Louisiana
Reconstruction Vignette
By 1866, the Louisiana state legislature had begun implementing Black Codes and preventing Black enfranchisement. The constitutional convention reconvened on July 30 at the Mechanics Institute in New Orleans to discuss the prospect of voting rights for Black residents. A mob of white supremacists — including city police and firemen, supported by the mayor — descended on the convention and opened fire. They killed approximately 50 people, most of whom were Black, and injured over a hundred. They were not charged with murder. Sketched here in vignettes, the Mechanics Institute Massacre affirmed that Black people needed concrete protections against former Confederates and galvanized the Republican Party to push through the Reconstruction Acts.
Source: Library of Congress
Louisiana
Standards Overview
Coverage of Reconstruction: Partial
ZEP Standards Rubric Score: 6 out of 10
The coverage of Reconstruction in Louisiana’s standards is partial, and their content is approaching adequate. Louisiana enacted the current social studies standards in 2011, and they are currently being revised by the Louisiana Board of Secondary Education. The Board made its recommendations for new standards in October 2021. The state legislature debated but did not pass an amendment to a bill that would “mandate the teaching of significant Black historical figures” in social studies classes.
Louisiana is a local control state. Although there is no state-mandated curriculum, the standards are supplemented by “Companion Documents” for each grade level that describe how districts can organize their curricula to fulfill the state standards. These documents are detailed and thorough, but districts are not required to use them.
Grade 7
The social studies course on United States history spans from 1763–1877. Reconstruction is grouped with the Civil War in a section on “War and Reconstruction.”
Students are expected to “analyze key people, events, and ideas which led to the Civil War and Reconstruction.” Two of three standards in this section focus on the Civil War. The one standard on Reconstruction asks students to “describe long-term and short-term outcomes of Reconstruction.”
The “Companion Document,” intended to assist educators in interpreting and applying the state standards, contains extensive details on how districts and schools can design their Reconstruction unit. Topics include the federal Reconstruction plans, Black Codes, the Freedmen’s Bureau, and sharecropping. Standards expect students to “describe the motivations and influence of carpetbaggers and scalawags,” “analyze segregation as a long-term outcome of Reconstruction,” and “explain the political, economic, and social effects of Reconstruction on the South.”
Most notably, the recommended unit engages with Black people’s agency and political activism, and white supremacist violence:
Explain how the expansion of voting rights during the Reconstruction era influenced change in society (election of Black legislators).
Describe the short- and long-term effects of Reconstruction on the political involvement of African Americans.
Read and analyze firsthand accounts of freedmen and women to determine how life changed as a result of the Civil War and Reconstruction.
Describe the rise and actions of white supremacist groups and the response of the federal government during Reconstruction (Ku Klux Klan, lynching, Enforcement Act).
In addition to the standards and companion document, the Louisiana Department of Education created an interactive classroom unit that educators can use to teach Reconstruction. While the unit is titled “Was the Promise of Reconstruction Fulfilled?” its content focuses entirely on the various federal Reconstruction plans. Students read and discuss several of the plans and debate questions like: “Was Lincoln’s plan for Reconstruction too lenient for southerners?”
Grade 8
The social studies course in grade 8 focuses on Louisiana history, spanning from the precolonial period to contemporary times. Reconstruction is mentioned in a section on “Key Events, Ideas and People.” This section asks students to “identify and describe economic, social, and political characteristics of Louisiana during the Antebellum/plantation economy, the Civil War, and the Reconstruction eras.”
The “Companion Document” for grade 8 follows similar themes to the grade 7 document. Topics for discussion include federal Reconstruction plans, Black Codes, sharecropping, “federal actions taken to advance civil rights,” the Reconstruction Amendments, the Compromise of 1876, and the Freedmen’s Bureau.
The recommended unit contains two exceptionally strong standards on Black people’s agency and white supremacist violence with slightly different phrasing than the grade 7 unit:
Discuss how Reconstruction affected the lives of African Americans and their roles in society (holding political office, some increased opportunities, limitations placed on rights and opportunities, fear of violence).
Describe the rise and actions of white supremacist groups during Reconstruction (Ku Klux Klan, the White League, lynching).
High School
The high school United States History course spans “Westward Expansion to the Modern Age,” but Reconstruction is not covered.
Educator Experiences
The standards in Louisiana largely leave the teaching of Reconstruction to the discretion of educators. Educators who responded to our survey noted that they learned about Reconstruction primarily through independent reading and research.
Some teachers go beyond the standards by emphasizing how white supremacy made Reconstruction necessary and led to its violent overthrow. High school social studies teacher Chris Dier explained the importance of the topic: “If students are missing Reconstruction, they’re missing the connections to today, they aren’t prepared to make the necessary parallels.” Dier chose to explicitly center white supremacy in lessons on the defeat of Reconstruction, recommending that teachers use language like “white supremacists overturned democratically elected governments” instead of resorting to euphemisms. Dier realized his students knew little of the Reconstruction era St. Bernard Parish Massacre that took place in their community. “The surnames of the assailants and the victims matched those of some of my students, both Black and white.” Lacking curriculum resources, he researched and wrote a book on the St. Bernard Parish Massacre because, “It’s their history. They should own it.”
Teachers who responded to our survey noted that they discuss the enduring legacies of Reconstruction with students, drawing connections between local Louisiana Reconstruction history and national events. Teachers also incorporate visits to local historical Reconstruction sites like the site of the Battle of Liberty Place.
Assessment
The Reconstruction standards in Louisiana are overly broad, but the recommended unit outlines contained in the standards’ Companion Documents provide relatively robust coverage of Reconstruction that engages with Black people’s struggle to gain and define freedom, as well as white supremacist backlash to those efforts. Still, teachers we interviewed noted that because the standards do not emphasize Reconstruction, it is up to individual educators to choose whether or not to include recommended content in their courses. The result is that some educators teach Reconstruction thoroughly in their courses while others skim over or skip the era altogether. Integrating some of the Reconstruction content from the Companion Documents into the standards would potentially increase coverage of the topic in Louisiana social studies courses.
It is also concerning that Reconstruction is taught only at the middle school level. Doing so limits the complexity of questions teachers might explore with students. Since Reconstruction falls at the end of the sequence of the middle school course, pacing is also a major concern.
If Louisiana students do not learn about Reconstruction in middle school, they might not get another opportunity in high school. Only students who take AP U.S. History study Reconstruction in high school, since the high school social studies course starts at “Westward Expansion.”
Teaching Reconstruction effectively requires centering Black people’s struggles to redefine freedom and equality and gain control of their own land and labor during and after the Civil War. Any discussion of Reconstruction must also grapple with the role of white supremacist terrorism in the defeat of Reconstruction and the negative and positive legacies of the era that persist to this day.
In April 2021, Rep. Ray Garofalo withdrew HB564, a bill designed to prohibit teaching about “divisive concepts,” such as racism and sexism, in schools. This deferral came after other Louisiana lawmakers and state education officials criticized the bill, citing its broad language as a “slippery slope” that “threatens the ability of our educators to be honest and tell the truth to our students about our nation’s history.” This opposition to the bill states that denying the existence of systemic racism and sexism “prevents our state and country from an important acknowledgment that is required to move into a new day united.” In March 2022, Rep. Garofalo introduced two bills, including HB747, which would restrict teachers’ and students’ access to resources that acknowledge systemic racism or sexism. At the same time, this bill “requires instruction” on Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. All of these bills failed to pass, but their introduction is still troubling.
Several respondents to our survey expressed concern about the possible chilling effects on classroom education that such bills can have around the country, particularly on discussions of the history and legacies of Reconstruction.
Moments in Reconstruction History
This short list of events in Louisiana’s Reconstruction history is from the Zinn Education Project This Day in History collection. We welcome your suggestions for more.
Oct. 1864 New Orleans Tribune Launched
The New Orleans Tribune was launched and published daily in French and English by Louis Charles Roudanez.
July 1866 New Orleans Massacre
The New Orleans Massacre occurred when white residents attacked Black marchers near the reconvened Louisiana Constitutional Convention.
Feb. 1868 First Freedmen’s Bureau Teacher Appointed in Lafayette Parish
Walter H. Williams was the first Black teacher appointed to a Freedmen's Bureau School in Lafayette Parish.
In response to the promotion of voter registration, a KKK like group massacred hundreds of people, most who were African American.
Oct. 1868 St. Bernard Parish Massacre
The St. Bernard Parish massacre of African Americans was carried out by white men to terrorize the recently emancipated voters.
Dec. 1872 P. B. S. Pinchback Becomes Governor
P. B. S. Pinchback of Louisiana became the second Black governor in the United States.
The KKK carried out the Colfax Massacre in response to a Republican victory in the 1872 elections.
March 1874 White League Formed
A group of Confederate veterans formed the White League with the goal of using terrorism to undermine Reconstruction.
Between 30-60 striking Black Louisiana sugarcane workers were massacred.