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Lesson Plan -- Peer Review
Historiography of Reconstruction
by Chris Finn, Lansing High
School
Level: AP U.S. History
New York State Standards Addressed: #1--History of the United
States and New York State
Introduction
The Advanced Placement course, because of its different nature from the
Regents course, lends itself to introducing the concept of historiography.
By the time this seminar was conducted, I had introduced the concept in
two different areas, interpretations of the War of 1812 and American
Slavery. This is a particularly sensible time to address with students how
changing
historical interpretations often reflect the times in which the historian
is researching and writing. It is also a very good time to point out how
their own history teachers view the discipline, based upon their formal
training.
Preparation
To prepare for our discussion of historiography, students are required to
read
the appropriate chapters in their textbooks on Reconstruction. For each
chapter, I hand out a list of key terms that students should take notes
on. To stimulate thought on the implications involved in
rebuilding the Union, students
spend two days creating their own Reconstruction plans. The
plans had to address; what to do with former slaves, Confederate leaders,
and Confederate soldiers; infrastructure and farm land losses; grief in
families and communities; how to end the hostility between the sections of
the nation. The goal of this activity is to illustrate that the nation,
seemingly, was not completely dedicated to the revolutionary opportunity
that Reconstruction offered.
Historiography Seminar
The sources for the historiography component of this unit should be
distributed in a packet one week prior to the seminar. Necessary handouts
and full citations with page numbers to the works that are referenced
are provided in the links below.
Students are to take notes on
each reading to enable them to answer questions posed by the teacher and
other students during discussion. Questions are provided in advance of the
discussion day. The teacher should act as a facilitator for the
discussion. The discussion part of this lesson could be
done in either one or two forty minute class periods.
Materials:
Historiography of Reconstruction Lesson Plan Outline
Reading Assignments Handout
Suggested Discussion Questions
Key Terms Handout
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