Overview
(Note: This unit is a preview from the curriculum The Peoples Playlist: U.S. History with Music as a Primary Source. While complete, the material within are still subject to revision.)
Reconstruction and Westward Expansion
Grade Range: High School
Subject: U.S. History
Estimated Time: Two Weeks
Standards: High School U.S History Standards for California, District of Columbia and Massachusetts.
Unit One of A People’s Playlist: U.S. History with Music as a Primary Source includes six lessons that cover the time period of Reconstruction and Westward Expansion in United States history. An introduction activity and assessment are also included in the unit plan. At the beginning of the unit, students will analyze an image from the Library of Congress and complete a writing activity based on the image as an introduction to the topics of Reconstruction and Westward Expansion.
The first three lessons of the unit are about the time period of Reconstruction. Students will examine the early years of Reconstruction focusing on the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the U.S. Constitution through the analysis of primary and secondary sources about the Hyers Sisters who were early pioneers of Black musical theater. Students will then follow the Fisk Jubilee Singers on tour through primary and secondary source analysis to explore the later years of Reconstruction and assess why Reconstruction ended with the Compromise of 1877. The third lesson in the unit will focus on the Black American entertainer Bert Williams to identify how the rise of Jim Crow laws and the Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson shaped the American experience after Reconstruction ended.
The final three lessons of the unit focus on Westward Expansion in terms of the transcontinental railroad, the Homestead Act, and the impact on Native Americans. Students will assess the significance of the transcontinental railroad on westward expansion through the examination of work songs collected by John Lomax. Cowboy songs collected by John Lomax will be analyzed in the next lesson to assess the impact of the Homestead Act on the westward expansion and how the interactions between different cultures shaped the American West. The last lesson includes the music group Redbone and the Wounded Knee Massacre to analyze how music and other aspects of culture were used in an attempt to force Native Americans to assimilate as settlers moved west.
For the end of the unit assessment, students will write a Ccorrido (traditional Mexican ballad) about cowboy Nat Love. Students will be given a rubric and guidelines to assist in their writing and will be asked to include the content from the unit into their corrido to demonstrate their understanding of the unit.
Lesson 1: Early Reconstruction featuring the Hyer Sisters
Mastery Objective: Students will be able to describe the effects Reconstruction and Post-Reconstruction had on African Americans by watching video clips, investigating primary source documents, and doing a dramatic reading of excerpts of musical theater work performed by the Hyers Sisters.
Lesson 2: Late Reconstruction featuring the Fisk Jubilee Singers
Mastery Objective: Students will be able to identify the reasons that Reconstruction came to an end and its lasting impact on the United States through the analysis of primary and secondary sources that surround the Jubilee Singers’ tour to raise money for Fisk University after the Civil War.
Lesson 3: Plessy v. Ferguson featuring Bert Williams
Mastery Objective: Students will be able to describe the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, identify Jim Crow laws and the term’s musical origins, and explain how the life of Black American entertainer Bert Williams represents an American experience by analyzing texts and examining media.
Lesson 4: The Transcontinental Railroad featuring Work Songs Collected by John Lomax
Mastery Objective: Students will be able to assess the significance of the Transcontinental Railroad on the development of the United States by listening to railroad work songs, examining art, and investigating shopping catalogs of the period.
Lesson 5: The Homestead Act featuring Cowboy Songs Collected by John Lomax
Mastery Objective: Students will be able to describe how the interaction between different cultures shaped the development of the American West by listening to traditional cowboy songs and discovering the life and experience of Black cowboy Nat Love.
Lesson 6: Native Americans and Westward Expansion featuring Redbone
Mastery Objective: Students will be able to describe the Native American experience during Westward Expansion through the analysis of media, primary sources, and the music of Rock band Redbone and Hip Hop artist Taboo.
Lessons
lesson:
Early Reconstruction featuring the Hyers Sisters
What did the career and artistic work of the Hyers Sisters reveal about life for African Americans during the Civil War, Reconstruction, and Post-Reconstruction?
lesson:
Late Reconstruction featuring The Jubilee Singers
Who were the Jubilee Singers and how do their experiences reflect the final years of Reconstruction in the United States?
lesson:
Plessy v. Ferguson featuring Bert Williams
Who was Bert Williams and how does his life represent an American experience during the rise of Jim Crow laws and the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson?
lesson:
The Transcontinental Railroad featuring Work Songs Collected by John Lomax
In what ways did the Transcontinental Railroad contribute to the physical, cultural, and musical growth of the American West in the late 19th Century?
lesson:
The Homestead Act featuring Cowboy Songs collected by John Lomax
How did the Homestead Act of 1862 impact growth and development in the American West, and what is meant by the term “crossroads of culture” in the context of the American West?
lesson:
Native Americans and Westward Expansion featuring Redbone
What were the experiences of Native Americans during Westward Expansion and how did the U.S. government use music and other aspects of culture to force assimilation on Native Americans?