Background to the Civil Rights Movement
• Does anyone remember what the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were about?
• 13th Amendment ended slavery 14th Amendment protected the rights of newly freed slaves 15th Amendment gave black citizens the right to vote
Now that the slaves are freed and have their rights, how are they actually treated? Are whites treating them as equals?
Keep blacks poor, uneducated, and powerless
KKK formed by confederate army veterans
•
Former Confederate soldiers founded the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) after the American Civil War (1861-1865). The KKK used violence and intimidation to keep blacks segregated and to prevent them from voting and holding office.
Between 1882-1901, more than 2000 blacks were lynched
April, 1899, Sam Hose, a black man accused of murder in Georgia was publicly mutilated and burned alive 2000 witnesses came on a special train from all over the state to watch the “event”
Jim Crow laws (named for a black minstrel in a popular song) forced blacks to use separate facilities in:
• restaurants water fountains
restrooms
waiting rooms swimming pools bus seats
libraries
1896 Supreme Court decision:
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separate facilities are legal as long as they are equal south provides separate but unequal facilities
Plessy vs. Ferguson
• How do you think blacks responded to Jim Crow laws, the Plessy vs Ferguson decision, and their lack of equal protection under the law?
Divide into 4 groups
• Pick one of the three people listed below to research and answer the following questions: 1. Who was this person (background information)? 2. How did this person stand up for the rights of black people? 3. What were the results of this person’s actions?
• • • • Sojourner Truth Ida B Wells George Henry White WEB DuBois
Report your information to the class in a powerpoint presentation like this one.
• This assignment is worth 25 points and will be graded on the following: 10 points - thoroughness of information 10 points - organization of information 5 points - creativity of presentation
Have fun!!