Forty Acres and a Mule

Step into a working farm in South Carolina in 1865, where an amazing reversal of labor and land ownership has taken place.

Step into a working farm in South Carolina in 1865, where an amazing reversal of labor and land ownership has taken place. Freedpeople are working their own farm, producing crops, making money. But then a visitor appears on the horizon, and one of the most painful, lasting chapters in American history is about to unfold.

Reconstruction 360 uses a 360 degree video platform as a storytelling device that lets the audience step inside pivotal Reconstruction events. By clicking on icons within the 360 video the user can access short documentaries that offer the perspectives of multiple characters, historians and descendants. Reconstruction 360 also includes lesson plans, primary documents and curriculum standards. This module, 40 Acres and a Mule, focuses on the theme of land and labor at the close of the Civil War.

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Forty Acres and a Mule | Reconstruction 360
Forty Acres and a Mule | Reconstruction 360

Video

Grades: 4 8 9 10 11 12

Historian Kate Masur explains the origins of 40 Acres and a Mule, a famous phrase that many have heard but may not fully understand. It originated in the early days of Reconstruction, when General...
Freewoods Farm | Reconstruction 360
Freewoods Farm | Reconstruction 360

Video

Grades: 4 5 7 8 9 10 11 12

Reconstruction 360 is built on a 360 degree video platform that features a reenactment set on a farm in 1865. The reenactment was shot at Freewoods Farm, a living farm museum in the Freewoods...
The Role of the Freedmen’s Bureau | Reconstruction 360
The Role of the Freedmen’s Bureau | Reconstruction 360

Video

Grades: 4 8 9 10 11 12

The Freedmen’s Bureau had responsibility for every aspect of the lives of formerly enslaved people, and was in charge of land that came under federal control during and after the Civil War. In 1872...