Pushing Towards Civil Rights | iCivics (2024)

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Pushing Towards Civil Rights | iCivics (1)

Pushing Towards Civil Rights

The push towards civil rights in the United States has been longstanding and is ever-evolving. While not encompassing, our civil rights unit covers the expansion and abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage, the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s, and the expansion of rights through court cases and laws. For more coverage, check out additional cases in our Landmark Library.

Topic at a Glance: Civil Rights Movement | Nashville Sit-Ins | Montgomery Bus Boycott | Martin Luther King, Jr. | Rosa Parks | Barbara Johns | NAACP | Legal Defense Fund | Constance Baker Motley | Autherine Lucy | Pollie Ann Myers | Little Rock | Executive Order 10730 | voting rights | voting rights history | slavery | Missouri Compromise | Civil War and Reconstruction | Jim Crow | Jim Crow laws | segregation | separate but equal | right to fair housing | Shelley v. Kraemer | integration | desegregation |women’s suffrage | women’s rights | civic engagement | civic action | changemakers

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  • Middle School
  • High School
  • Lesson Plan

    Slavery: No Freedom, No Rights

    From the basics about slavery to the attitudes that defended it and the efforts of those who wanted to see it abolished, in this lesson students learn about this dark part of America's past.Got a 1:1 classroom? Download fillable PDF versions of this lesson's materials below!

  • Lesson Plan

    Slave States, Free States

    The debate over slavery ultimately helped drive the United States into civil war, but before it did, there were decades of careful balance between slaves states and free states. In this lesson, students learn about that balance and its geography, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850.

  • DBQuest

    Resisting Slavery

    Prior to the Civil War, over 300 enslaved people sued for their freedom in St. Louis courts. The most well-known of these “freedom suits” was that of Dred and Harriet Scott. In this DBQuest, students will explore the only known account of a freedom suit written by a former enslaved woman, Lucy Delaney. Using her autobiography, students will consider how enslaved people resisted slavery through both legal and extra-legal means.The Big Question: What decisions did families make in their fight to resist slavery?

  • Lesson Plan

    Civil War & Reconstruction

    The Civil War and Reconstruction Era brought about the end of slavery and the expansion of civil rights to African Americans through the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. Compare the Northern and Southern states, discover the concepts of due process and equal protection, and understand how the former Confederate states reacted to the Reconstruction Amendments.

    View Pushing Towards Civil Rights | iCivics (20)

  • Lesson Plan

    Jim Crow

    Use primary documents and images to discover the ways state and local governments restricted the newly gained freedoms of African Americans after the Civil War. Compare, contrast, and analyze post-war legislation, court decisions (including Plessy v. Ferguson), and a political cartoon by Thomas Nast to understand life in Jim Crow states.

  • DBQuest

    Woman Suffrage and World War I

    Students will learn how World War I impacted the woman suffrage movement. Sources will show how suffragists promoted woman suffrage as a war measure, how women’s roles expanded during the war and how suffragists used the stated purpose for fighting the war— fighting for democracy— to fight for this same right at home. The sources will also show how the tactics suffragists used varied and influenced public opinion both positively and negatively.But wait there's more! Use our women's suffrage infographic A Movement in the Right Direction and our WebQuest Movement and Action: The Women's…

  • Lesson Plan

    A Movement in the Right Direction (Infographic)

    How did women win the right to vote? Explore how the women's suffrage movement spread across the United States beginning in the late 1800s. Use this infographic to show students how two different approaches to the movement worked to grant women the right to vote.

  • Lesson Plan

    The Road to Civil Rights

    Discover the people, groups, and events behind the Civil Rights Movement. Learn about means of non-violent protest, opposition to the movement, and identify how it took all three branches of the federal government to effect change. Protest posters, fictional diary entries, and a map of the movement's major events develop a greater understanding of the struggle for civil rights.

  • DBQuest

    Little Rock: Executive Order 10730

    When President Eisenhower authorized troops under federal authority to desegregate Little Rock Central High School in 1957, he became the first president since Reconstruction to use federal forces to help enforce equal rights for African Americans. Using the example of Executive Order 10730, students will explore how executive orders can be used to enforce the law and examine how Eisenhower justified his actions.

  • Video

    The NAACP Legal Defense Fund

    In this video, students learn about a team of lawyers dedicated to achieving racial justice through the legal system. Formed in 1940 as part of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) raised money, amassedlawyers, and launched lawsuits throughout the country to fight segregation.

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Pushing Towards Civil Rights | iCivics (2024)

FAQs

What was the main goal of the civil rights movement? ›

In the middle of the 20th century, the United States was rocked by a nationwide movement for equal rights for African Americans and for an end to the racial segregation and exclusion that had been enforced by law and by practice throughout the Jim Crow era.

What were the strategies of the civil rights movement? ›

Resistance to racial segregation and discrimination with strategies such as civil disobedience, nonviolent resistance, marches, protests, boycotts, “freedom rides,” and rallies received national attention as newspaper, radio, and television reporters and cameramen documented the struggle to end racial inequality.

What was the nonviolent direct action civil rights movement? ›

During the 1950s, legal and political challenges to segregation were replaced by non-violent “direct action” tactics such as boycotts, sit-ins, and marches. This was due in part to the influence of World War II veterans, who had fought for freedom abroad and were no longer willing to accept less at home.

What are the 10 civil rights? ›

Examples of civil rights include the right to vote, the right to a fair trial, the right to government services, the right to a public education, the right to gainful employment, the right to housing, the right to use public facilities, freedom of religion.

What risks did civil rights protesters face? ›

This campaign of terror persisted during the Civil Rights Movement. Courageous activists were subjected to threats, mass arrests, beatings, church bombings, and murder. The criminal justice system turned a blind eye to the terrorism, often refusing to protect activists or prosecute perpetrators.

What are the 3 most important civil rights? ›

Civil rights are an essential component of democracy. They're guarantees of equal social opportunities and protection under the law, regardless of race, religion, or other characteristics. Examples are the rights to vote, to a fair trial, to government services, and to a public education.

Why was the civil rights movement so powerful? ›

Through nonviolent protest, the civil rights movement of the 1950s and '60s broke the pattern of public facilities' being segregated by “race” in the South and achieved the most important breakthrough in equal-rights legislation for African Americans since the Reconstruction period (1865–77).

Was the civil rights movement peaceful or violent? ›

The success of the movement for African American civil rights across the South in the 1960s has largely been credited to activists who adopted the strategy of nonviolent protest.

What role did the American woman play in the civil rights movement? ›

During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, women were key strategists. Septima Clark, for example, designed educational programs to teach African American community members how to read and write. She thought this was important in order to vote and gain other rights.

What is the civil rights movement today? ›

The modern civil rights movement focuses on expanding opportunity so that kind of thing doesn't happen again. It's important to determine what's different now compared to the Eyes era. We've got to eradicate the more subtle manifestations of racial bias in our society that go back to those earlier times.

How does MLK define an unjust law? ›

Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. It gives the segregated a false sense of inferiority.

What was John F. Kennedy's view on the Civil Rights Movement? ›

President Kennedy defined civil rights as not just a constitutional issue, but also a “moral issue.” He also proposed the Civil Rights Act of 1963, which would provide protection of every American's right to vote under the United States Constitution, end segregation in public facilities, and require public schools to ...

How effective are peaceful protests? ›

One study looked at protests from 1900 to 2006 and found that 53% of major nonviolent campaigns were successful as opposed to only 26% of violent campaigns being successful.

What was the major goal of the civil rights movement Quizlet? ›

What were the goals of the civil rights movement? School integration, desegregation of public facilities, voting rights. In general, the goal was to gain true freedom and equality.

Which of the following was a major goal of the civil rights movement? ›

The goals of the Civil Rights Movement were to protect and uphold the constitutional rights of marginalized groups in America and to prevent discrimination based on gender, race, and ethnicity.

What was the key goal of the civil rights movement in the 1950s? ›

The goal of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s was to end segregation and discrimination against Blacks. It fought for equal rights and freedoms for Black Americans. The significant events that occurred during this period include the Brown v.

What was aim and the civil rights movement? ›

Relationship with other civil rights movements

AIM's leaders drew inspiration from the African American leaders of the Civil Rights Movement as they spoke out against injustices towards their people. They addressed issues such as high unemployment, slum housing, and racist treatment.

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