Lecture 3. Reconstruction

American History: From Emancipation to the Present (AFAM 162)

Between 1865 and 1877, several plans were developed by which the Confederate states could be readmitted to the Union and the residents of the states given full citizenship rights. It was far from clear, however, which plan would do a better job maintaining the social peace and protecting African Americans' ability to earn a wage, raise a family, own land, and exercise the right to vote. In this lecture, Professor Holloway outlines the contours of the Ten Percent Plan, Presidential Reconstruction, and Radical Reconstruction, and he explains how these plans embraced a variety of approaches to reuniting the disparate states. As Professor Holloway explains, Reconstruction greatly enhanced the rights of African Americans, while also circumscribing their lives by new political, economic, and social initiatives.

Warning: This lecture contains graphic content and/or adult language that some users may find disturbing.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Introduction: The Reconstruction Era
02:12 - Chapter 2. Chronology of the Reconstruction Era
06:45 - Chapter 3. A Narrative Account of the Reconstruction Era
20:14 - Chapter 4. 1865: The Establishment of Black Codes
26:14 - Chapter 5. Sharecropping: A New Labor System
30:05 - Chapter 6. The Freedmen's Bureau

Complete course materials are available at the Yale Online website: online.yale.edu


This course was recorded in Spring 2010.