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Reading Comprehension Worksheets
After the Civil War
(1865-1870)
Freedmen: When is a Slave not a Slave?

After the Civil War<BR>(1865-1870)
After the Civil War
(1865-1870)

Freedmen: When is a Slave not a Slave?
Print Freedmen: When is a Slave not a Slave? Reading Comprehension with Fourth Grade Work

Print Freedmen: When is a Slave not a Slave? Reading Comprehension with Fifth Grade Work

Print Freedmen: When is a Slave not a Slave? Reading Comprehension

Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 4 to 5
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   4.78

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    ex-slaves, sharecropper, slavery, plots, imagine, provided, federal, teaching, livestock, belonging, nightmare, writing, especially, bondage, employer, landowner
     content words:    United States, Civil War

Freedmen: When is a Slave not a Slave?
By Toni Lee Robinson 		  
1     Imagine having a bad dream. You can't wait to wake from this nightmare and be free. Your longing might be a little like what black people felt who were slaves in the southern United States. They yearned for freedom. They wanted more than anything to wake up and not be slaves anymore.
 
2     Happily, this day of liberty came. Congress passed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. This law did away with slavery everywhere in the U.S. The Civil War ended, and the slaves were free. No more overseers. No more forced labor. No more selling off family members at the owner's whim. If you had been a slave, how thrilled you would have been! What a joyous day! What would you have done to celebrate? Many of the slaves gathered together for dances, picnics, and parades.
 
3     Soon after your great day of freedom you might have seen that life wasn't going to be easy just because you were free. As a slave, you had lived in housing provided by your master. Now you would have no home. Before, your food had come from your employer, too. Now you would have to find your own food. To make matters worse, the white people around you were angry and unfriendly toward black people who had been their workers.
 
4     Some people realized that freedmen, as the former slaves were called, had many needs. The federal government set up the Freedmen's Bureau to help black freedmen and poor white people find food, clothing, and homes. The Bureau started schools so that poor people could learn basic things like reading, writing, and math. Church people helped by teaching in the schools and giving food and shelter.

Paragraphs 5 to 11:
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After the Civil War
(1865-1870)
             After the Civil War
(1865-1870)

United States
             United States


    American Government  
 
    Black History and Blacks in U.S. History  
 
    Children in History  
 
    Government Careers  
 
    Hispanic Heritage  
 
    How Can I Help?  
 
 
    Immigration  
 
    National Parks and Monuments  
 
    Native Americans  
 
    Presidents of the United States  
 
    Women's History  
 

United States History
    A Nation Divided
(1840-1861) 		 
 
    A New Nation
(1776-1830) 		 
 
    After the Civil War
(1865-1870) 		 
 
    American Revolution  
 
    Cold War
(1947-1991) 		 
 
    Colonial America (1492-1776)  
 
    Lewis and Clark
(1804-1806) 		 
 
    Pearl Harbor  
 
    Spanish American War (1898)  
 
    The 1890's  
 
    The 1900's  
 
    The 1910's  
 
    The 1920's  
 
    The 1930's  
 
 
    The 1940's  
 
    The 1950's  
 
    The 1960's  
 
    The 1970's  
 
    The 1980's  
 
    The 1990's  
 
    The 2000's  
 
    The Civil War
(1861-1865) 		 
 
    The Great Depression
(1929-1945) 		 
 
    The United States Grows
(1865-1900) 		 
 
    The War of 1812  
 
    Wild, Wild West  
 
    World War I
(1914-1918) 		 
 
    World War II  
 

50 States

             Fifty States Theme Unit

Document Based Activities
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