Oklahoma Academic Standard 1. The student will analyze the transformation of the United States through its civil rights struggles, immigrant experiences, and settlement of the American West in the Post Reconstruction Era, 1865 to the 1920s.

Objective 1.2  Analyze the post-Reconstruction civil rights struggles.

A. Identify the significance of Juneteenth in relation to emancipation and modern-day celebrations.

B. Examine the purposes and effects of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. 

C. Assess the impact of the Black Codes, Jim Crow laws, and the actions of the Ku Klux Klan. 

In a Nutshell

Students should examine the roots of Juneteenth which has become a celebratory holiday in many African American communities, including Oklahoma. The 13th, 14th and 15th amendments did more than free the slaves, promise citizenship, and grant voting rights to black men. Over time the interpretation of these amendments fundamentally altered the meaning of the Constitution. Students should understand that although slavery was over, the brutalities of racial prejudice continued through the use of legal codes and/or overt acts of violence.

Teacher Action 

Student Action 

• Provide opportunities for students to analyze information from visual, oral, digital, and interactive texts (maps, charts, images, political cartoons, videos) in order to draw conclusions about African Americans cultural responses to the end of slavery. 

• Evaluate how multiple, complex events are shaped by the unique circumstances of time and place, as well as broader historical contexts as African Americans struggled in the post-Reconstruction era, caught between federal protections and restrictions on freedom at the state level.   

Key Concepts 

Misconceptions 

• black codes (Jim Crow laws) passed by southern state legislatures, modeled after pre-Civil War slave codes, such as vagrancy laws, involuntary labor for minor infractions, ban on interracial marriages, restrictions on property ownership

• reaction by Congress and passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1866

• rise of Ku Klux Klan, goals, methods, including physical intimidation, lynchings, election of members into public office 

• Race-based violence (i.e. New Orleans and Memphis, 1866; Opelousas and St. Bernard’s Parish, 1868)

• Enforcement Acts (aka KKK Acts) 1870 and 1871; use of federal power to enforce 14th and 15th Amendments

• Civil Rights Act of 1875; creation of the Department of Justice and its actions against the Klan

• One major misconception students may possess is that discrimination based on race came to an end with the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments.   

• Another misconception is that Jim Crow laws universal across southern states; although common features existed, differences did exist from state to state.

Instructional Resources