Also American

Curriculum unit

The Civil Rights Movement

How a generation dismantled legal segregation — from Brown to the Voting Rights Act.

Unit objectives

Students analyze the strategies, key events, and leaders of the movement, and assess its victories and limits.

  1. Lesson 1 · 1 class period

    The movement begins

    Objectives

    Connect Brown v. Board, the murder of Emmett Till, and the Montgomery Bus Boycott as the movement's ignition.

    Materials

    Timeline entries below; Eyes on the Prize.

    Trace 1954–1955: a legal landmark, a lynching that shocked the nation, and a 381-day boycott that introduced Dr. King and nonviolent mass protest.

    Teach from these moments
    1. May 17, 1954
      Brown v. Board of Education

      The Supreme Court strikes down school segregation, igniting the modern Civil Rights movement.

    2. August 28, 1955
      The murder of Emmett Till

      The lynching of a 14-year-old in Mississippi, and his mother's open casket, galvanizes the movement.

    3. December 5, 1955
      The Montgomery Bus Boycott

      Sparked by Rosa Parks, a 381-day boycott launches Dr. King and mass nonviolent protest.

    Discussion questions

    Why did a court victory (Brown) require a mass movement to enforce? How did Till's murder mobilize a generation?

  2. Lesson 2 · 1–2 class periods

    Confrontation and law

    Objectives

    Analyze how Birmingham and the March on Washington pressured Congress into the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

    Materials

    Timeline entries below; NARA March on Washington records.

    From the children's march in Birmingham to 250,000 at the Lincoln Memorial, follow the road to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

    Teach from these moments
    1. May 2, 1963
      The Birmingham Campaign

      Children marchers face dogs and fire hoses; the images shock the nation.

    2. August 28, 1963
      The March on Washington

      250,000 gather as Dr. King delivers "I Have a Dream," pressing for jobs and freedom.

    3. July 2, 1964
      The Civil Rights Act of 1964

      Landmark law outlawing segregation and employment discrimination.

    Discussion questions

    Why were images from Birmingham so powerful? What did the 1964 Act change, and what did it leave undone?

  3. Lesson 3 · 1 class period

    The fight for the vote

    Objectives

    Explain how Selma led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and why the vote was the central battleground.

    Materials

    Timeline entries below; the Civil Rights History Project.

    Bloody Sunday on the Edmund Pettus Bridge forced the Voting Rights Act — the enforcement the 15th Amendment had promised a century earlier.

    Teach from these moments
    1. March 7, 1965
      Selma and Bloody Sunday

      Marchers for voting rights are beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, spurring the Voting Rights Act.

    2. August 6, 1965
      The Voting Rights Act of 1965

      Federal protection of the ballot finally enforces the 15th Amendment.

    3. June 25, 2013
      Shelby County v. Holder guts the Voting Rights Act

      The Supreme Court strikes down the VRA's preclearance formula, unleashing a wave of voting restrictions.

    Discussion questions

    Why was the ballot the decisive prize? How does Shelby County (2013) connect back to 1965?