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In this unit, students will understand the impact of the Civil Rights Movement on today’s society. By using the connecting theme of beliefs and ideals, the students will learn the reasons why the rights of a group of people should be protected and upheld. The students will use the theme of individuals, groups, and institutions to learn about the important people who fought for the rights of others. Using the theme of technological innovations will help students learn how technology can have both positive and negative impacts on those around them.
SS5H6 Describe the importance of key people, events, and developments between 1950-1975.
a. Analyze the effects of Jim Crow laws and practices. I can identify Jim Crow laws and practices. (Knowledge)
I can analyze the effects of Jim Crow laws. (Reasoning)
I can analyze the effects of Jim Crow practices. (Reasoning)
African Americans prevented from voting during the Jim Crow era as follows:
People had to pass literacy tests before they would be allowed to vote.
People threatened African Americans to keep them from voting.
People were required to pay in order to exercise their right to vote.
Jim Crow Laws
Jim Crow Laws
Jim Crow Laws were initiated following the Civil War during Reconstruction. These laws were designed to separate individuals in public life based on race. These laws legally segregated blacks from whites in the southern regions of the United States, and were later repealed in the late 1960’s. This was done through the passage of Civil Rights legislation as well as through Supreme Court rulings. Although Jim Crow laws were proposed to be a method where African-Americans received separate but equal status, in practice, facilities for blacks were inferior. Specifics varied from state to state, but in general, students should conclude that Jim Crow laws separated whites and blacks in areas such as transportation, schools, restaurants, hotels, parks, drinking fountains, restrooms and other public facilities. Jim Crow Laws prevented blacks from voting through the passage of poll taxes, residency requirements, and literacy tests.
b. Explain the key events and people of the Civil Rights movement: Brown v. Board of Education (1954), Montgomery Bus Boycott, the March on Washington, Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, and civil rights activities of Thurgood Marshall, Lyndon B. Johnson, Cesar Chavez, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King, Jr.
I can identify 1954's Brown v. Board of Education and can explain 1954's Brown v. Board of Education as a key event of the Civil Rights movement. (Knowledge)
I can identify the Montgomery Bus Boycott and explain the Montgomery Bus Boycott as a key event of the Civil Rights movement. (Knowledge)
I can identify the March on Washington and can explain the March on Washington as a key event of the Civil Rights movement. (Knowledge)
I can describe the Civil Rights Act and can explain the Civil Rights Act as a key event of the Civil Rights movement. (Knowledge)
I can describe the Voting Rights Act and can explain the Voting Rights Act as a key event of the Civil Rights movement. (Knowledge)
I can identify Thurgood Marshall and can explain the role of Thurgood Marshall during the Civil Rights movement. (Knowledge)
I can identify Lyndon B. Johnson and can explain the role of Lyndon B. Johnson during the Civil Rights movement. (Knowledge)
I can identify Caesar Chavez and can explain the role of Caesar Chavez during the Civil Rights movement. (Knowledge)
I can identify Rosa Parks and can explain the role of Rosa Parks during the Civil Rights movement. (Knowledge)
I can identify Martin Luther King, Jr. and can explain the role of Martin Luther King, Jr. during the Civil Rights movement. (Knowledge)
In 1960, at the age of six, Ruby Bridges was the first Black child to desegregate an all-white elementary school in New Orleans.
Brown Vs. Board of Education
Brown Vs. Board of Education
The Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education has a major impact on the development of the United States. The roots of this case stemmed from the issue of racial segregation in public schools and from the court case, Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). In this case the court had ruled that separate but equal facilitates were permitted. In arguments made by lawyers in the case Brown vs. Board of Education, lawyers including Thurgood Marshall, held that such a division was inherently unequal, and that children of color were not receiving the same educational opportunities as their white peers. The Supreme Court ruled that separate was NOT equal. In the court’s final ruling, they determined that segregation of students violated the 14th Amendment and they declared the practice unconstitutional. They agreed that children of color were not receiving the same educational opportunities as their white peers. This 1954 ruling resulted in the onset of school desegregation, but it ultimately took decades for some districts to comply.
Following the Supreme Court case ruling that separate was not equal, civil rights activists continued their work for equality. Another area in which the treatment of African Americans or Blacks was not equal was in public transportation. In many locations in the South, Jim Crow laws forbade people of color from sitting at the front of buses and streetcars. These laws required African Americans to stand and give up seats to white passengers. This rule was meant to ensure that white passengers did not have to stand on crowded transportation routes.
Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall
In 1967, President Lyndon Johnson appointed Thurgood Marshall to the United States Supreme Court, where he had thirteen years earlier argued for school desegregation. Now he joined its ranks as a Supreme Court Justice where he served on the court until 1991.
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks, a civil rights activist, wanted to change these laws. On December 1, 1955, she refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus to a white passenger. As a result, she was arrested. Angry over her treatment, members of local civil rights organizations and African-American/Black churches advocated a boycott of city buses. They demanded an end to segregated seating and mistreatment of people of color on forms of public transportation. To show support for this cause many people were forced to walk miles to work and school. Organizers even created a volunteer carpooling system to circumvent the need to use the buses. This boycott, which lasted a little over a year, became known as the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
César Chavez
César Chavez
At the same time as the movement for civil rights was influencing legislation and conditions for African Americans/Blacks, there were also efforts on the part of others to improve life for farm workers. César Chavez and others organized the farm workers in California, and worked to achieve better pay, working conditions, and treatment. He is most well known as a labor leader and organizer and helped to start the National Farm Workers Association in 1962. Like Dr. King, he stressed nonviolent forms of protest such as boycotts, marches and hunger strikes to achieve his goals. His most famous boycott was against grape growers, and his efforts improved life and working conditions for many of the nation’s poorest workers.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a pastor of a local Montgomery church, who became one of the leading activists behind the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Encouraged by the actions of Rosa Parks and the support of the community, he and others began to protest laws that required segregation on buses. Their stance against segregation led to violence by those who wished to retain it. Newscasts on television brought the conflict and the cause of African Americans/Blacks into the average American households. It influenced people across the country in support of Parks, King, and their cause. In November 1956, the Supreme Court issued a ruling on bus segregation, finding that segregation was unconstitutional.
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The assassinations of major civil rights leaders impacted society during the 1960s:
The deaths widened the divide between blacks and whites.
Television allowed people to witness events quickly.
Many felt violence was necessary to achieve change.
On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., stepped onto the balcony of his hotel room in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. King was in Tennessee to participate in a march to support equal pay for black sanitation workers. While the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act had been major political victories for the Civil Rights movement, King and other leaders realized that gaps still existed for African Americans/Blacks in political, economic, and social areas. Shots rang out as he left his room to go to dinner. Dr. King fell, and was mortally wounded. His assassin, a convicted felon named James Earl Ray, assassinated Dr. King because he was angry over the successes of the Civil Rights Movement. In response to Dr. King’s assassination, President Johnson declared a national day of mourning. While Dr. King’s widow and others continued advocating for equality in Memphis, rioting and violence erupted in many other major cities. This violence resulted in over 40 deaths and much property damage.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s beliefs about the use of non-violent protest to gain equality became a hallmark of the modern Civil Rights Movement. Learning from the ideas of writer and Indian Civil Rights activist Mohandas Gandhi, King led his followers in actions that were designed to bring about social change without causing violence. Furthermore, Dr. King taught fellow protestors that even when violence was committed against them, they should respond non-violently. This philosophy and response left a distinct impression on Americans who learned about the protests from the news media. Americans saw peaceful protestors beaten, sprayed with water hoses, and attacked by dogs.
March on Washington
March on Washington
In 1963 African-American leaders called for a March on Washington. There, at the Lincoln Memorial, approximately a quarter of a million people demanded improved social and economic opportunity and equality under the law for African Americans/Blacks. On the steps of the memorial, Dr. King delivered his famous speech, “I Have a Dream.” This march was such a success that Dr. King and civil rights leaders gained the attention of the White House. They were invited to meet with President John F. Kennedy to discuss civil rights issues that existed in the United States.
c. Describe the impact on American society of the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr.
I can identify John F. Kennedy and can describe the impact of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination on American society. (Knowledge)
I can identify Robert F. Kennedy and can describe the impact of Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination on American society. (Knowledge)
I can describe the impact of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination on American society. (Knowledge)
John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, while visiting Dallas, Texas. Various conspiracy theories exist over his death. Historians have concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in planning and executing the assassination. Oswald was killed before he could be brought to trial, which has resulted in the truth about the assassination being surrounded with questions. His death sparked the spread of conspiracy theories in the United States.
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
The turbulence continued when in 1968, President John F. Kennedy’s brother, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, was assassinated in June of that year. As a democratic candidate for President, Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan, a Jordanian citizen. At the time Sirhan indicated that he was angry over the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Sirhan’s case has continued to be viewed as controversial because Robert Kennedy’s death occurred during a tumultuous time in American history. To many his death seemed to indicate larger protests over the ongoing war in Vietnam, and the increased demands for more progress on civil rights. This assassination led many Americans to believe that the United States was out of control. The assassination of Robert Kennedy disrupted the Democratic primary elections.
The assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr. were significant events during the 1960’s because these three political figures were of great influence and initiated much change. The assassinations of these three men were a way to silence them and try to stop their significant influence.
President Lyndon B. Johnson
President Lyndon B. Johnson
When a new president suddenly occupied the White House, things begin to change. This was because on November 22, 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, by Lee Harvey Oswald. President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was sworn in as president, challenged his own party and many fellow Southerners when he continued pressing for President Kennedy’s civil rights legislation. One of his notable achievements was when President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act. This legislation ended discrimination based on race by ensuring equal access to public accommodations, and it included language that called for equal hiring regardless of race.
Changes in the United States continued in 1965 with more civil right legislation. In the 1960s, this federal action attempted to end the use of Jim Crow laws in the United States. This legislation outlawed state laws that required poll taxes and literacy tests, which had been a method to deny African Americans/Blacks the right to vote. In the South, the 15th Amendment could not be circumvented. President Johnson’s method of honoring Kennedy’s life and public works was by signing the legislation that Kennedy believed in.
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This act outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting. This “act to enforce the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution” was signed into law 95 years after the amendment was ratified.
d. Discuss the significance of the technologies of television and space exploration.
I can discuss the significance of the technology of television between 1950-1975. (Knowledge)
I can discuss the significance of space exploration between 1950-1975. (Knowledge)
The impact of television as an informational source brought nearly instantaneous coverage of the assassination of JFK and its aftermath. In fact, historians have noted that this news coverage of Kennedy’s assassination is credited as when newscasts overtook newspapers as the chief media outlet for information for Americans.
Television
Television
While radio had already brought entertainment directly into people’s homes, television let them “see” what was happening around the world and in their own communities. Elections were influenced as people watched candidates as they spoke; the role of the consumers became paramount as companies directed more and more money towards advertising; and ordinary citizens became observers of events that happened around the world. Examples of significant events that citizens witnessed on television were the Civil Rights Movement, the war in Vietnam, and many other key events of the 1950s and 1960s. These events were televised almost immediately as they happened.
Television affected American people’s beliefs in the Vietnam War as the American people were able to have daily access to news reports on fighting and deaths which caused more opposition to the war.
Technology, during the Cold War era, was at the center of competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. Throughout the post-World War II era, much time, money, and effort went into developing technology to put men into space. During this period, each country raced to put a man on the moon. Advances in rocket technology had brought about new innovations like rockets that were capable of escaping Earth’s gravitational pull. This competition was heightened when the Soviet Union launched a man into space first. From there, scientists continued to work to develop vehicles that were capable of sheltering living things from the harsh extremes of outer space. The US space program of the 1960s led directly to the advancement of satellite communications.
The continuation of the space program following the death of President John F. Kennedy, one of its primary supporters, represented an effort to realize Kennedy's dream of putting a man on the moon and was an effort to help the nation recover psychologically from the tragedy.
While the Soviets had early success in launching people past the Earth’s atmosphere, the United States prevailed by becoming the first country to put a man on the moon. This was accomplished when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon on July 20, 1969. This landing excited Americans as they watched in amazement on their televisions. With this landing the United States could also declared its superiority in the “space race.”
The spread of television in the United States in the 1950s resulted in people spending more time at home. Television and space exploration made it easier for countries to communicate scientific discoveries and advancements.
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