A PBL About South Carolina’s Reconstruction Constitutions

Place students in groups.

1. Have each group complete the comparison chart which examines Reconstruction from a legislative point of view and a social point of view using the guiding questions for each constitution.  The student comparison charts and answer keys are found under “Resources”. 

•    Political Reconstruction – changes in the state constitution 
     a.  Who was in control of the state legislature during the creation of each constitution?
     b.  By what method were the different constitutions approved?
     c.  What effect did the federal government have on the creation and implementation of each constitution?
     d.  How did the entrenched ideas of white supremacy, the power of the Democratic Party, and lingering loyalty to the Confederacy affect constitutional legislation?

•    Social Reconstruction -  impact of sudden changes that challenged long standing social norms
     a.  What are social norms and what was socially acceptable during each constitutional period?
     b.  How did race affect and connect each Constitution of the Reconstruction Era?
     c.  Did political legislation immediately impact social behavior?
     d.  How did the entrenched ideas of white supremacy, holiness of the Democratic Party, and reverence for the Confederacy affect social norms during the Reconstruction period?

2. Identify how the Constitutions of the Reconstruction Era affected each of the social classes using the Through the Eyes of a Citizen worksheets (Carpetbaggers, Scalawags, Freedmen, Black and White Leaders, Women, Black and White Subsistence Farmers, Plantation Owners). Student charts and answer keys are found under “Resources”. 

3. Teachers should create a Padlet account by going to Padlet.com. Once there, the teacher should choose “shelf” from the series of options because this will allow students to stack content into a series of columns. This “shelf” is where students will compare information about the 1865, 1868, and 1895 constitutions. The teacher will have the option of providing students with a hard-copy of a worksheet or a digital link that asks students to find specific information about the constitutions. Links provided by the South Carolina Department of Archives and History will provide students’ access to specific documents, and/or sections within the documents, that will allow them to find the required information asked for in the “South Carolina Reconstruction Constitutions of 1865, 1868, and 1895” worksheet. The worksheet and an answer key can be found in the Resource section of the lesson plan. 

4. It is important to note that whoever creates the Padlet has control of the wall. Because of this, it is strongly recommended that the teacher create the Padlet for his/her students. In this way the teacher can add to posts and highlight responses they feel are appropriate. The teacher will choose one group to begin the discussion on the Padlet wall and have students from different groups respond to the answers based on their findings about the primary documents.  After the class has compared the constitutions, the teacher will ask the three guiding questions, listed below, which will help students’ overall understanding of the differences between the three documents.

• Why was a new constitution written?
• Which group/groups created the new constitution?
• How did South Carolina society change as a result of the Constitution?

5. Based on what students have learned about Reconstruction and South Carolina’s Reconstruction Constitutions, students will complete an interactive image project by answering the essential question: Can social change be legislated? 

6. Students will defend their answer by creating an interactive image using a program like Google Slides, Thinglink.com, or Prezi.  The image can be reflective of the Reconstruction Era, or can be a modern image that students tie to the Reconstruction period. QR codes which link to political cartoons from the period have been included in the resources and are an easy, available image that students can access. These are just examples of images that can be imported. Links have been provided in Resources and include the SC Slide Collection in Knowitall, and other sources for digital images.

7. The interactive image must show one of the following:

• A historical picture that relates to the Reconstruction Era

           OR

• A modern image that relates to the Reconstruction Era

Interactive Image Project
Historical Picture:
The historical picture must:

• Be specific to the time period that connects to one or more of the Reconstruction Constitutions
• Show direct correlation between an image and one of the constitutions
• Show how the effects of the constitution/s is shown in the image
• Support your position, using images and facts, how social change can or cannot be legislated – Your position should be obvious.

Modern Image:
The modern image must:

• Connect an issue dealt with in one or more of the Reconstruction Constitutions with an issue that is pertinent today
• Show direct correlation between an image and one of the constitutions
• Show how the effects of the constitution/s is still relevant to a modern image
• Support your position, using images and facts, how social change can or cannot be legislated – Your position should be obvious.

Thinglink interactive image example:  https://www.thinglink.com/scene/1023307074928377858

Lesson extension:

• Complete a thorough analysis of the images using the “Primary Source Analysis Tool” as the basis for your choices

• Have students create on-line flash cards using the vocabulary provided under the resources

• As an addition to the Historical Picture section of the Interactive Image Project the students may connect something from the Reconstruction Era to events and social issues today.

• As an addition to the Modern Image section of the Interactive Image Project the students can connect how past events still affect people today

Assessment – An Interactive Image Rubric (also included under Resources)