civic literacy essay civil rights movement

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Course: US history   >   Unit 8

Introduction to the civil rights movement.

• African American veterans and the Civil Rights Movement
• Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
• Emmett Till
• The Montgomery Bus Boycott
• "Massive Resistance" and the Little Rock Nine
• The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
• The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965
• SNCC and CORE

Black Power

• The Civil Rights Movement

• The Civil Rights Movement is an umbrella term for the many varieties of activism that sought to secure full political, social, and economic rights for African Americans in the period from 1946 to 1968.
• Civil rights activism involved a diversity of approaches, from bringing lawsuits in court, to lobbying the federal government, to mass direct action, to black power.
• The efforts of civil rights activists resulted in many substantial victories, but also met with the fierce opposition of white supremacists .

The emergence of the Civil Rights Movement

Civil rights and the supreme court, nonviolent protest and civil disobedience, the unfinished business of the civil rights movement, what do you think.

• See Richard S. Newman, The Transformation of American Abolitionism: Fighting Slavery in the Early Republic (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002).
• See C. Vann Woodward, The Strange Career of Jim Crow (New York: Oxford University Press, 1955).
• See Edward L. Ayers, The Promise of the New South: Life After Reconstruction (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992).
• See Daniel Kryder, Divided Arsenal: Race and the American State during World War II (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000); and Stephen Tuck,  Fog of War: The Second World War and the Civil Rights Movement (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012).
• See Michael J. Klarman, Brown v. Board of Education and the Civil Rights Movement (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007).
• See Peniel E. Joseph, Waiting ‘Til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America (New York: Henry Holt, 2006).
• See Michael Eric Dyson, The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016).
• See Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (New York: The New Press, 2010).
• See Tavis Smiley, ed., The Covenant with Black America: Ten Years Later (Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, Inc., 2016).

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Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, the best us history regents review guide 2020.

General Education

Taking US History in preparation for the Regents test? The next US History Regents exam dates are Wednesday, January 22nd and Thursday, June 18th, both at 9:15am. Will you be prepared?

You may have heard the test is undergoing some significant changes. In this guide, we explain everything you need to know about the newly-revised US History Regents exam, from what the format will look like to which topics it'll cover. We also include official sample questions of every question type you'll see on this test and break down exactly what your answers to each of them should include.

What Is the Format of the US History Regents Exam?

Beginning in 2020, the US History Regents exam will have a new format. Previously, the test consisted of 50 multiple-choice questions with long essays, but now it will have a mix of multiple choice, short answer, short essay, and long essay questions (schools can choose to use the old version of the exam through June 2021). Here's the format of the new test, along with how it's scored:

In Part 2, there will be two sets of paired documents (always primary sources). For each pair of documents, students will answer with a short essay (about two to three paragraphs, no introduction or conclusion).

For the first pair of documents, students will need to describe the historical context of the documents and explain how the two documents relate to each other. For the second pair, students will again describe the historical context of the documents then explain how audience, bias, purpose, or point of view affect the reliability of each document.

Part A: Students will be given a set of documents focused on a civil or constitutional issue, and they'll need to respond to a set of six short-answer questions about them.

Part B: Using the same set of documents as Part A, students will write a full-length essay (the Civic Literacy essay) that answers the following prompt:

• Describe the historical circumstances surrounding a constitutional or civic issue.
• Explain efforts by individuals, groups, and/or governments to address this constitutional or civic issue.
• Discuss the extent to which these efforts were successful OR discuss the impact of the efforts on the United States and/or American society.

What Topics Does the US History Regents Exam Cover?

Even though the format of the US History Regents test is changing, the topics the exam focuses on are pretty much staying the same. New Visions for Public Schools recommends teachers base their US History class around the following ten units:

As you can see, the US History Regents exam can cover pretty much any major topic/era/conflict in US History from the colonial period to present day, so make sure you have a good grasp of each topic during your US History Regents review.

What Will Questions Look Like on the US History Regents Exam?

Because the US History Regents exam is being revamped for 2020, all the old released exams (with answer explanations) are out-of-date. They can still be useful study tools, but you'll need to remember that they won't be the same as the test you'll be taking.

Fortunately, the New York State Education Department has released a partial sample exam so you can see what the new version of the US History Regents exam will be like. In this section, we go over a sample question for each of the four question types you'll see on the test and explain how to answer it.

Multiple-Choice Sample Question

Base your answers to questions 1 through 3 on the letter below and on your knowledge of social studies.

• Upton Sinclair wrote this letter to President Theodore Roosevelt to inform the president about

1. excessive federal regulation of meatpacking plants 2. unhealthy practices in the meatpacking plants 3. raising wages for meatpacking workers 4. state laws regulating the meatpacking industry

There will be 28 multiple-choice questions on the exam, and they'll all reference "stimuli" such as this example's excerpt of a letter from Upton Sinclair to Theodore Roosevelt. This means you'll never need to pull an answer out of thin air (you'll always have information from the stimulus to refer to), but you will still need a solid knowledge of US history to do well.

To answer these questions, first read the stimulus carefully but still efficiently. In this example, Sinclair is describing a place called "Packingtown," and it seems to be pretty gross. He mentions rotting meat, dead rats, infected animals, etc.

Once you have a solid idea of what the stimulus is about, read the answer choices (some students may prefer to read through the answer choices before reading the stimulus; try both to see which you prefer).

Option 1 doesn't seem correct because there definitely doesn't seem to be much regulation occurring in the meatpacking plant. Option 2 seems possible because things do seem very unhealthy there. Option 3 is incorrect because Sinclair mentions nothing about wages, and similarly for option 4, there is nothing about state laws in the letter.

Option 2 is the correct answer. Because of the stimulus (the letter), you don't need to know everything about the history of industrialization in the US and how its rampant growth had the tendency to cause serious health/social/moral etc. problems, but having an overview of it at least can help you answer questions like these faster and with more confidence.

Short Essay

This Short Essay Question is based on the accompanying documents and is designed to test your ability to work with historical documents. Each Short Essay Question set will consist of two documents. Some of these documents have been edited for the purposes of this question. Keep in mind that the language and images used in a document may reflect the historical context of the time in which it was created.

Task: Read and analyze the following documents, applying your social studies knowledge and skills to write a short essay of two or three paragraphs in which you:

In developing your short essay answer of two or three paragraphs, be sure to keep these explanations in mind:

Describe means "to illustrate something in words or tell about it"

Historical Context refers to "the relevant historical circumstances surrounding or connecting the events, ideas, or developments in these documents"

Identify means "to put a name to or to name"

Explain means "to make plain or understandable; to give reasons for or causes of; to show the logical development or relationship of"

Types of Relationships :

Cause refers to "something that contributes to the occurrence of an event, the rise of an idea, or the bringing about of a development"

Effect refers to "what happens as a consequence (result, impact, outcome) of an event, an idea, or a development"

Similarity tells how "something is alike or the same as something else"

Difference tells how "something is not alike or not the same as something else"

Turning Point is "a major event, idea, or historical development that brings about significant change. It can be local, regional, national, or global"

It's important to read the instructions accompanying the documents so you know exactly how to answer the short essays. This example is from the first short essay question, so along with explaining the historical context of the documents, you'll also need to explain the relationship between the documents (for the second short essay question, you'll need to explain biases). Your options for the types of relationships are:

• cause and effect,
• similarity/difference
• turning point

You'll only choose one of these relationships. Key words are explained in the instructions, which we recommend you read through carefully now so you don't waste time doing it on test day. The instructions above are the exact instructions you'll see on your own exam.

Next, read through the two documents, jotting down some brief notes if you like. Document 1 is an excerpt from a press conference where President Eisenhower discusses the importance of Indochina, namely the goods it produces, the danger of a dictatorship to the free world, and the potential of Indochina causing other countries in the region to become communist as well.

Document 2 is an excerpt from the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. It mentions an attack on the US Navy by the communist regime in Vietnam, and it states that while the US desires that there be peace in the region and is reluctant to get involved, Congress approves the President of the United States to "take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression."

Your response should be no more than three paragraphs. For the first paragraph, we recommend discussing the historical context of the two documents. This is where your history knowledge comes in. If you have a strong grasp of the history of this time period, you can discuss how France's colonial reign in Indochina (present-day Vietnam) ended in 1954, which led to a communist regime in the north and a pro-Western democracy in the south. Eisenhower didn't want to get directly involved in Vietnam, but he subscribed to the "domino theory" (Document 1) and believed that if Vietnam became fully communist, other countries in Southeast Asia would as well. Therefore, he supplied the south with money and weapons, which helped cause the outbreak of the Vietnam War.

After Eisenhower, the US had limited involvement in the Vietnam War, but the Gulf of Tonkin incident, where US and North Vietnam ships confronted each other and exchanged fire, led to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (Document 2) and gave President Lyndon B. Johnson powers to send US military forces to Vietnam without an official declaration of war. This led to a large escalation of the US's involvement in Vietnam.

You don't need to know every detail mentioned above, but having a solid knowledge of key US events (like its involvement in the Vietnam War) will help you place documents in their correct historical context.

For the next one to two paragraphs of your response, discuss the relationship of the documents. It's not really a cause and effect relationship, since it wasn't Eisenhower's domino theory that led directly to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, but you could discuss the similarities and differences between the two documents (they're similar because they both show a fear of the entire region becoming communist and a US desire for peace in the area, but they're different because the first is a much more hands-off approach while the second shows significant involvement). You could also argue it's a turning point relationship because the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was the turning point in the US's involvement in the Vietnam War. Up to that point, the US was primarily hands-off (as shown in Document 1). Typically, the relationship you choose is less important than your ability to support your argument with facts and analysis.

Short Answers and Civic Literacy Essay

This Civic Literacy essay is based on the accompanying documents. The question is designed to test your ability to work with historical documents. Some of these documents have been edited for the purpose of this question. As you analyze the documents, take into account the source of each document and any point of view that may be presented in the document. Keep in mind that the language and images used in a document may reflect the historical context of the time in which it was created.

Historical Context: African American Civil Rights

Throughout United States history, many constitutional and civic issues have been debated by Americans. These debates have resulted in efforts by individuals, groups, and governments to address these issues. These efforts have achieved varying degrees of success. One of these constitutional and civic issues is African American civil rights.

Task: Read and analyze the documents. Using information from the documents and your knowledge of United States history, write an essay in which you

Discuss means "to make observations about something using facts, reasoning, and argument; to present in some detail"

Document 1a

Document 1b

• Based on these documents, state one way the end of Reconstruction affected African Americans.
• According to this document, what is one way Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois disagreed about how African Americans should achieve equality?
• According to this document, what is one reason Thurgood Marshall argued that the "separate but equal" ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson should be overturned?

Document 4a

Document 4b

• Based on these documents, state one result of the sit-in at the Greensboro Woolworth.
• According to Henry Louis Gates Jr., what was one result of the 1960s civil rights protests?
• Based on this document, state one impact of the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

Start by reading the instructions, then the documents themselves. There are eight of them, all focused on African American civil rights. The short answers and the civic literacy essay use the same documents. We recommend answering the short answer questions first, then completing your essay.

A short answer question follows each document or set of documents. These are straightforward questions than can be answered in 1-2 sentences. Question 1 asks, "Based on these documents, state one way the end of Reconstruction affected African Americans."

Reading through documents 1a and 1b, there are many potential answers. Choose one (don't try to choose more than one to get more points; it won't help and you'll just lose time you could be spending on other questions) for your response. Using information from document 1a, a potential answer could be, "After Reconstruction, African Americans were able to hold many elected positions. This made it possible for them to influence politics and public life more than they had ever been able to before."

Your Civic Literacy essay will be a standard five-paragraph essay, with an introduction, thesis statement, and a conclusion. You'll need to use many of the documents to answer the three bullet points laid out in the instructions. We recommend one paragraph per bullet point. For each paragraph, you'll need to use your knowledge of US history AND information directly from the documents to make your case.

As with the short essay, we recommended devoting a paragraph to each of the bullet points. In the first paragraph, you should discuss how the documents fit into the larger narrative of African American civil rights. You could discuss the effects of Reconstruction, how the industrialization of the North affected blacks, segregation and its impacts, key events in the Civil Rights movement such as the bus boycott in Montgomery and the March on Washington, etc. The key is to use your own knowledge of US history while also discussing the documents and how they tie in.

For the second paragraph, you'll discuss efforts to address African American civil rights. Here you can talk about groups, such as the NAACP (Document 3), specific people such as W.E.B. Du Bois (Document 2), and/or major events, such as the passing of the Civil Rights Act (Document 5).

In the third paragraph, you'll discuss how successful the effort to increase African American civil rights was. Again, use both the documents and your own knowledge to discuss setbacks faced and victories achieved. Your overall opinion will reflect your thesis statement you included at the end of your introductory paragraph. As with the other essays, it matters less what you conclude than how well you are able to support your argument.

3 Tips for Your US History Regents Review

In order to earn a Regents Diploma, you'll need to pass at least one of the social science regents. Here are some tips for passing the US Regents exam.

#1: Focus on Broad Themes, Not Tiny Details

With the revamp of the US History exam, there is much less focus on memorization and basic fact recall. Every question on the exam, including multiple choice, will have a document or excerpt referred to in the questions, so you'll never need to pull an answer out of thin air.

Because you'll never see a question like, "What year did Alabama become a state?" don't waste your time trying to memorize a lot of dates. It's good to have a general idea of when key events occurred, like WWII or the Gilded Age, but i t's much more important that you understand, say, the causes and consequences of WWII rather than the dates of specific battles. The exam tests your knowledge of major themes and changes in US history, so focus on that during your US History Regents review over rote memorization.

#2: Don't Write More Than You Need To

You only need to write one full-length essay for the US History Regents exam, and it's for the final question of the test (the Civic Literacy essay). All other questions (besides multiple choice) only require a few sentences or a few paragraphs.

Don't be tempted to go beyond these guidelines in an attempt to get more points. If a question asks for one example, only give one example; giving more won't get you any additional points, and it'll cause you to lose valuable time. For the two short essay questions, only write three paragraphs each, maximum. The short response questions only require a sentence or two. The questions are carefully designed so that they can be fully answered by responses of this length, so don't feel pressured to write more in an attempt to get a higher score. Quality is much more important than quantity here.

#3: Search the Documents for Clues

As mentioned above, all questions on this test are document-based, and those documents will hold lots of key information in them. Even ones that at first glance don't seem to show a lot, like a poster or photograph, can contain many key details if you have a general idea of what was going on at that point in history. The caption or explanation beneath each document is also often critical to fully understanding it. In your essays and short answers, remember to always refer back to the information you get from these documents to help support your answers.

What's Next?

Taking other Regents exams ? We have guides to the Chemistry , Earth Science , and Living Environment Regents , as well as the Algebra 1 , Algebra 2 , and Geometry Regents .

Need more information on Colonial America? Become an expert by reading our guide to the 13 colonies.

The Platt Amendment was written during another key time in American history. Learn all about this important document, and how it is still influencing Guantanamo Bay, by reading our complete guide to the Platt Amendment .

Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

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Civil Rights Movement

By: History.com Editors

Updated: May 14, 2024 | Original: October 27, 2009

The civil rights movement was a struggle for social justice that took place mainly during the 1950s and 1960s for Black Americans to gain equal rights under the law in the United States. The Civil War officially abolished slavery , but it didn’t end discrimination against Black people—they continued to endure the devastating effects of racism, especially in the South. By the mid-20th century, Black Americans, along with many other Americans, mobilized and began an unprecedented fight for equality that spanned two decades.

Jim Crow Laws

During Reconstruction , Black people took on leadership roles like never before. They held public office and sought legislative changes for equality and the right to vote.

In 1868, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution gave Black people equal protection under the law. In 1870, the 15th Amendment granted Black American men the right to vote. Still, many white Americans, especially those in the South, were unhappy that people they’d once enslaved were now on a more-or-less equal playing field.

To marginalize Black people, keep them separate from white people and erase the progress they’d made during Reconstruction, “ Jim Crow ” laws were established in the South beginning in the late 19th century. Black people couldn’t use the same public facilities as white people, live in many of the same towns or go to the same schools. Interracial marriage was illegal, and most Black people couldn’t vote because they were unable to pass voter literacy tests.

Jim Crow laws weren’t adopted in northern states; however, Black people still experienced discrimination at their jobs or when they tried to buy a house or get an education. To make matters worse, laws were passed in some states to limit voting rights for Black Americans.

Moreover, southern segregation gained ground in 1896 when the U.S. Supreme Court declared in Plessy v. Ferguson that facilities for Black and white people could be “separate but equal."

World War II and Civil Rights

Prior to World War II , most Black people worked as low-wage farmers, factory workers, domestics or servants. By the early 1940s, war-related work was booming, but most Black Americans weren’t given better-paying jobs. They were also discouraged from joining the military.

After thousands of Black people threatened to march on Washington to demand equal employment rights, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802 on June 25, 1941. It opened national defense jobs and other government jobs to all Americans regardless of race, creed, color or national origin.

Black men and women served heroically in World War II, despite suffering segregation and discrimination during their deployment. The Tuskegee Airmen broke the racial barrier to become the first Black military aviators in the U.S. Army Air Corps and earned more than 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses. Yet many Black veterans were met with prejudice and scorn upon returning home. This was a stark contrast to why America had entered the war to begin with—to defend freedom and democracy in the world.

As the Cold War began, President Harry Truman initiated a civil rights agenda, and in 1948 issued Executive Order 9981 to end discrimination in the military. These events helped set the stage for grass-roots initiatives to enact racial equality legislation and incite the civil rights movement.

On December 1, 1955, a 42-year-old woman named Rosa Parks found a seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus after work. Segregation laws at the time stated Black passengers must sit in designated seats at the back of the bus, and Parks complied.

When a white man got on the bus and couldn’t find a seat in the white section at the front of the bus, the bus driver instructed Parks and three other Black passengers to give up their seats. Parks refused and was arrested.

As word of her arrest ignited outrage and support, Parks unwittingly became the “mother of the modern-day civil rights movement.” Black community leaders formed the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) led by Baptist minister Martin Luther King Jr ., a role which would place him front and center in the fight for civil rights.

Parks’ courage incited the MIA to stage a boycott of the Montgomery bus system . The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted 381 days. On November 14, 1956, the Supreme Court ruled segregated seating was unconstitutional. 

Little Rock Nine

In 1954, the civil rights movement gained momentum when the United States Supreme Court made segregation illegal in public schools in the case of Brown v. Board of Education . In 1957, Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas asked for volunteers from all-Black high schools to attend the formerly segregated school.

On September 4, 1957, nine Black students, known as the Little Rock Nine , arrived at Central High School to begin classes but were instead met by the Arkansas National Guard (on order of Governor Orval Faubus) and a screaming, threatening mob. The Little Rock Nine tried again a couple of weeks later and made it inside, but had to be removed for their safety when violence ensued.

Finally, President Dwight D. Eisenhower intervened and ordered federal troops to escort the Little Rock Nine to and from classes at Central High. Still, the students faced continual harassment and prejudice.

Their efforts, however, brought much-needed attention to the issue of desegregation and fueled protests on both sides of the issue.

Civil Rights Act of 1957

Even though all Americans had gained the right to vote, many southern states made it difficult for Black citizens. They often required prospective voters of color to take literacy tests that were confusing, misleading and nearly impossible to pass.

Wanting to show a commitment to the civil rights movement and minimize racial tensions in the South, the Eisenhower administration pressured Congress to consider new civil rights legislation.

On September 9, 1957, President Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957 into law, the first major civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. It allowed federal prosecution of anyone who tried to prevent someone from voting. It also created a commission to investigate voter fraud.

Sit-In at Woolworth's Lunch Counter

Despite making some gains, Black Americans still experienced blatant prejudice in their daily lives. On February 1, 1960, four college students took a stand against segregation in Greensboro, North Carolina when they refused to leave a Woolworth’s lunch counter without being served.

Over the next several days, hundreds of people joined their cause in what became known as the Greensboro sit-ins. After some were arrested and charged with trespassing, protesters launched a boycott of all segregated lunch counters until the owners caved and the original four students were finally served at the Woolworth’s lunch counter where they’d first stood their ground.

Their efforts spearheaded peaceful sit-ins and demonstrations in dozens of cities and helped launch the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to encourage all students to get involved in the civil rights movement. It also caught the eye of young college graduate Stokely Carmichael , who joined the SNCC during the Freedom Summer of 1964 to register Black voters in Mississippi. In 1966, Carmichael became the chair of the SNCC, giving his famous speech in which he originated the phrase "Black power.”

Freedom Riders

On May 4, 1961, 13 “ Freedom Riders ”—seven Black and six white activists–mounted a Greyhound bus in Washington, D.C. , embarking on a bus tour of the American south to protest segregated bus terminals. They were testing the 1960 decision by the Supreme Court in Boynton v. Virginia that declared the segregation of interstate transportation facilities unconstitutional.

Facing violence from both police officers and white protesters, the Freedom Rides drew international attention. On Mother’s Day 1961, the bus reached Anniston, Alabama, where a mob mounted the bus and threw a bomb into it. The Freedom Riders escaped the burning bus but were badly beaten. Photos of the bus engulfed in flames were widely circulated, and the group could not find a bus driver to take them further. U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy (brother to President John F. Kennedy ) negotiated with Alabama Governor John Patterson to find a suitable driver, and the Freedom Riders resumed their journey under police escort on May 20. But the officers left the group once they reached Montgomery, where a white mob brutally attacked the bus. Attorney General Kennedy responded to the riders—and a call from Martin Luther King Jr.—by sending federal marshals to Montgomery.

On May 24, 1961, a group of Freedom Riders reached Jackson, Mississippi. Though met with hundreds of supporters, the group was arrested for trespassing in a “whites-only” facility and sentenced to 30 days in jail. Attorneys for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP ) brought the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court, which reversed the convictions. Hundreds of new Freedom Riders were drawn to the cause, and the rides continued.

In the fall of 1961, under pressure from the Kennedy administration, the Interstate Commerce Commission issued regulations prohibiting segregation in interstate transit terminals

March on Washington

Arguably one of the most famous events of the civil rights movement took place on August 28, 1963: the March on Washington . It was organized and attended by civil rights leaders such as A. Philip Randolph , Bayard Rustin and Martin Luther King Jr.

More than 200,000 people of all races congregated in Washington, D. C. for the peaceful march with the main purpose of forcing civil rights legislation and establishing job equality for everyone. The highlight of the march was King’s speech in which he continually stated, “I have a dream…”

King’s “ I Have a Dream” speech galvanized the national civil rights movement and became a slogan for equality and freedom.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 —legislation initiated by President John F. Kennedy before his assassination —into law on July 2 of that year.

King and other civil rights activists witnessed the signing. The law guaranteed equal employment for all, limited the use of voter literacy tests and allowed federal authorities to ensure public facilities were integrated.

Bloody Sunday

On March 7, 1965, the civil rights movement in Alabama took an especially violent turn as 600 peaceful demonstrators participated in the Selma to Montgomery march to protest the killing of Black civil rights activist Jimmie Lee Jackson by a white police officer and to encourage legislation to enforce the 15th amendment.

As the protesters neared the Edmund Pettus Bridge, they were blocked by Alabama state and local police sent by Alabama Governor George C. Wallace, a vocal opponent of desegregation. Refusing to stand down, protesters moved forward and were viciously beaten and teargassed by police and dozens of protesters were hospitalized.

The entire incident was televised and became known as “ Bloody Sunday .” Some activists wanted to retaliate with violence, but King pushed for nonviolent protests and eventually gained federal protection for another march.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

When President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law on August 6, 1965, he took the Civil Rights Act of 1964 several steps further. The new law banned all voter literacy tests and provided federal examiners in certain voting jurisdictions. 

It also allowed the attorney general to contest state and local poll taxes. As a result, poll taxes were later declared unconstitutional in Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections in 1966.

Part of the Act was walked back decades later, in 2013, when a Supreme Court decision ruled that Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act was unconstitutional, holding that the constraints placed on certain states and federal review of states' voting procedures were outdated.

Civil Rights Leaders Assassinated

The civil rights movement had tragic consequences for two of its leaders in the late 1960s. On February 21, 1965, former Nation of Islam leader and Organization of Afro-American Unity founder Malcolm X was assassinated at a rally.

On April 4, 1968, civil rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on his hotel room's balcony. Emotionally-charged looting and riots followed, putting even more pressure on the Johnson administration to push through additional civil rights laws.

Fair Housing Act of 1968

The Fair Housing Act became law on April 11, 1968, just days after King’s assassination. It prevented housing discrimination based on race, sex, national origin and religion. It was also the last legislation enacted during the civil rights era.

The civil rights movement was an empowering yet precarious time for Black Americans. The efforts of civil rights activists and countless protesters of all races brought about legislation to end segregation, Black voter suppression and discriminatory employment and housing practices.

A Brief History of Jim Crow. Constitutional Rights Foundation. Civil Rights Act of 1957. Civil Rights Digital Library. Document for June 25th: Executive Order 8802: Prohibition of Discrimination in the Defense Industry. National Archives. Greensboro Lunch Counter Sit-In. African American Odyssey. Little Rock School Desegregation (1957).  The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute Stanford . Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Global Freedom Struggle. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute Stanford . Rosa Marie Parks Biography. Rosa and Raymond Parks. Selma, Alabama, (Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965). BlackPast.org. The Civil Rights Movement (1919-1960s). National Humanities Center. The Little Rock Nine. National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior: Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site. Turning Point: World War II. Virginia Historical Society.

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Home — Essay Samples — History — History of the United States — Civil Rights Movement

Essays on Civil Rights Movement

Hook examples for civil rights movement essays, anecdotal hook.

Imagine standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, listening to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech. This moment in history epitomized the Civil Rights Movement's power and importance.

Question Hook

What does it mean to fight for civil rights? Explore the complex history, key figures, and lasting impact of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.

Quotation Hook

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. How did civil rights activists like King refuse to stay silent and ignite change?

Statistical or Factual Hook

Did you know that in 1964, the Civil Rights Act was signed into law, prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin? Dive into the facts and milestones of the Civil Rights Movement.

Definition Hook

What defines a civil rights movement? Explore the principles, goals, and strategies that distinguish civil rights movements from other social justice movements.

Rhetorical Question Hook

Was the Civil Rights Movement solely about racial equality, or did it pave the way for broader social change and justice? Examine the movement's multifaceted impact.

Historical Hook

Travel back in time to the mid-20th century and uncover the roots of the Civil Rights Movement, from the Jim Crow era to the landmark Supreme Court decisions.

Contrast Hook

Contrast the injustices and systemic racism faced by African Americans prior to the Civil Rights Movement with the progress made through protests, legislation, and activism.

Narrative Hook

Meet Rosa Parks, a seamstress who refused to give up her bus seat, sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Follow her courageous journey and the ripple effect it had on the Civil Rights Movement.

Controversial Statement Hook

Prepare to explore the controversies within the Civil Rights Movement, such as differing strategies among activists and debates over nonviolence versus militancy.

Ruby Bridges: a Trailblazing Figure in Civil Rights History

Coretta scott kings accomplishments, made-to-order essay as fast as you need it.

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Essay on Black History Month

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Civil Rights Movement and The Struggles of African Americans During Those Times

The impact of martin luther king on civil rights movements, the contradicting outcome of the civil rights movement in america, the role of martin luther king jr. and malcolm x in civil rights movement, get a personalized essay in under 3 hours.

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How The Civil Rights Movement Helped African Americans Achieve Their Rights

Martin luther king jr: influential figure in the civil rights movement, how martin luther king jr, rosa parks and malcolm x organized the civil rights movement, the role of the media in ushering the civil rights movement, development of racial tendencies in the united states, the civil rights movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s, a deeper look at the civil rights movement in america, generation of the civil rights movement, black lives matter in the civil rights movement, the civil rights movement about african american people, the civil rights movement and african american discriminations, a report on the events that helped martin luther king jr.'s prominence in america to push the civil rights movement, the civil rights movement about national indentify, the influence of jazz musicians on the civil rights movement, rosa parks and the civil rights movement, the contribution of local grass-roots activists to the civil rights movement, rosa parks: the lady of the civil rights, brown vs board of education, the way rosa parks leadership style changed the history, rosa parks: how one bold decision made a world leader.

United States

Racism, segregation, disenfranchisement, Jim Crow laws, socioeconomic inequality

W.E.B. Du Bois, Jesse Jackson, Martin Luther King, Jr., Henry MacNeal Turner, John Oliver Killens

Civil rights movement was a struggle of African Americans and their like-minded allies for social justice in United States that came to national prominence during the mid-1950s. The purpose was to end legalized racial discrimination, disenfranchisement and racial segregation in the United States.

“Jim Crow” laws were established in the South beginning in the late 19th century with a purpose to separate Black people from white people. Black people couldn’t use the same public facilities as white people or go to the same schools. Although, Jim Crow laws weren’t adopted in northern states, Black people still experienced discrimination.

Forms of protest and civil disobedience included boycotts, such as the most successful Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–1956) that lasted for 381 days in Alabama; mass marches, such as the Children's Crusade in Birmingham in 1963 and Selma to Montgomery marches (1965) in Alabama; "sit-ins" such as the Greensboro sit-ins (1960) in North Carolina and Nashville sit-ins (1960) in Tennessee.

The Great March on Washington was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose was to advocate for the civil and economic rights of African Americans. It was organized and attended by civil rights leaders such as A. Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustin and Martin Luther King, Jr., who delivered his historic "I Have a Dream" speech.

On July 2, 1964, President Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, and later sexual orientation and gender identity. The act "remains one of the most significant legislative achievements in American history".

The civil rights movement had tragic consequences for two of its leaders. On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated at a rally and Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on his hotel room’s balcony on April 4, 1968.

The Civil Rights Act of 1968 was signed into law by United States President Lyndon B. Johnson during the King assassination riots. It prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, and national origin.

The 20th-century civil rights movement produced an enduring transformation of the legal status of African Americans and other victims of discrimination.

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11.4 civic literacy document based essay task, aligned to content from units 11.1 - 11.4.

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Framework Aligned Unit Assessment Bank developed in partnership with CUNY Debating US History: 11.4 Civic Literacy Document Based Essay Task

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Civil Rights Movement DBQ and Civic Literacy Essay-US History Regents Prep

Description

Unlock the potential of your students' critical thinking and document analysis skills with the comprehensive Civic Literacy Essay designed around the new framework for the US History Regents course in New York. This comprehensive resource takes a fresh approach to the traditional DBQ (Document-Based Question) essays, aligning perfectly with the updated framework for the Regents exam.

Description:

The Civic Literacy Essay offers an exciting new perspective on the Civil Rights Movement, challenging students to delve deeper into historical documents and encouraging a higher level of critical thinking and analysis. This essay prompts students to explore the Civil Rights Movement through the lens of civic principles, efforts, and impacts, fostering a deep understanding of historical events and their relevance to contemporary civic engagement.

Skills Developed:

• Critical Thinking: Engage students in analyzing historical documents and events, fostering critical thinking skills essential for interpreting complex historical contexts.
• Document Analysis: Encourage students to dissect primary and secondary sources, honing their ability to extract valuable information and draw informed conclusions.
• Civic Engagement: Equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary for active citizenship and participation in democratic processes.

Included in the Product:

• Prompt Cover Page: Clear tasks and writing guidelines aligned with the new framework for the Regents exam, guiding students through the essay-writing process.
• Nine Primary and Secondary Sources: Carefully curated historical documents relevant to the Civil Rights Movement, providing a rich foundation for analysis and argument development.
• Six Document-Based Questions (DBQs): Thought-provoking questions that challenge students to analyze the provided sources critically and construct well-supported arguments.
• Three Double-Spaced, Lined Writing Pages: Easy print-and-go writing packet, facilitating student responses to the prompt in an organized and structured manner.

Empower your students to excel in their understanding of the Civil Rights Movement while honing essential skills for success in the US History Regents exam. This resource offers educators a comprehensive, ready-to-use essay package that fosters critical thinking, document analysis, and civic literacy skills essential for academic excellence and informed citizenship.

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• Introduction
• Citizenship Profile
• Major Findings
• Additional Finding
• Survey Methods

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America’s Founders were convinced American freedom could survive only if each generation understood its founding principles and the sacrifices made to maintain it.

Failing Our Students, Failing America: Holding Colleges Accountable for Teaching America’s History and Institutions asks: Is American higher education doing its duty to prepare the next generation to maintain our legacy of liberty?

In fall 2005, researchers at the University of Connecticut’s Department of Public Policy (UConnDPP), commissioned by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s (ISI) National Civic Literacy Board, conducted a survey of some 14,000 freshmen and seniors at 50 colleges and universities. Students were asked 60 multiple-choice questions to measure their knowledge in four subject areas: America’s history, government, international relations, and market economy. The disappointing results were published by ISI in fall 2006 in The Coming Crisis in Citizenship: Higher Education’s Failure to Teach America’s History and Institutions . Seniors, on average, failed all four subjects, and their overall average score was 53.2%.

This report follows up on The Coming Crisis in Citizenship . It is based on an analysis of the results of a second survey of some 14,000 freshmen and seniors at 50 colleges conducted by the research team at UConn in the fall of 2006. The results of this second survey corroborate and extend the results of the first. Seniors once again failed all four subjects.

The question now is: Will legislators, donors, trustees, parents, and other decision-makers hold colleges accountable?

MAJOR FINDINGS

College seniors failed a basic test on america’s history and institutions..

The average college senior knows astoundingly little about America’s history, government, international relations and market economy, earning an “F” on the American civic literacy exam with a score of 54.2%. Harvard seniors did best, but their overall average was 69.6%, a disappointing D+.

Colleges Stall Student Learning about America.

From kindergarten through 12th grade, the average student gains 2.3 points per year in civic knowledge, almost twice the annual gain of the average college student. Students at some colleges did learn more per year than students in grade school, demonstrating that it is possible.

• Eastern Connecticut State, one of 25 colleges randomly selected for this year’s survey, was the best performer, increasing civic knowledge by 9.65 points. Rhodes College, which increased civic knowledge by 7.42 points, was the best performer among 18 elite colleges surveyed both this year and last. Rhodes was also the best overall performer last year.

America’s Most Prestigious Universities Performed the Worst.

Colleges that do well in popular rankings typically do not do well in advancing civic knowledge.

• Generally, the higher U.S. News & World Report ranks a college, the lower it ranks here in civic learning. At four colleges U.S. News ranked in its top 12 (Cornell, Yale, Duke, and Princeton), seniors scored lower than freshmen. These colleges are elite centers of “negative learning.” Cornell was the third-worst performer last year and the worst this year.
• Surveyed colleges ranked by Barron’s imparted only about one-third the civic learning of colleges overlooked by Barron’s .

Inadequate College Curriculum Contributes to Failure.

The number of history, political science, and economics courses a student takes helps determine, together with the quality of these courses, whether he acquires knowledge about America during college. Students generally gain one point of civic knowledge for each civics course taken. The average senior, however, has taken only four such courses.

Greater Learning about America Goes Hand-in-Hand with More Active Citizenship.

Students who gain more civic knowledge during college are more likely to vote and engage in other civic activities than students who gain less.

ADDITIONAL FINDINGS

Additional finding 1:, higher quality family life contributes to more learning about america..

College seniors whose families engaged in frequent conversations about current events and history, whose parents were married and living together, and who came from homes where English was the primary language all tended to learn more than students who lacked these advantages.

Additional Finding 2:

American colleges under-serve minority students..

The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. eloquently argued that the civil rights movement was rooted in America’s founding documents as well as key historical events and decisions. American colleges today are not helping minorities learn this heritage. On average, minority seniors (Asian, Black, Hispanic, and Multiracial) answered less than half the exam questions correctly and made no significant overall gain in civic knowledge during college. Civic-knowledge gain among whites was six times greater.

Additional Finding 3:

American colleges don’t teach their foreign students about america..

The average foreign student at an American college learns nothing about America’s history and institutions. Colleges thus squander an opportunity to foster greater understanding of America’s institutions in an increasingly hostile world.

QUESTIONS OF ACCOUNTABILITY

1: are parents and students getting their money’s worth from college costs.

The least-expensive colleges increase civic knowledge more than the most expensive.

2: Are Taxpayers and Legislators Getting Their Money’s Worth from College Subsidies?

Colleges enjoying larger subsidies in the form of government-funded grants to students tend to increase civic knowledge less than colleges enjoying smaller such subsidies.

3: Are Alumni and Philanthropists Getting Their Money’s Worth from the Donations they make to Colleges?

Some of the worst-performing colleges also have the largest, most rapidly growing endowments. These include Yale, Penn, Duke, Princeton, and Cornell.

4: Are College Trustees Getting Their Money’s Worth from College Presidents?

Six of the 10 worst-performing colleges also ranked among the top 10 for the salaries they paid their presidents. These include Penn, Cornell, Yale, Princeton, Rutgers and Duke, which paid their presidents $500,000 or more.

5: Are Colleges Encouraging Students to Take Enough Courses about America’s History and Institutions and Then Assessing the Quality of These Courses?

The average senior had completed only four courses in history, political science, and economics. But more courses taken did not always mean more knowledge gained. At eight colleges, each additional civics course a student completed, on average, decreased his civic knowledge.

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Civic Literacy and the Power of ‘Close Reading’

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The conversation between Deborah Meier and Leo Casey continues today.

If there is one defining feature of the controversies over the Common Core State Standards, it is the near universal refusal of critics to address and engage the standards themselves. There are a seemingly endless number of nefarious objectives that have been imputed to the standards. There are arguments about how the standards were developed. There are attempts at guilt by association that tie the standards to high-stakes standardized tests and school privatization. But there are precious few critiques that actually discuss the standards and the instructional shifts they embody.

How do we explain this strange silence? Could it be that if we focused on the actual standards, the extravagant claims that are made against the common core would be impossible to sustain? Take the standard that 11 th and 12 th grade students should be able to “evaluate authors’ differing points of view on the same historical event or issue by assessing the authors’ claims, reasoning, and evidence.” Or take the standard that they should be able to “evaluate an author’s premises, claims, and evidence by corroborating or challenging them with other information.” What is wrong with them? I would be hard pressed to explain how such standards would not be embedded in the Habits of Mind, with their focus on perspective and evidence, which you and your colleagues developed at Central Park East and Mission Hill.

One of the few critiques of the common core that delves into the substance of the standards is a Rethinking Schools essay by Daniel Ferguson, “Martin Luther King Jr. and the Common Core.” Ferguson takes aim at one of the key instructional shifts behind the common core, the idea of moving to a ‘close reading’ of important political texts such as King’s “Letter from the Birmingham Jail,” the Gettysburg Address and the Declaration of Independence. Against the common practice of providing students with contextualized, simplified summaries of these texts, the common core’s ‘close reading’ stresses the importance of having students engage in detailed, in-depth inquiries into the meaning and purposes of the author’s actual words and arguments.

I think it is instructive, Deb, to examine Ferguson’s argument, both for what he gets wrong and what he misses entirely. He argues that the “close reading” is the work of David Coleman, chief author of the common core, and that Coleman is a formidable and negative influence in American education, with a business background and ties to education reformers like Michelle Rhee. Whatever his shortcomings, Coleman is neither the inventor nor the most adept practitioner of a “close reading,” which has a long history of use in the history of ideas and philosophy. One need look no further than Danielle Allen’s recent powerful ‘close reading’ of the Declaration of Independence, Our Declaration , with its compelling argument that equality is at the center of the Declaration and our national patrimony, to see how vacuous this objection to a ‘close readings’ is.

Ferguson insists that the singular focus on the words and argument of a text that defines a ‘close reading’ is misplaced: You can’t understand the text, he claims, without first grasping what is outside of it. [1] He is particularly concerned with the historical context of the text, and with the relations of power prevalent in that context. To understand King’s “Letter from the Birmingham Jail,” he contends, you must first understand the history of the civil rights movement and the system of Jim Crow segregation it was struggling against.

But this dichotomous opposition of text and context, of written discourse and history, is a crude and unhelpful approach. What distinguishes a “close reading” is not a denial of history, but an insistence that the reader not deploy ‘a priori’ views of history that preempt a deep understanding of the argument of the text. Indeed, as Danielle Allen demonstrates so well in her book on the Declaration of Independence, it is through a ‘close reading’ of the text that we can acquire a richer and fuller understanding of history.

Take King’s “Letter from the Birmingham Jail.” In the many years I taught American history, my inner-city students would enter the class with an understanding of King and the civil rights movement that went something like this: The civil rights movement arose in opposition to a system of racial segregation that treated African-Americans as second-class citizens, separating them from white people in inferior schools and other facilities. African-Americans were forced to sit at segregated lunch counters and ride in the back of the bus. King was the moderate leader of the civil rights movement and a peaceful spokesman for the rights of African-Americans, and he opposed advocates of violence such as Malcolm X. He was assassinated, but segregation was ended .

A ‘close reading’ of the “Letter from the Birmingham Jail” demonstrates the utter inadequacy of this simplified and sanitized view of history. In evocative accounts of the conditions of the Jim Crow South, King points to the central role of systemic economic exploitation that left African-Americans in “an airtight cage of poverty,” and describes the regime of terror, with its brutal violence and lynching, that was used to enforce segregation. In fierce prose, he recounts the daily assaults on the dignity and humanity of African-Americans that characterized life under Jim Crow segregation.

A very different, deeper understanding of King emerges from this ‘close reading.’ The “Letter from the Birmingham Jail” is King’s response to criticism from ‘moderate’ Southern clergymen who complained that his Birmingham campaign of non-violent direct action disrupted good social order and ignored the slow pace of social change. It incorporates the implicit democratic socialism that lay behind his lifelong battles on behalf of poor and working people. Most importantly, “Letter from the Birmingham Jail” makes what is arguably the most compelling case ever crafted for nonviolent civil disobedience, firmly rooting it in Western moral and philosophical thought. It places the willingness to confront power and authority by nonviolently breaking the law at the very center of the civil rights movement. One can’t read the letter carefully without concluding that King was a radical activist with a broad vision of moral righteousness and social justice.

When I imagine how to teach “The Letter from the Birmingham Jail” using the technique of a “close reading,” I think of the considerable number of lessons it would take to do it properly, going through the text and its arguments with care. King’s argument on behalf of nonviolent civil disobedience would require a number of lessons by itself, given its references to thinkers from Augustine and Thomas Aquinas to Martin Buber and Paul Tillich, and its citation of the ideas of ‘natural law,’ the ‘tyranny of the majority’ and the democratic obligation to accept punishment when breaking laws.

What is a “close reading” if not an embodiment of the educational idea that “less is more,” that deep, rich learning takes place when we give educational priority to depth over breadth—one of the Common Principles of the Coalition of Essential Schools? And isn’t the idea of an instructional shift away from mile wide, inch deep survey courses to a much smaller number of ‘close readings’ a potentially powerful point of leverage and organizing tool against the damage that has been done to our schools these last years by the imposition of wall-to-wall standardized exams and test prep? To claim that the instructional shift to ‘close readings’ was designed to “make for better standardized test questions,” as Ferguson does, is not just wrong-headed and absurd; it is harmful to the cause of creating a positive educational alternative to high-stakes standardized testing.

At the core of these issues, Deb, is a central question we have been discussing these last few weeks, the civic mission of schools in a democratic society. In American education, we place a great deal of emphasis on what our students should know and be able to do if they are to become fully literate and fully numerate. But what do our students need to know and be able to do if they are to become full citizens in a democratic society?

There are some answers to this question that you and I would find terribly inadequate and deeply troubling, such as the fixation of the Democracy Prep charter schools on the multiple-choice test of factual information on the U.S. government that immigrants must pass to become United States citizens. Both students and staff at Democracy Prep schools are expected to pass this exam to demonstrate that they have the knowledge, skills, and disposition of a democratic citizen.

But if democracy has as its core the conversations between citizens, the debates and the deliberation over what is our common good, as we have been maintaining these past few weeks, we need a much more robust conception of civic literacy than a minimal factual knowledge of the workings of government. Our students need to be able to understand and evaluate political arguments by others, and to construct political arguments of their own. They must master the vocabulary, the syntax, and the grammar of democratic political language. That is civic literacy.

What better way to master that democratic political language than to engage in ‘close readings’ of important American political texts like the “Declaration of Independence” and the “Letter from the Birmingham Jail?” The history of struggles for freedom and equality in the United States is in many ways a history of ongoing political conversation over the meaning of the founding principles of the Declaration of Independence. Just think of how generation after generation of Americans fighting for freedom and equality have conceived themselves within the political language of that declaration, from the tracts of the abolitionists to the Gettysburg Address, from the Working Men’s Declaration of Independence to the “We Are Americans” Declaration of the Homestead Steel Workers, from the Seneca Falls Declaration of the Rights of Women to the “I Have A Dream” speech at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Our task is to educate our students to participate in that ongoing conversation.

[1] Ferguson uses an argument from authority to support this account, citing Paulo Freire that “reading the world always precedes reading the word .” A Freirian approach that gives preeminent place to the “world” produces a “critical reading” of the text which, he says, is superior to a “close reading.”

Leo Casey is the executive director of the Albert Shanker Institute, a policy and research think tank affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers. For 27 years, he worked in the New York City public high schools, where he taught high school social studies. For six years, he served as the vice president for academic high schools for New York City’s teachers’ union, the United Federation of Teachers.

The opinions expressed in Bridging Differences are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

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2023 (June): NY Regents - United States History and Government (Framework)

According to this passage from common sense, the author is, what is the primary argument used in this passage by thomas paine to make his point, what was the primary reason james madison wrote this and other federalist papers , which constitutional principle does madison most directly describe in this passage, according to this passage, what was president thomas jefferson’s primary objective in proposing the embargo acts, what was one result of the failure of the embargo acts, what is one reason president abraham lincoln included these statements in this address, which later action by president lincoln demonstrated a change from his 1861 position, which geographic feature does frederick jackson turner suggest as primary in the creation of the american character, which federal action is most consistent with the ideas expressed by frederick jackson turner in this excerpt, the authors of the passage would have been most critical of the activities of which two individuals, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, how did congress attempt to address these practices.

A historian would most likely use this document to investigate events leading up to the

How did united states foreign policy change in the years immediately following this event.

What was a main reason for the movement of people as shown on this map?

What was one result of the migration shown on the map, according to the passage, what is one argument in support of free speech during wartime, which supreme court decision addresses the issue raised by senator la follette in this speech.

Why were President Herbert Hoover and the Republican Party unable to solve the problem addressed in this cartoon?

What was the reason for President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s reaction to the Supreme Court as shown in this cartoon?

Which situation led the Western Defense Command and Fourth Army Wartime Civil Control Administration to issue this order?

What supreme court case upheld the constitutionality of this order.

What was a primary purpose of the Marshall Plan?

The soviet response to the marshall plan contributed to, the purpose of this law was to, what event most directly led to the passage of this act.

Which presidential role is being demonstrated in the photograph?

What was one way the voting rights act expanded the civil rights of african americans, seq set 1 directions (question 29), task: based on your reading and analysis of these documents, apply your social studies knowledge and skills to write a short essay of two or three paragraphs in which you: • describe the historical context surrounding these documents • identify and explain the relationship between the events and/or ideas found in these documents (cause and effect, or similarity/difference, or turning point) guidelines: in your short essay, be sure to • develop all aspects of the task • incorporate relevant outside information • support the task with relevant facts and examples you are not required to include a separate introduction or conclusion in your short essay of two or three paragraphs., seq set 2 (question 30), seq set 2 directions (question 30):.

SEQ Set 2 (Question 30) Task: Based on your reading and analysis of these documents, apply your social studies knowledge and skills to write a short essay of two or three paragraphs in which you: • Describe the historical context surrounding documents 1 and 2 • Analyze Document 1 and explain how audience , or purpose , or bias , or point of view affects this document’s use as a reliable source of evidence Guidelines: In your short essay, be sure to • Develop all aspects of the task • Incorporate relevant outside information • Support the task with relevant facts and examples You are not required to include a separate introduction or conclusion in your short essay of two or three paragraphs.

Part iii civic literacy essay (questions 31–37), civic literacy essay part a short-answer questions (31–36), according to jean h. baker, what was one historical circumstance that led women to seek the right to vote.

Based on these documents, what was one effort made by suffragettes to gain support for woman’s suffrage?

Based on documents 3a and 3b, state one reason for opposition to the efforts to gain woman’s suffrage.

According to robert cooney, what is one impact of the efforts to gain woman’s suffrage, according to elaine weiss, what is one impact of the efforts to achieve woman’s suffrage.

Based on documents 6a and 6b, what is one impact of achieving woman’s suffrage?

Part b civic literacy essay question (37), using information from the documents and your knowledge of united states history, write an essay in which you: • describe the historical circumstances surrounding this constitutional or civic issue • explain efforts by individuals, groups, and/or governments to address this constitutional or civic issue • discuss the impact of the efforts on the united states and/or on american society.

This workbook changed the Civil Rights Movement

S HREVEPORT, La. ( KTAL/KMSS ) – In the late 1950s and early 1960s the NAACP faced the “ Red Scare ” when many politicians and civic leaders believed communists were everywhere in the United States. Because the NAACP influenced many activists, particularly in the South, Congress became paranoid and began to believe the NAACP was a communist organization. As a result, the NAACP was outlawed.

As a result of the demonization of the NAACP, organizations were formed to escape the “communist” label. Many of these organizations had the same leadership as the NAACP

Forefront organizations of this reactionary movement were the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the United Christian Movement (UCM), founded in Shreveport. Black activists and their white supporters understood that change needed to come from within local communities. Leaders in the movement believed that improvement could not be forced from outside.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. believed that ordinary citizens must be engaged in economics, politics, and education. Southern states did all they could to avoid the forced integration of schools, local and regional buses, restaurants, and public spaces. Some White, Southern politicians also worked to deprive others of the right to vote.

Voting issues date back to the Reconstruction Era in the South, when White politicians had full reign within their power base to keep people from voting through various means. Among those means were poll taxes and literacy tests.

Then came 1954. The SCLC undertook a massive program to teach black citizens how to become a force in elections. Much of their effort was secretive because they were still being harassed in the South.

When John F. Kennedy won the presidency and took office in 1961, he made his brother Robert the Attorney General of the United States. Many Civil Rights Movement leaders were young and gravitated toward Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Kennedy Brothers realized there was a powerful force in these unregistered masses of adults. At the same time, the SCLC planned methods to bring these millions of potential voters into the system.

The plan was to train people who would then instruct locals on the simplicity of registering to vote, and literacy tests became the most significant impediment. A poor white person could go into the registrar of voters office in any parish or county and ask to register to vote. If the clerk of court or the registrar voters deemed that person unworthy, they were denied. If a poor white farmer came in and perhaps could not read, but the officials knew the person, they would easily be added to the voter rolls. However, most poor Blacks had to take literacy tests, which were constructed to prevent anyone from passing.

Literacy test examples

Literacy tests included questions like ” How many bubbles are in a bar of soap,” and “how high is up?” The tests specialized in questions that couldn’t be answered.

That’s where the new movement came in. If voters considered themselves equal citizens and “ first-class citizens ,” accountable to no one for anything except the rights granted by their forefathers, then the first step in fixing the literacy test issue was for voters to present themselves as educated men and women. They must be able to read and write and be polite. They must master at least simple mathematics. Whole neighborhoods must be organized in ways that show commonality.

The SCLC created a workbook of less than 30 pages to teach people with low incomes how to be citizens. It was hoped that, in the hands of trained leaders, this would create waves of new voters.

The Citizenship Workbook was a huge success, and the effort brought freedom writers and legal cases aimed at forced desegregation across southern society.

The Citizenship Workbook listed the SCLC leaders: Martin Luther King Jr., president; Wyatt Tee Walker, executive director; Reverend Ralph Abernathy, treasurer; and Gould Maynard, public relations director. Not listed was the Shreveport dentist C.O. Simpkins, who was vice president of the SCLC and the president of the UCM.

The voter registration project listed very well-known people then and now. Jay Odell was the staff consultant. Others were listed in the workbook, too, such as Shreveport’s Reverend Harry Blake, James Beville of Mississippi, Herbert Colton of Virginia, Bernard Lee as student liaison, J.H. Calhoun of Georgia, and Fred Bennett of Georgia.

The Citizenship Education Program cooperated with the American Missionary Association, Division of Congregational Christian Churches. Churches provided the spaces in which workshops were held. It was challenging, although not impossible, for local authorities to target churches, but the Ku Klux Klan dynamited several churches, including in Shreveport.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote the forward to the workbook.

One of the primary weapons in the fight against prejudice and loss of human rights is education , and the fine edge of that weapon is understanding .

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference Citizenship program was designed to educate citizens about how our government is run and to help them meet voting requirements. The program helped adults help themselves by learning how to solve community problems. Reading and writing skills were also taught as invaluable lessons.

Citizenship Schools

Citizenship School s were so organized that people who lacked literacy skills could acquire them quickly.

The Citizenship Workbook defined the purpose of the citizenship schools for adults. They believed that literacy would enable students to pass literacy tests for voting. Community development, which includes housing, recreation, health, and improved home life, was also a focus of the workbook. Specific subjects were emphasized, such as safe driving, social security, cooperatives, income taxes, tax-supported resources such as water testing for wells and aid for handicapped children, and the structure and function of local and national government.

The Citizenship Schools provided a service that was not available through any other private or public program at the present time. They were open to all people of any community who faced problems related to first-class citizenship and wanted to do something about their situations.

About Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference in March 1957 was held in New Orleans, Louisiana. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was elected president of the organization.

Early in his life, King developed a great sensitivity to the suffering of oppressed people, and he dedicated his life to helping remove such suffering. Dr. King was greatly influenced by his Christian upbringing and the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. His creative use of the philosophy of nonviolence and his conviction that “America cannot remain half segregated and half free” made him one of the most effective civil rights leaders of our time.

King’s leadership in the Montgomery bus boycott brought him into national prominence, and his continued participation in efforts to help his people gain first-class citizenship made his name a banner for millions of Americans to follow.

King’s SCLC board had representatives from across the South, and a large number of ministers came to the front as leaders in the organization because many Southern ministers were already known as community leaders and champions of the movement. They also had an understanding of the teachings of Jesus, which embraced nonviolence.

The SCLC Conference promoted Christian nonviolence, and its activities revolved around two points: non-violent philosophy as a means of creative protest, and for every citizen to have the ability to vote.

The SCLC aimed to achieve full citizenship rights, equality, and the integration of the Negro into all aspects of American life.

The workbook and the movement

The movement, at its core, became rooted in religion by engaging poor Blacks, wealthier Blacks, and God-fearing, church-going members of society. The statements in the workbook were, and are, powerful testaments.

The first topic set the tone for why people must be involved.

The Bible And The Ballot

The following is taken directly from the workbook:

“ The first words of Jesus’ public ministry were: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he has anointed me to preach Good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives… To set at liberty those who are oppressed, To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18) It was believed that the movement was Jesus’ work and therefore it was the work of those who followed Jesus.

“ We are to release the captives of this segregated society, and bring liberty to those who are oppressed. We must preach the good news of equality and brotherhood to the poor. The time is ready for all God’s children to learn to live together in peace and justice. In America we change things through the ballot. The Constitution allows each man a vote for what he thinks to be the right way. In 1870 the fifteenth amendment was passed which gave all men the right to vote, regardless of race, color or previous condition of servitude. Now if we want justice, freedom, peace, and equal rights, we must vote for people who will consider these things important. Every election is a chance to vote for good. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This world can be more like God’s Kingdom if men 6 Ibid., page 3. will learn to care for the poor and needy: If we can help to feed the hungry in other lands and ours; if each is concerned about the well-being of his neighbor and if each votes for persons who share these same human ideals. The ballot is in our hands, to vote for good for all mankind.

“ Discuss the following questions: 1. What would happen in your community if faith in God was put aside and violence took over? 2. If you are not registered to vote, do you think you are doing justice to yourself and your fellow man?7 Among the concepts that the workbook encouraged were basic literacy and social accountability. A prospective voter must be able to read and comprehend what officials tell them. “

Review your reading, improve your writing

Long before phonetics became a way to teach people, when many in the South were illiterate or semiliterate, the workbook described a sound chart of things that are second nature to us. These were taught on a rudimentary level.

“ How does a hard “P” sound? You show a capital “P” next to a pig drawing. How do you say a “TH” sound? Beside it is the number three. “

The workbook was an amazing document. The “N” sound was shown with a needle; a “TR” sound showed a tree, a hard “G” a goat, a “J” a jar, and “Z” showed a zipper.

Students were taught to make words out of the alphabet and use them in sentences and stories. They progressed using each letter in a list of words that begin with a “B” – bell, bundle, and basket. More complex concepts came next – “G” – Georgia, government, governor, and general.

Latin words were mixed in because the concepts were needed in legal issues: habeas corpus and easy words like household.

J listed judicial, jurors, judge, judgment, and justice. When necessary, the lists became more difficult.

“L” listed labor, law, legislative, and legal. “M” used magistrate, mayor, misdemeanor, and motivation.

These concepts could confuse the illiterate.

“Z” brought complex ideas – zone, zoning, and zero.

Next came practices making little words from “registration.” How many words could someone come up with from a single word?

Then there was a list of words, some simple and some more complex. The students were tasked to use some of the words in their vocabulary to make sentences.

The workbook used the word government to make sentences out of the words. For example, “The men had to move over to make room for me on the bench” taught basic grammar and instilled that you do not have to move from your seat for anyone.

 “ In the last term of office, the mayor appointed Alderman to the newly made districts. ” This particular sentence taught how voting works and how the government operates.

Once students mastered such concepts, teachers focused on proper handwriting.

First-rate handwriting for first-class citizens

In the workbook, writing was reduced to a basic level. Cursive letters were shown in both capital and lowercase forms. Students replicated the shape to form each letter. Students then moved to practical tasks.

Correspondence included form and style. Students were taught how to write a friendly letter. The workbook contained examples of complex forms that students would encounter and their purpose. For instance, a money order form could be confusing to someone who is learning to read. Literacy tests and common banking transactions required at least some knowledge of mathematics.

The workbook used examples of simple arithmetic – adding and subtracting numbers, multiplication and division, and working with money to make bank deposits and to return change. Word problems and complex fractions were also covered.

The Citizenship Workbook stressed life skills and admonished those who complained.

“ We go to the store, we count our change, we pay insurance or receive welfare benefits. All these things require arithmetic. Let us learn to count our blessings as we become First Class Citizens. “

Word problems were not abstract .

“ Ten students were arrested in the sit-in movement and were fined $75.00 a piece. How much fine was paid? “

Social Security

The workbook also emphasized practical knowledge. Older students knew about social security, and younger people needed to understand it.

“ Your social security card is the key to your social security account. It is important to you. Your card shows you have an insurance account with the United States Government. Your account is a record of the pay you receive which counts towards old age and survivors insurance benefits. The size of benefits will depend upon the amount of wages credited to your account. “

Good Manners

King’s firmly held beliefs in nonviolence became obvious in instruction modules. Politeness, social graces, and patriotism were all central tenets. Such teachings served multiple purposes. Students’ self-esteem issues were elevated. Meetings displayed decorum. Accusations of the Civil Rights Movement being a communist front were thwarted. Even good manners were taught, which was helpful in non-violent communication.

“ When other people are talking, I listen. Harry likes me to listen when he talks. Sue likes me to listen when she talks. One has good manners if he listens when others talk. When I talk I want other people to hear me. I talk about things my friends are interested in. I speak so that everyone can understand me. It is not polite to do all the talking. Everyone likes to talk some. My friends like to tell me about their jobs. They like to discuss their community problems with me. I like to tell them about by job and my children… When your friend is talking, do not interrupt. It is not polite to interrupt. Everyone likes people to listen when he talks. “

The Power of Non-Violence

Dr. King patterned his beliefs from Mahatma Gandhi. Non-violence went against the teachings of early civil rights figures, particularly Nat Turner.

Although written in the third person, the following section in the workbook reads like one of King’s sermons.

“ When Jesus said, “If a man smite thee on one cheek, turn to him the other also,” he was introducing mankind to a new way of life–a way of life which overcomes evil through love. This simple New Testament truth was put into practice by Mahatma Gandhi in India. Under his leadership, the Indian people won their freedom from the British without firing a shot. Their weapon was moral force, or truth force as Gandhi called it. The idea of non-violence first received widespread attention in the United States when a young Baptist minister, The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., led the people of Montgomery, Alabama in a non-violent protest against discourtesy and segregation on the busses of that city. These people walked to work for 381 days to demonstrate the fact that they were tired of being cursed and abused on the busses. Though their homes and churches were bombed, though they were thrown into prison, they did not strike back. They won the respect of the entire world and 20 Ibid. many of their oppressors, because they refused to be dragged down to the level of animal hatred and violence. During all these months they demonstrated that one may overcome an enemy through love and transform him into a friend. If a man returns evil for evil, one bad deed leads to another until one enemy is destroyed. We have no desire to destroy those who oppress us, we want them to understand and respect us. Therefore we take it upon ourselves to love them no matter what they do to us. We will not give in, nor will we attempt to do violence to them. Soon we see that our enemies begin to see our side of the story. When we don’t fight back, they are forced to think about why we don’t. This is the beginning of understanding. Understanding is the stepping stone to true brotherhood. “

Additional workbook lessons

The workbook detailed what happened during the century since slavery ended. The section described the unfinished saga by explaining, in simple terms, African American history. Subjects taught in the workbook were: One Hundred Years From Slavery, Chrispus Attucks, Sodjourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Mary McCleod Bethune .

Suggested steps for a neighborhood block party were even introduced to citizens through the workbook.

“ Have a meeting at your home to help your neighbors to understand the importance of voting, how to register, and where to register. 1. Invite every adult on your street, from corner to corner (In rural communities, select all houses within walking distance) to come to your home for an evening of information and fellowship. 2. Have Voter Registration information and material on hand. 3. Have someone there who can talk on why, how and where to register. 4. Following speaker, have a discussion on some of your community problems and how voting can help solve them. 5. Tell why your block should have 100% voters. 6. Plan a meeting for the next week to give help to each other. (If possible, arrange to start a Citizenship School.) 7. Plan trips to take people down to register when they are ready. 8. Have someone contact the persons who did not show up at the meeting. “

The final pages of the Citizenship Workbook were “Freedom Songs To Sing.”

Songs included were: We Shall Overcome, Oh, Freedom, Woke Up This Morning, Keep Your Eye on the Prize, The Hammer Song, Wade in the Water, Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel, Done Made My Vow to Be Free, We Are Soldiers in the Army.

The workbook was primary education, and it was extremely important. Each page had something that you wanted and needed to do. But this SCLC was teaching much more than a workbook, more than a manual. King and others in the movement were using the Citizenship Workbooks to teach people how to be first-class citizens .

One last thing: these workbooks were not meant to last. They were never printed on good paper. The workbooks were impermanent, meant to be written in and discarded. You used the workbook, and then you were done. You moved on to something else.

And because these workbooks were used and then thrown away, very few copies remain. There may be some in someone’s attic, but even the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of African-American Heritage and Culture has found them difficult to find. They only have one copy.

And you’ve just read a portion of it.

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