Alabama Social Studies SS24.4.15a
The Standard
- SS24.4.15
- Identify major events of Reconstruction and evaluate the outcomes of Reconstruction policies.
Explain political changes in Alabama during Reconstruction, including new state constitutions, Black Codes, changes in political parties, voting rights, and citizenship rights for Black Americans.
2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain how Alabama's postwar constitutions and Black Codes changed people's rights. They connect Black Americans' citizenship, Black men's voting rights, and shifts in Republican and Democratic control.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can order the 1865 Black Codes and Alabama's 1868 and 1875 constitutions. They can explain that Black Americans gained citizenship, but only Black men gained voting rights. They can identify the Republicans' rise and the Democrats' return to power in 1874.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think the end of slavery meant Black Alabamians could immediately vote. Some confuse citizenship with voting rights or assume Black women gained the vote when Black men did. Others may think Black Codes expanded freedom rather than restricted it.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Name one restriction in the 1865 Black Codes, one voting right Black men gained in 1868, and the party that regained Alabama's government in 1874.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs event cards for the 1865 Black Codes, 1868 constitution, 1874 Democratic takeover, and 1875 constitution; have them build a desk timeline.
Ask students to write two sentences comparing a Black Alabamian's rights under the 1865 Black Codes and the 1868 constitution.
Play “Who could vote?” with 1865 and 1868 Alabama scenario cards; students hold up yes or no and explain their answers.
Show Alabama's current voter registration form; students circle the age and citizenship questions, then compare them with voting rules from 1868.
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Printable SS24.4.15a Worksheet
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Related Standards
- SS24.AS.14b
Evaluate the role of new labor systems, Black Codes, and violence in stemming civil rights progress following Reconstruction in Alabama.
- SS24.4.16
Describe how political and social changes of the late 1870s to 1900 affected Black and white Alabamians, including the introduction of Jim Crow laws, sharecropp...
- SS24.4.15b
Describe the effects of Reconstruction on education and social institutions in Alabama.
- SS24.4.15d
Recount the contributions of Alabamians who helped shape their state during Reconstruction.
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