Ms. Waite-Johnson

History Elective

Civil Rights Movement

Introduction:

Civil Rights are the rights given to United States citizens and protected by the Constitution. For many groups living within the US civil rights were denied. One such group is African Americans. African Americans have struggled to obtain civil rights from the very beginning of the formation of this country. The road to equality for African Americans has been a long and difficult one.

African Americans lived a life of second class citizenship. There second class citizenship led to separation of the races. The races had separate facilities, educational institutions, health services and way of life. Often, for African Americans separate meant inferior unequal facilities and services for them. Many African Americans have challenged separation of the races and the status of inferiority it placed upon them. Separation of the races denied them their civil rights. Courts throughout, the country heard cases involving civil rights. Their status of inferiority and segregation did not change did not change.

Then, in 1896, the Supreme Court heard a case involving civil rights for African Americans. The case was Plessy v Fuergson. The court declared that separate but equal was constitutional. With this ruling, segregation was given constitutional approval. The Plessy decision was a huge step backward for civil rights for African Americans. Segregation was especially strong in the South. Separation in every aspect of life was justified with the Plessy decision. All life situations were separate, however they were not equal. The system was inferior, inhumane and violated civil rights for African Americans. The system of segregation became known as the Jim Crow laws. Despite widespread opposition from African American, Jim Crow laws ruled African American life for more than 50 years. From the 1950s to the 1970s, a Southern movement to win civil rights for American Americans swept through the United States. The movement became known as the Civil Rights movement.

Task:

Your assignment is to become a civil rights advocate. I have included a list of people and groups below, you can choose from the list. However, you are not limited to the list. As that advocate, you are to describe the specific role played by you or your group in obtaining civil rights. Identify the specific issue your individual or group is addressing. You are to present your individual or groups contribution to the civil rights movement in the form of powerpoint presentation. Your presentation should include the following: a biography and/ or history of your person or group, a graphic and/or picture.

Suggestion list

Martin Luther King Jr.

Rosa Parks

Thurgood Marshall

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

Freedom Riders

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee

PROCESS:

Use the following guidelines to complete your product. 

1. Define and describe the problem (social conditions, players, public policy)

2. Gather evidence for this problem

3. Identify causes for this problem

4. Describe and evaluate the existing policy for this problem

5. Develop solutions/policies for the problems for this existing policy

6. Select the best policy for this problem

Some search engines are www.google.com, www.dogpatch.com, www.altavista.com

When using the search engines, you can type in the name of the person or group you are researching, as well as get general information by searching topics like “civil rights movement”, “segregation”, “Jim Crow laws”. You may also use appropriate books for information. Cartoons, pictures and visuals will make the presentations more interesting.

You will be graded according to the following rubric:

	X		4	3	2	0
	10	Completes the Task with Accurate Historical Data	Completes All Aspects of the Task Using Correct Historical Data	Attempts to Address the Task With Correct Information, but Lacks Details.	Confuses information, does not address most aspects of the task, inaccurate.	Does not address the task!
	4	Power Point Presentation	Each member of the group presents, and there is at least 1 slide per person. Each slide is factually important for presentation.	Each member presents and you have at least .75 slides per member.	Each member presents and you have .5 slide per member.	All members do not present and/or you have less than .5slide per member.
	3	Creativity	Museum quality!	Show potential!	Not too much !	None!
	3	Professionalism	Well thought out and smooth	You need to prepare better before a presentation.	Your group is not taking this seriously.	No comment!
3		Grammar	1 – 2 errors.	3 – 5 Errors.	5-7 Errors.	What language is this?
	2	Spelling	1 – 2 Errors	3 – 5 Errors	5 – 7 Errors.	Ditto!

On completion of this webquest the students will have met the following interdisciplinary standards:

English Language Arts Performance Standards

E1c: Read and comprehend informational materials.

E2a: Produce a report of information.

E3b: Participate in group meetings.

E3c: Prepare and deliver an individual presentation

Social Studies

Standard 2:   World History

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in world history and examine the broad sweep of history from a variety of perspectives.

Standard 3:   Geography

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the geography of the interdependent world in which we live—local, national, and global—including the distribution of people, places, and environments over the Earth’s surface.

Standard 4:   Economics

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of how the United States and other societies develop economic systems and associated institutions to allocate scarce resources, how major decision-making units function in the United States.

CONCLUSION: Your conclusion will be to judge your person or group on his contributions to society. Evaluate how their contribution made for a more equal and fair society. Good luck and have fun with it.