting for in Columbia?
Why was Gideon afraid to go to Charleston and what helped him overcome his fear? What is your opinion about it?
Supplementary Reading/Discussion/Activities
• Time Line (From Slavery to Civil Rights) http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/civilrights/flash.html
• Terms to clarify (used in Chapter 1): Union troops, “cotton was king”, columns of regulars, Yankees
• “King Cotton” (The Confederacy)

Chapter 2 (Read Aloud)

Questions
What was it about Gideon that made Brother Peter believe he would be a good leader?
How did Brother Peter instill confidence in Gideon about being a delegate to the convention?
What was Brother Peter’s advice to Gideon about what to do as a delegate?
Supplementary Reading/Discussion/Activities
• The Conditions of the Freed Slave p. 284 – 285
• The Negro People in American History by William Z. Foster
• Boston Globe article about recent elections—Discussion about voting/democracy

Chapter 3

Questions
How did everyday life change at the Carwell plantation after “the voting” had occurred?
Describe one situation in which Gideon showed his leadership ability.
Is Howard Fast’s description of the people’s illiteracy on p. 28 respectful or disrespectful? Cite the specific descriptive words and explain your answer.
Describe Abner Lait, his position in society and his attitudes.
What impressed you most about James Allenby’s story?
Supplementary Reading/Discussion/Activities
• Letters from father to children, Missus/mother of union soldier to Lincoln
• (Show how political/economic changes alter the way people think.)

Chapter 4

Questions
Why was Major James nervous about Charleston? Explain the comparison between a city and a man on p. 48.
What was the purpose of the convention and why was it such an extraordinary event?
What is your opinion about the debate at Francis Cardoza’s house? Do you think a field-hand can participate in the making of a Constitution? p. 52 – 55
Why did Gideon decide not to use the word “ain’t”? Why do you think some people today continue to use the word “ain’t” as well as other slang expressions?
Why did Cardoza envy Gideon?
The constitutional conventions organized after the Civil War was an historic development. If there were a comparable historic change today, who would be making the decisions?
What was the basis for poor whites and freed slaves to unite after the Civil War? p. 60 – 61
What is your opinion concerning the debate about the pay for delegates? Explain.
Supplementary Readings/Discussion/Activities
• Newspaper article that shows racist attitude toward State Conventions/photos
• Black Power USA by Lerone Bennett (p. 3 – 11)
• Description of Charleston leading up to the Convention

Chapter 5

Questions
Gideon was learning the power of words and ideas. He read Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the novel that Abraham Lincoln credited with “plunging a great nation into war”. Based on the two passages quoted on p. 65, what kind of knowledge or insight was Gideon gaining from reading the book?
Why were the southern plantation owners so committed to slavery?
What does Gideon mean when he says about education, “In one way it’s like a gun, in other way, it is better than the gun.”
List at least 4 laws that were passed by the constitutional convention? Who’s interests did they serve?
Explain Anderson Clay’s statement on the bottom of p. 77, “What do you do when a new world comes? You make a piece of it, or you smash it. And I don’t like the folks who are getting ready to do the smashing.”
Why was this a “hallelujah year”? p. 76 – 77
p. 79 What does Gideon mean when he says, “No man stays free. I know a little history, and the little I know makes it a fight for freedom, all along….”
Read over the news article on the bottom of p. 80 - 81. What impact do you think this article and others like it had on the situation in Charleston?
What was Steven Holmes all about? What was his intentions for being involved in the Convention? What was his relationship to his fellow plantation owners?
At the bottom of p. 83, Fast describes Holms’ house. List the descriptive words. What is the overall impression the description creates?
On the top of p. 87 Gideon is walking home after being at Holms’ house for dinner. Explain why he felt “strangely light-hearted”.
Describe Holm’s plan for defeating the “new South”.
Supplementary Readings/Discussion/Activities
• Birth of a Nation—clips
• Birth of a Nation, Wikipedia
• Excerpt from: Toms, Coon Mulattoes, Mammies and Bucks about Birth of a Nation
• Frederick Douglass’ narrative about learning to read
• Black Codes (referred to on p. 71 in Freedom Road)

Chapter 6

Questions
What were the most significant ways Gideon changed in Charleston?
On p. 98 – 99, Fast describes the last part of Gideon’s trip back to Carwell. What is the main impression you get about Carwell? What is the author’s point here? (Or, why does he choose to include this description?)
How are Gideon and Rachel different in the ways they approach life? (p. 101)
Gideon and Brother Peter also see the world differently. Explain. What lines of dialogue on p. 104 best show this difference.
On p. 105, what does it mean that Andrew and Ferdinand “had both taken the name of Lincoln”?
What do you think Gideon learned about “the relationship of labor to the whole of life and civilization”? p. 112
At the top of p. 113, Fast writes, “The step from slavery bridged a whole era in civilization, but did men stop here?” What does this mean? If the struggle continued, what would be the goal?
After Trooper’s daughter gets raped, Gideon argues against retaliation. Summarize Gideon’s argument. Do you agree with it? p. 114 – 115
Why did Gideon want to include the whites that live on the Carwell plantation in his plan to buy land? Why did Abner Lait listen to Gideon?
Is multi-racial unity stronger or weaker when it is based on class interest? Explain.

Chapter 7

Questions
How did Cardoza convince Gideon to run for the State Legislature? p. 129 – 130
What kind of man is Isaac Went? What are his beliefs and values? p. 133 – 138
What arguments does Gideon use to convince Went and Emery to provide financial backing for his plan to buy land? p. 138
What is Dr. Emery’s criticism of charity p. 142 – 143
What is your opinion of Gideon’s proposal to form a militia? p. 153
Why was land ownership such an important part of the plan for freedom?
The people on the Carwell plantation worked collectively. How concretely did they benefit from that?
(p. 156 – 157) At the auction Gideon, Abner Lait, and James Allenby met up with Stephen Holms. The conversations that went on showed what it means to unite on the basis of class rather than race. Explain.
What is your opinion of the way they divided the land they bought? Explain.

Chapter 8 (Read Aloud)

Questions
What did Gideon want from President Grant?
If what Gideon says is true (p. 169) about Congress fearing the people, what does this say about democracy?
What is Gideon’s accusation? What deal has been made that will destroy reconstruction and cause “untold suffering and misery in the future”? What does he want President Grant to do?
How does the racial attitude that Jeff encountered in Scotland compare to what he experienced growing up in South Carolina? (p. 174)
Jeff “had found a God in science”. What does this mean? p. 175 – 176
Why did Gideon want Jeff to stay in Washington DC? p. 177
In your own words, what is Holms proposing to Gideon? p. 181
What was the greatest mistake that Gideon and the men on his side made? p.181
Explain why Gideon thinks it was the greatest mistake.
How would the Civil War have been different if they had killed Holms and men like him?
Supplementary Readings/Discussion/Activities
• People’s History of the United States p. 192 - 200

Chapter 9

Questions
How had Carwell changed since the days of the voting?
What did Jeff’s homecoming mean to the community of Carwell?
In your own words explain why the Klan tortured Fred McHugh and his wife? Why did they target whites?
What element of society is the Klan working for?
Gideon describes the intent of the Klan to terrorize black people into accepting slave-like conditions. Why will this also hurt the poor whites, which are 2/3 of the population?
When Gideon met with the other political leaders of the reconstruction in Charleston why did some deny the truth of what was happening to the South?
Why do you think Gideon and Anderson Clay were able to make accurate predictions? How important is it to be able to do this? Explain your answer.
On p. 205 Anderson Clay argues with Cardozo’s analysis of the current situation (“Is that a compromise? Do you compromise with the air you breathe, Francis? With the food you eat? These things….” ) In your own words explain the point Clay is making.
On p. 206, identify the two types of violence being discussed. Is either one justifiable?
Supplementary Readings/Discussion/Activities
• The Attack Upon the Negro-White Coalition and The Ku Klux Klan--
• The Negro People in American History by William Z. Foster p 326 - 328

Chapter 10

Questions
What is the overall impression you get from the description of Carwell mornings? p. 216 -217
Why did the sheriff create the lie about the 3 men at Carwell raping the white girl?
Think about your job (past or present), your school, your community (where everyone is being hurt by some injustice). What would it take to organize people to act collectively, like the people of Carwell did? Draw on your own experience to answer this question.
Why didn’t they kill the sheriff and Jason Hugar when they had a chance? What do you think?
Was the violence they organized at Carwell justified? Identify (from the book as well as your own general knowledge) other kinds of violence in society. What kind of violence is justified and what kind of violence is not justified?
Why did Gideon agree for Jeff to treat the injured Klansman? What is your opinion about this?
p. 253 Gideon believes he became a leader because the people needed leadership. Do you believe leaders are made or born? Explain.
Jeff’s death showed the price people pay when they underestimate the enemy or misestimate reality. What does it take to make a proper estimate of a situation? How do we know who are our friends and who are our enemies? What are some guidelines for making the best decisions?
Why was it important to the author to include white anti-racist characters?
What was the role of women in the book? What is your opinion about this?
Why did they fight rather than run away? What do you think? What do you think the author’s answer would be? Why?
Supplementary Readings/Discussion/Activities
• Paul Dunbar’s poem-- We Wear the Mask
• Langston Hughes poem—White Man

After the Reading of Freedom Road

Views on Reconstruction: The telling of history

• Freedom’s Lawmakers by Eric Foner p. 1 – 2
• The Propaganda of History, Black Reconstruction by W.E.B Dubois p. 711 - 713
• Southern Black Leaders of the Reconstruction Era Ch. 6 (Negro Delegates to the State Constitutional Conventions of 1867 – 1869) by Richard Hume p. 129 – 130
• Worksheet—Comparative views – Dunningites vs. Revisionists

Relevance to Today—

Articles

• Deportation Raids/Terror Against undocumented immigrants
• “South Carolina may end ban on mixed marriages”

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Writing Assignment/In-class Assignments

Ⅰ.   UNDERSTANDING HISTORY

Exercise to get students to understand the concept of point of view in telling history:
• List the people who are closest to you in your life
• Select the person who comes to mind as a source of support for you in your decision to go to RCC. Explain why he/she is a source of support.
• Select another person in your life who is not a source of support in your decision to go to RCC. Explain why he/she is not a source of support.
• If each of the above people were interviewed about your decision to attend RCC, what would they say?

Ⅱ.   GLORY

After Watching Glory
What scene or character moved you the most? Why did you choose this to write about? What can you draw on from your own life experience or belief system that influenced your choice of topic?

Ⅲ.   STORIES OF OUR LIVES

We all have stories to tell about our lives, and they are often reflected in the things that we save—letters, notes, cards, mementos, gifts, school documents, photographs, a poem, a drawing, etc. Some of us don’t save a lot, but we all save something. Choose something you’ve saved and write a composition that tells the story of what it means to you. Include a description of where you keep it and why. Include a copy of it or a picture of it as a primary source in your composition.

Ⅳ.   LEADERSHIP

Write about Gideon as a leader? How does Gideon measure up to your criteria of leaders? How do our elected officials measure up?
(Pre-writing--Write about someone you know who you consider to have strong leadership qualities. What are the qualities that make a good leader?)

Ⅴ.   VOTING

Compare the process of the voting for Gideon with the voting process we have when we vote for our representatives.

Ⅵ.   INTELLIGENCE—discussion about attitudes towards the delegates (ch. 4 p. 58)

Can a person be intelligent but not educated? Why is the definition of intelligence important?
Read Asimov, “Intelligence”. What does Asimov say about this question?

Ⅶ.   THE COLOR OF MONEY—Ch. 5 p. 69 (book by artist)—website (on bookmarks)

Explore the website. Describe the artist’s work. Explain the title of his book. How does it relate to Freedom Road?

Ⅷ.   DEACONS FOR DEFENSE

There are many scenes with violence in the movie. Describe them and the forces involved in each one. Write a composition exploring your opinion to the following questions: Is violence ever justified? Support your opinion with examples from your own life.

Ⅸ.   WRITE A LETTER in Gideon’s voice—

To Brother Peter from Charleston after the State Convention had begun. In the letter describe how you (Gideon) have changed and what kinds of things you are coping with.
To Jeff in Scotland about what you are building at Carwell. In the letter explain your (Gideon’s) plans to buy land and why you are including the whites at Carwell.
To Francis Cardoza after Carwell is destroyed. In the letter assume that you (Gideon) survived the attack and write to inform Cardoza what occurred and what conclusions you draw about the mistakes that you made, the reconstruction era, the decision to pull out the union troops, the meeting in Charleston.

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Video/Images/Readings/Historical Sites

Feature Films

• Glory
• Deacons for Defense
• Freedom Road

Video Clips

Martin Luther King Speeches—
I Have a Dream
http://youtube.com/watch?v=iEMXaTktUfA&mode=related&search=
Vietnam
http://youtube.com/watch?v=CRG36Njt5t4&mode=related&search=
Glory (feature film)
(Use to introduce Glory)
Disc 2 Special Features
Documentaries: The True Story of Glory Continues (00:00 - 5:30 min.)
(includes Frederick Douglass recruiting for the 54th)
PBS Special: Reconstruction: The 2nd Civil War
(Use right before we begin Freedom Road-- Introduction to Reconstruction)
Movie
Part I (Revolution)Ch. 1,2,3 (about 30 min.) 00:00 – 18:48
Bush Stole the 2000 election
(Use in Chapter 8 Freedom Road—Is it a democracy?)
http://www.gregpalast.com/one-million-black-votes-didnt-count-in-the-2000-presidential-election-rnits-not-too-hard-to-get-your-vote-lost-if-some-politicians-want-it-to-be-lost/
PBS Special: Reconstruction: The 2nd Civil War
(Use at end of Freedom Road-- Achievements and Failures of Reconstruction)
Special Features
Chapters 5, 6 (about 20 min.)
Education
Sharecropping
Part II (Retreat)
Ch. 15 (Looking Back) (about 4 min.)
Tells how the story of Reconstruction was rewritten as a racist tale
Birth of a Nation (clips)
(Use after Freedom Road—Views on Reconstruction—The telling of history)
Clip on origin of the Klan
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_DbtX525gYs 5:28 – 9:50

Reading Selections (on-line)

Article: What our historical sites get wrong
    http://www.uvm.edu/~jloewen/liesacrossamerica.php
Introduction: Lies My Teacher Told Me
    http://www.uvm.edu/~jloewen/content.php?file=liesmyteachertoldme-introduction.html
The Politics of Emancipation—a reading Frederick Douglass—Narrative chapter 6
    http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Frederick_Douglass/The_Narrative_of_the_Life_of_Frederi ck_Douglass/Chapter_VI_p1.html
The Black Codes of 1865
    http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/blackcodes/a/blackcodes1865.htm?p=1
Article about Howard Fast
     http://www.trussel.com/hf/cuthbertson2.htm
Ku Klux Klan Act (passed by congress in 1871)—short version
    http://education.harpweek.com/KKKHearings/LettertotheTeacherTop.htm
Articles—Primary Sources from Harper’s Weekly
    http://blackhistory.harpweek.com/4Reconstruction/ReconLevelOne.htm
Articles on anti-immigrant racism
    http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=d1caa0142962ea6475616673ce205502
    http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=b1799b3bdaa10de0d629888ae9aaea26&from=rss
    http://www.themontclarion.org/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=c14640d2-5116-444f-98ec-9b0b56648e3d
Primary Sources:
    The Black Military Experience: A Documentary History of Emancipation
        http://www.history.umd.edu/Freedmen/bmepg.htm
    Mother of a Northern Black Soldier to the President, July 31, 1863
        http://www.history.umd.edu/Freedmen/hjohnsn.htm  
    Shortly after the battle of Fort Wagner, S.C., a free-black woman whose son was in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry advised President Abraham Lincoln of his responsibility to
    prevent the Confederates from enslaving captured black soldiers.
    Massachusetts Black Corporal to the President, September 28, 1863
        http://www.history.umd.edu/Freedmen/gooding.htm
    On behalf of the men of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, Corporal James Henry Gooding protested the injustice of the Union's paying its black soldiers-in this case, Northern
    free men rather than Southern ex-slaves-less than their white comrades.
    Missouri Black Soldier to His Enslaved Daughters, and to the Owner of One of His Daughters, September3, 1864.
        http://www.history.umd.edu/Freedmen/rice.htm
    Private Spotswood Rice promised his daughters-and warned the woman who owned one of them-that their liberation was at hand.
    Letter from Black Soldier “Buried Alive” who fought in the Civil War
        http://www.civilwarliterature.com/3BlacksAsPrincipalChars/BuriedAlive/BuriedAliveText.htm
    Families and Freedom: A Documentary History of African American kinship in the Civil War Era
        http://www.history.umd.edu/Freedmen/fafpg.htm
    Testimony by the Superintendent of Contrabands at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, before the American Freedmen's Inquiry Commission, May 9, 1863
        http://www.history.umd.edu/Freedmen/wilder.htm
    Captain Charles B. Wilder explained how fugitive slaves, once having escaped to Union lines, liberated fellow slaves and spread the word of freedom deep in Confederate territory.

Music

Song: John Brown’s Body
    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/brown/sfeature/song.html

Images

Images of civil war
    http://education.harpweek.com/CivilWarIllustrations/Part2and3Illus/Images/0165w750.jpg
Cartoon commenting on blacks being recruited for union army
    http://education.harpweek.com/CivilWarIllustrations/Part2and3Illus/BlacksInConfArmy.htm
Images of John Brown Raid
    http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgselections.cfm?trg=1#storeimage
Images of South Carolina Legislators during Reconstruction
    http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult.cfm?trg=1&trg=2&flag=2&strucID=591715&imageID=1239258&num
Images of Reconstruction
    http://blackhistory.harpweek.com/7Illustrations/!ListOfIllusLevelOne.htm
Colored Men to Arms
    http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/blacks-civil-war/images/recruitment-broadside.gif

Further Research

How history is distorted—website for independent research
    http://www.historyisaweapon.com/
The Color of Money—Artist’s depiction of Southern Economy before Civil War
    http://www.colorsofmoney.com/exhibition.htm
Resource: The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow
    http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/
Reference Section on Reconstruction—bibliographies
    http://www.howard.edu/library/reference/guides/reconstructionera/websites.htm
Reconstruction Time line
    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reconstruction/states/sf_timeline.html
Background and primary documents related to Black troops in the Union Army
     http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/blacks-civil-war/
Teacher’s Guide to Reconstruction (w/primary documents and video clips to PBS special)     http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reconstruction/tgu
ide/index.html
Massachusetts Historical Society
     http://masshist.org/welcome/
Historical Sites in Massachusetts related to Themes of Course
    Medford Plantation
        http://www.royallhouse.org/visitorguide.php
    African Meeting House/Black Heritage Trail
         http://www.afroammuseum.org/site5.htm

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