United States History: 1877 to the Present

The United States Since World War II

USII.8

The student will demonstrate knowledge of the key domestic issues during the second half of the twentieth century by

  1. a) examining the Civil Rights Movement and the changing role of women;
  2. b) describing the development of new technologies and their impact on American life.

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

  • Begin the unit by asking students the following questions:
    • What were some effects of segregation on American society?
    • How did the African American struggle for equality become a mass movement?
    • How did the law support the struggle for equality for African Americans?
    • How were women disadvantaged in the workplace?
    • What actions were taken to improve conditions for women?
  • Explain that the Civil Rights Movement resulted in legislation that ensured constitutional rights to all citizens regardless of race.
  • Explain that women activists were inspired by the achievements of the Civil Rights Movement and took action to gain equality for themselves, particularly in the workplace.
  • Discuss some effects of segregation, such as:
    • Separate educational facilities and resources for white and African American students
    • Separate public facilities (e.g., restrooms, drinking fountains, restaurants)
    • Social isolation of races
  • Introduce the Civil Rights Movement and explain the following events:
    • Opposition to Plessy v. Ferguson -- "Separate but equal"
    • Brown v. Board of Education, desegregation of schools
    • Martin Luther King, Jr. -- Passive resistance against segregated facilities; "I have a dream..." speech
    • Rosa Parks -- Montgomery bus boycott
    • Organized protests, Freedom Riders, sit-ins, marches
    • Expansion of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
    • Civil Rights Act of 1964
    • Voting Rights Act of 1965
  • Discuss the changing role of women
  • Workplace disadvantages included:
    • Discrimination in hiring practices against women
    • Lower wages for women than for men doing the same job
  • Improved conditions included:
    • National Organization for Women (NOW)
    • Federal legislation to force colleges to give women equal athletic opportunities
    • The Equal Rights Amendment, despite its failure, and a focus on equal opportunity employment created a wider range of options and advancement for women in business and public service.
  • Display the following statements on the board or overhead, and have students discuss them. Are these examples of unfair discrimination? Why, or why not?
    • Your city fire department will not hire women as firefighters.
    • Your state has a law that says all students of one race must attend separate schools from the other students in their community.
    • Two people of a different race or gender work for the state at the same jobs, and one is paid less than the other.
    • The Supreme Court has decided that state universities cannot consider the race of a student when deciding whether to admit him or her.
    • Your city has a regulation that states that your family cannot live in some sections of the city because of your religious beliefs.
  • Be careful to guide the discussion and encourage respect. Point out that many of these statements were considered valid at one time or are considered valid today.
  • After the discussion, have the students consider some of the people, places, and strategies closely associated with the Civil Rights Movement. Have students take a virtual tour of historic places connected with the Civil Rights Movement, which can be found at http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/index.htm. Have students begin their tour by reading the introduction and, possibly, the other sections on the site found at the bottom of the introduction page: "Players," "Strategies," "Cost," and "Prize."
  • Provide students with a list of relevant Civil Rights Movement places to research. Have each of them select a place and research it, using a worksheet with a set of questions, such as that found at http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=353. Listed below is a sample selection of places that fit well with Virginia Standards of Learning:
    • King's march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama
    • The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, in Birmingham, Alabama, that was bombed by the KKK
    • The MLK Historic Site in Atlanta, Georgia
    • The F.W. Woolworth Building in Greensboro, North Carolina (site of the "sit in" at the lunch counter)
    • New Kent and George W. Watkins School in Virginia (sites of controversy related to desegregation of public schools)
    • Little Rock Central High School (site of school desegregation)
  • After students have finished their research, have them compare their findings as a whole group.
  • Have each student create a picture postcard from the historic site he or she researched. The postcard should depict the setting and provide information on the historical significance of the site, as shown on Picture Postcards from the Historic Civil Rights Movement Places worksheet. For a copy of the worksheet, CLICK HERE.
  • Ask students what they know about Martin Luther King, Jr. and his philosophy of nonviolence. Provide students with a short biography on Dr. King.
  • Use the lesson plan "Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Power of Nonviolence" at http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=326to provide students with a selection of King's writings on nonviolent action. This lesson also provides links to a set of photographs that can be used in the session. Have the students read and note the writings and view the photographs. Point out Dr. King's admiration for and use of the teachings of the great mahatma ("great soul") Mohandas K. Gandhi.
  • Hold a class discussion on Dr. King's philosophy, using the set of discussion questions included with the lesson:
    • How does King characterize the choice between violence and nonviolence in the struggle for freedom? What does he predict violence will lead to? What does he promise nonviolence will lead to? Looking back, was he a reliable forecaster?
    • How does nonviolence work? What are the stages of the process, as King describes it? What role does "tension" play in this process? To what extent is violence part of the process? How does public awareness contribute to making nonviolence a success? Would it work in a society without freedom of speech and freedom of the press?
    • What kind of person takes part in nonviolent action, according to Dr. King? To what extent are nonviolent protestors fighters? To what extent are they peacemakers? What part do politics and religion play in their thinking? What part do hatred and love play in their decision to act? Can you see yourself joining in a nonviolent protest? Why or why not?
  • Ask students what they already know about Jim Crow laws and whether they can give any examples of Jim Crow laws. Using the students' responses, define Jim Crow, and offer some examples, which can be found at the Web site Remembering Jim Crow, located athttp://www.americanradioworks.org/features. Help students make connections with rights that are guaranteed under the Constitution of the United States to all citizens. How did Jim Crow laws violate the constitutional rights of African Americans?
  • Have students work in small groups to research the effects of Jim Crow laws on the African American population and the white population in the South. Hand out the worksheet on the Impact of Jim Crow Laws on American Society to each group to help guide their research efforts. Begin by having students listen to and read historical accounts related to Jim Crow laws. These documents can be found at the Remembering Jim Crow Web site mentioned above. This site is well organized and offers multiple resources; it provides students with the opportunity to listen to short oral histories, examine photographs, and read short personal histories. Other Web sites that offer information and lessons regarding Jim Crow are the Rise and Fall of Jim Crow at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/index.htmland the History of Jim Crow at http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/home.htm. For the worksheet on the Impact of Jim Crow Laws on American Society, CLICK HERE.
  • After they complete their research, have students, acting as citizen advocates for the African American community, write a report to be presented before a "legislative committee." This report will argue reasons that the Jim Crow laws should be repealed. Encourage students to take on the role of stakeholder in their community. What detrimental effects does a segregated system have on a community? Why?
  • Encourage students to share their reports with the class. Ask students what part of their research made the biggest impact on them.
  • For a sample grading rubric for this session, CLICK HERE.
  • Provide historical background on the1896 Supreme Court decision Plessy v. Ferguson, which declared that separate but equal facilities were the law of the land. Students should be familiar with the case and understand the impact of the court decision on American society.
  • View a video or read a summary of the 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education, in which the court unanimously declared that state-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th Amendment and was therefore unconstitutional. This historic decision marked the end of the "separate but equal" policy approved by the Supreme Court nearly 60 years earlier, and it served as a catalyst for the expanding Civil Rights Movement during the 1950s. A summary and lesson plan called "Teaching with Documents Lesson Plan: Documents Related to Brown v. Board of Education" is available at http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons/brown_v_board. Explain to students that the issue of school desegregation was very controversial; the southern states did not readily agree to integrate public schools.
  • Review with students the characteristics of historical markers they have seen, reminding them that historical markers contain some general information about the event and a tribute to the individuals involved. Direct students to create a historical marker commemorating the Supreme Court case. Encourage students to be creative and to use color and pictures, if possible. Direct them to the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration Web site athttp://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons/brown_w_boardand other appropriate sites.
  • Inquire of students what they see as the biggest gains for women in, say, the past 20 years. Encourage students to consider various categories, such as employment, politics, sports, and even the military. Write students' responses on the board or on a flip chart for future reference. Another option to begin the session is to have the class as a whole respond to a series of true/false statements, e.g., "Currently more women attend college than men." As students declare these statements true or false, discuss their responses and record the consensus for future reference.
  • Have students investigate and gather information pertaining to men and women in the categories of employment, politics, and sports. The following reports and Web sites will provide students with a starting point:
  • Have students do research in all categories, or assign different categories to groups of students. As students research their topic(s), have them look for data that show change over time, and challenge students to make comparisons over a course of years. You may choose to have students create a database using the information they discover. Below are some examples of questions to use for information gathering:
    • How has the number of women senators changed in the past five years? Are these women mostly Democrats or Republicans?
    • How much does a man earn in a particular occupation (choose one) as compared to a woman? Has the gender gap increased or decreased in relation to pay? Does it vary according to occupation? Does it vary according to educational level?
    • How many women participate in college sports? How has Title IX impacted college sports?
  • In addition to examining statistics, students could speak to people in the community to find out about issues such as gender equity in employment, the goal being to gain a sense of how the data reflect the actual human experience.
  • After students have completed their research, have them share their findings with the class. Refer back to the initial discussion before the research. Did the students' research validate their answers, or prove them incorrect?

WEB SITES

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/sepbutequal.htm
Plessy v. Ferguson

http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/marshall/brown.html
Plessy v. Ferguson

http://www.nationalcenter.org/brown.html
Brown v. Board of Education

http://brownvboard.org/index.htm
Brown v. Board of Education

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/
Martin Luther King, Jr.

http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html
Martin Luther King, Jr.

http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/par0bio-1
Rosa Parks

http://www.greatwomen.org/women.php?action=viewone&id=117
Rosa Parks

http://www.naacp.org/
NAACP

http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/laws/majorlaw/civilr19.htm
Civil Rights Act of 1964

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/intro/intro_b.htm
Voting Rights Act of 1965

http://www.now.org/history/history.html
History of National Organization of Women

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