A Guide to Primary Resources for U.S. History : Executive Order 9981 Truman Presidential Museum and Library: "Multimedia Digital Archives" On July 26, 1948, President Truman issued Executive Order 9981 establishing equality of treatment and opportunity in the Armed Services. This project website, produced for the 50th anniversary of the Executive Order, presents the historic document as well as interesting background materials organized in an interactive format. This resource enables students to explore an important outcome of African American military service in World War II. The students can read the order and jot down ideas about how people might have responded to Truman's words (for example, from the perspective of an African-American WWII veteran, an American general, a NAACP lawyer, a white farmer, and a Soviet leader). This could be the beginning of a discussion on how the ideologies of the Cold War played out in the daily lives of Americans. Students can write a reactionary historical journal entry from the perspective of a former WWII African-American soldier (perhaps a Tuskegee Airman) to Truman's order. The teacher can prompt students to think about the emotions of an African-American who fought for a country in which his place is marginalized in society, especially when he was supposedly fighting to promote democracy. In the context of the increasingly threatening Cold War, what might such a person question about his country? The teacher should be sure to return to this document when the class begins to discuss the roots of the Civil Rights Movement.

(c) examining the political, economic, and social impact of the war and Reconstruction, including the adoption of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States

An address to the Loyal Citizens and Congress of the United States of America adopted by a convention of Negroes held in Alexandria, Virginia, August 1865
The University of Groningen, The Netherlands

District of Columbia Company E, 4th U.S. Colored Infantry, at Fort Lincoln
Library of Congress

Fourteenth Amendment
Cornell University

Fifteenth Amendment
Cornell University

Description: This group of documents highlights the contributions of African Americans during the Civil War, reasons for granting suffrage to African Americans, and also the amendments that were passed granting African American males the right to vote. The speech is a fiery yet rational argument citing the loyalty of African Americans to the Union cause as reason to be granted legal protection through the right to vote. The photograph is of a group of African American soldiers in full uniform. Finally included here are transcripts of the 14th and 15th amendment which grant African Americans the right to vote and prohibit states from making laws to prevent voting by certain groups.

Teaching Tips:

"Do Now" Suggestions

Have students read the speech and highlight contributions of African Americans to the Civil War era and the author’s reasons for seeking suffrage for African Americans.
Using the photograph, have students brainstorm or review what roles African American soldiers and “contrabands” played in the Civil War.
Have students read the 14th and 15th amendments and create a list of rights protected by them.

Suggestions for Using this Resource as Part of a Lesson

Position these documents in group areas around the classroom. Then have the students move between the stations analyzing the documents. At each station have the students answer specific questions regarding the social impact of these documents.
Use the speech and the photo of the 4th U.S. Colored Infantry to introduce the argument for African American suffrage following the Civil War. Then analyze the 14th and 15 amendments to discover the hardships faced by African American voters.