Curated OER
A New Birth of Freedom: Black Soldiers in the Union Army
Learners use primary documents to analyze the events surrounding black soldiers joining the Union Army. In this content area reading lesson, students view multiple primary documents, analyzing and answering questions about them.
Curated OER
What Would Hannah Think?
Students read excepts from various government documents on the issue of slavery in America. Using the internet, they research a topic related to slavery of interest to them and present to the class their findings. They examine the life...
Curated OER
5th Grade Social Studies Quiz B
In this grade 5 social studies quiz worksheet, 5th graders complete a 15 question multiple choice quiz covering a variety of grade 5 concepts.
Curated OER
Angelina and Sarah Grimke: Sisters of Social Reform
Students read about Angelina and Sarah Grimke and answer comprehension questions about them. In this women of social reform lesson plan, students read about women who helped to abolish slavery, discuss having goals and ambitions, and...
Curated OER
Slavery and the Legal Status of Free Blacks: Rhetorical Analysis of Debates During the 1847 Illinois Constitutional Convention
Eleventh graders read actual arguments regarding the status of free blacks in Illinois and slavery in the United States more generally.
Library of Congress
Loc: American Memory: African American Odyssey
An online version of the exhibit, "The African American Odyssey: A Quest for Full Citizenship", on the struggle of African Americans from Slavery to Civil Rights. Information about voting issues can be found under Reconstruction and the...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: African Americans and the 15th Amendment
Article on equal rights and the series of events leading to the passage of the 15th Amendment. Includes questions for discussion and an activity in which students re-create the Voting Rights Convention.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: The Vote, Making of African American Identity: V. 2
An appeal for black voting rights and an editorial cartoon opposing them. This resource explains that while the 15th Amendment granted black men the right to vote, southern states fought to block its implementation.
Other
Amistad Digital Resource: Voting Rights
Article discusses African Americans and their push for the right to vote which eventually resulted in blacks being elected as officials in the 1940s.
Other
The Center for Voting & Democracy: The Voting Rights Act
The Center for Voting and Democracy offers a general overview of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Content focuses on Section 2 and Section 5 of the Act, exploring their importance.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Martin Luther King Jr.: Civil Rights Leader
Students will explore how King's deep-seated commitment to nonviolence contributed to the expansion of social justice in the United States, particularly for African Americans.
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow: Voting Then, Voting Now
This site explores the voting experiences for African Americans beginning in the Jim Crow era. It shares literacy tests African Americans had to take and other challenges they were given for the right to vote. This denial of the right to...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Concerned White Citizens of Alabama Scrapbook
These materials document the philosophy and activities of the Concerned White Citizens of Alabama, who fought for racial equality and voting rights for African Americans; from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.
CommonLit
Common Lit: Text Sets: The Civil Rights Movement
This is a collection of 34 Grade-Leveled texts (4-12)on the topic The Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Movement emerged after nearly a century of little progress for African Americans following the end of slavery. Explore the...
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: The 1890s: End of an Era and the Quest for Civil Rights
Part of an online exhibit called "Forever Free," this section deals with African Americans' efforts to establish themselves in society, despite increases in racism. Addresses topics such as Black Codes, Jim Crow Laws, and voting rights.
Library of Congress
Loc: African American Odyssey: Reconstruction and Its Aftermath
From the Library of Congress, this resource documents the course of post-Civil War, post-slavery life for black Americans. Topics include education, constitutional amendments, voting rights and the many challenges African Americans faced...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Race and Voting in the Segregated South
Article and activity in which students read and analyze the historic challenges faced by African Americans as they sought to gain an unimpeded right to vote in the segregated South followed by activity asking students to evaluate current...
Digital History
Digital History: The Great Society and the Drive for Black Equality
Read about President Lyndon Johnson's vision for the Great Society. See how the programs instituted were focused on lifting the poor from poverty, especially African Americans. Included were laws to increase civil rights and voting...
Ducksters
Ducksters: Civil Rights for Kids: African American Civil Rights Movement
Kids learn about the history of the African-American Civil Rights Movement including segregation, Jim Crow laws, protests, Martin Luther King, and the passage of the Civil Rights Act on this site.
NBC
Nbc Learn: Finishing the Dream: 1964: Spotlights
A collection of archival video clips highlighting the African American struggle for equal voting rights in 1964. Looks at the Mississippi Freedom Summer where college students helped to register black voters, the murder of three of those...
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Aftermath: Postcards, African Americans Picking Cotton
Though given the right to vote, African-American men and women faced discrimination and racist practices that often prevented them from voting in the early 20th century. Read about some of these practices, and how, for example, the Texas...
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Aftermath: African American Women and the Vote
Though the suffrage movement failed to exclude African-American women, and many obstacles came in the way of their voting (e.g., poll taxes, literacy tests, etc.), "African-American women were not strangers to community activism." Learn...
Ducksters
Ducksters: Civil Rights for Kids: Little Rock Nine
Kids learn about the history of the Little Rock Nine on this site. Site discusses how African-American students who fought to end segregation by attending an all-white high school.
Alabama Humanities Foundation
Encyclopedia of Alabama: Selma to Montgomery March
One of the most famous events in Civil Rights history, this report covers the Selma to Montgomery March for voting rights.