Who, What, Where, When, and Especially Why: The Beginning of the Civil Rights Movement
Learning Goal:
When & What: Background and Lead-Up to the Civil Rights Movement
Together we will refresh our memories on the background of the Civil Rights Movement. Understanding the background of an issue is extremely important because we need to know how the issues were created that led to the bigger problem in the future.
As you look through this time line really look closely at these events:
1789 - The Constitution is put in place as the rule book of our government. Within it slaves are only 3/5ths of a person counted toward the population.
1838 - Trail of Tears
1848 - First Women's Rights Convention
1857 - The Dred Scott Case
1868 - The Fourteenth Amendment
1870 - The Fifteenth Amendment/Jim Crow Laws
1875 - The Civil Rights Act
1876 - The Battle of Little Big Horn
1890 - Battle of Wounded Knee
1892 - Chinese Exclusion Act
1896 - Plessy v. Ferguson
1942 - Japanese Interment Camps
Who: Whose Civil Rights Were in Jeopardy?
When we hear about the Civil Rights Movement, who do you normally assume was fighting for their rights?
Characters in the Civil Rights Movement:
Black Citizens
Chinese Citizens
Native Americans
Japanese Citizens
Latino Citizens
The goal of the Civil Rights Movement was to end inequality and discrimination against anyone based on their race, nation of origin, ethnicity, and religion.
Why: Goals of the Civil Rights Movement
Education -Segregated schools based on race -This was allowed by the government because they believed in "separate but equal" -These schools were usually not equal - white schools usually had much better funding than black schools.
Social Segregation -Segregation within society. (Ex. Segregated buses, bathrooms, and public areas. -Again, the conditions were very clearly not equal. -This type of segregation was made possible through Jim Crow Laws.
It is always important to consider how the past has affected the future. And... although I know many of us don't love math with all of our hearts, numbers and statistics can sometimes shed a lot of light on just how much our society has actually changed. Lets look at a study done by CBS in 2015 about the achievement of the civil rights movement's goals. Have the Goals of the Civil Rights Movement Have Been Achieved?
Homework
Phew... That's a lot to take in... Now that we have a good understanding of the issues that were being addressed in the Civil Rights Movement and their origins. Lets take a minute to breathe and reflect on what we have learned. Good investigators always take a minute to put the pieces of the puzzle together.