Activities

1. Contrasting Views on Land Distribution

Among the many plans offered by the radical Reconstructionists, one dealt with dividing the plantations in the South among the Blacks. Senator Thaddeus Stevens, a strong advocate of this proposal, stated:

...when that wise man, the Emperor of Russia, set free twenty-two million serfs, he compelled their masters to give them homesteads upon the very soil which they had tilled... for they have earned this, they have worked upon the land for ages and they are entitled to it.... The whole fabric of southern society must be changed and never can it be done if this opportunity is lost. How can republican institutions, free schools, free churches, free social intercourse exist in a mingled community of nabobs and serfs? If the South is ever to be made a safe Republic, let her lands be cultivated by the toil of the owners, or the free labor of intelligent citizens.

Taking strong exception to the confiscation of land was a leading magazine of that period, the Nation:

A division of rich men's lands amongst the landless... would give a shock to our whole social and political system from which it would hardly recover without the loss of liberty... a proposal in which provision is made for the violation of a greater number of the principles of good government and for the opening of a deeper sink of corruption has never been submitted to a legislative body.

Please answer these questions:

  1. How valid is the argument presented by Stevens?
  2. How valid is the argument presented by the Nation?
  3. Both arguments agree that this solution would have radically changed Southern society. To what degree should this have been a goal during Reconstruction?
  4. To what violations of good government is the Nation referring?
  5. If Stevens' view had prevailed, how do you think southern society would have changed?
  6. Why do you think there was little support for the views of Stevens?

2. Using a folksong to understand the lives of tenant farmers

Emancipated or not, the former slaves still had to earn a living. Without land, many became tenant farmers for large landowners. They rented the land; a house was provided (often little better than the old slave's field cabin) and credit was extended for seed and farming tools.

Below is a folksong entitled "Cotton Needs Pickin'." Read the song and discuss what it tells you about the tenancy system, daily life for the sharecropper, and the central theme of the song.

Cotton needs Pickin'

CHORUS
Cotton needs pickin' so bad
I'm gonna pick all over this world.

One 20th of May morning
Under that barnyard tree
Them Yankees read them papers
An' set the darkies free

I been workin' in a contract
Ever since that day
And just found out this year
Why it didn't pay.

When my boss sold that cotton
I asked for my half
He told me I done chopped out
My half with the grass.

Boss said, "Uncle Billy,
think you done right well
To pay your debts with cotton
and have your seeds to sell"

I sold them seeds this mornin'
For five cents a peck
And bought this here red handkerchief
You see around my neck.

Boy, stop goosin'* that cotton,
You better take care,
Make haste, you lazy rascal, and bring that row from here -- Oh!

*carelessly pickin'

3. Using a Reference Book: The Dictionary

In order to help students better understand vocabulary below (from Amendments 13, 14 and 15), have them prepare by using a dictionary to:

abridge
apportioned
appropriate
duly
emancipation		 incurred
inhabitant
immunities
involuntary
insurrection		 jurisdiction
naturalized
rebellion
servitude
validity

4. Conducting an Interview

Divide the class into two sections -- one favorable to the Southern point of view and the other favorable to the Blacks, during the post-Civil War period. Each section then chooses:

  1. a newspaper reporter favorable to its position
  2. a Congressman recently elected to office during Reconstruction

    Then each section meets separately to discuss appropriate questions for its reporter. Areas to be explored should deal with the future of the South under Reconstruction, what each group wishes to accomplish for its people, feelings about the issues in the Civil War and what each Congressman believes should be done. After picking the best ten questions, each group designates someone to write them down.

    When both sides are ready, the reporters use their questions to interview the Congressman from the other group.

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