This PowerPoint presentation traces African American discrimination from the end of the Civil War through the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s-1960s. It discusses the abolition of slavery, Jim Crow laws that enforced racial segregation, and organizations like the NAACP and KKK that respectively advocated for or opposed equality. Key events covered include the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling, Rosa Parks' bus boycott, and the March on Washington. The goal is to help students understand the historical context and motivations of characters in To Kill a Mockingbird.

1. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD:
SUPPLEMENTAL
LESSON:
AFRICAN AMERICAN
DISCRIMINATION: THE
CIVIL WAR TO THE 1960’S
By: Julie Braam

2. Unit Plan Basics
 I’m a future Language Arts Instructor and I want my
students to learn the history of African Americans, to
help them understand the characters in To Kill a
Mockingbird. Through this PowerPoint, I will trace the
events from the end of the Civil War through the Civil
Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 60’s. By learning
this history, hopefully the students will understand the
motivations of the characters. Also, by presenting the
students with occasional questions, they will personalize
the events and be able to put themselves in the place of
the characters. They will be assessed with a quiz to
ensure they paid attention to the lecture and later, they
will write their journal entries in the voice of one of the
characters from the novel.

3. History from 1863-1865
 Jan. 1, 1863 - Abraham Lincoln’s
Emancipation Proclamation goes into
effect, freeing the slaves in Northern States.
 Southern states are omitted.

4. Slavery Abolished
 Dec. 1865 – 13th Amendment
ratified, abolishing slavery.
 April 7, 1865 – Lee surrenders to
Grant, ending the Civil War.
 Did the end of the war automatically give
African Americans equal rights?

5. History from 1865 - 1870
 Passage of the 14th Amendment, guaranteeing equal
rights for all.
 Passage of the 15th Amendment, giving Black men the
right to vote.

6. The Reconstruction Period: 1865-1877
 Federal troops occupied the
South, maintaining peace, enforcing new
amendments, and protecting the rights of
Blacks.
 Period of Black activism, including running for
political office, building churches/community
buildings, and much educational
advancement.

7. Set-Backs: 1883
 The 14th Amendment, Civil Rights Act is found
unconstitutional and is no longer enforceable.
 Southern states rewrite their
constitutions, taking most rights away from
Blacks.
 Why didn’t the Federal government intervene
with the States taking away African American
rights?

8. Blacks Lose Political and Personal Power
 Within a few short years, the percentage of
blacks that can vote in the South is reduced to
miniscule amounts.
 Beginning of time period called Jim
Crow, referring to laws passed specifically to
keep Whites and Blacks separated in
educational, personal, and political ways.

9. Example of Jim Crow Laws
 Birmingham, Alabama, 1930
“It shall be unlawful for a negro and white person
to play together or in company with each other in
any game of cards or dice, dominoes, or
checkers.”

10. More Laws
Missouri, 1929
“Separate free schools shall be established for the
education of children of African descent; and it
shall be unlawful for any colored child to attend
any white school, or any white child to attend a
colored school.”

11. The Ku Klux Klan
 The Klan is started in 1866 in Tennessee
using violence, fear, brutality, and
murder, against Blacks, to keep Whites in
power.
 How do you think the
KKK has maintained
its power?

12. The NAACP: Advocates for Equality
 The National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People, founded in 1909, is the
nations oldest civil rights organization.

13. NAACP Focus
 Anti-lynching legislation
 Voter participation
 Employment
 Due process under the law
 Education.

14. Supreme Court Ruling: 1953
Brown vs. the Board of Education Reversal
“We conclude that in the field of public education
the doctrine of separate but equal has no place.
Separate educational facilities are inherently
unequal.”
Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
Why didn’t this alone end discrimination against
African Americans?

15. Civil Rights Movement
1955
Rosa Parks starts the bus boycott in
Montgomery Alabama, by sitting in the Whites
Only section.

16. The Little Rock 9
1957
Nine Black teenagers integrate Little Rock high
school in Arkansas amid angry mobs. Federal
guards escort them for protection.

17. Protests at Whites Only Diners
1960
Continuing Civil Rights Protests in non-violent
ways, young people violate Whites only laws in
diners.

18. March on Washington
1963
Led by civil rights leader Martin Luther
King, 200,000 blacks and whites gather at the
Lincoln Memorial to protest racial injustice.

19. 24th Amendment
 1964
Congress passes law forbidding racial
discrimination in many areas of life, including
hotels, voting, employment, and school.
But the fight for equality will always continues…
Why do you think it should always continue?

20. References
 Chancellor, Carl. 5-17-2011. After Civil War, Blacks Fought
for Rights. USA Today. Retrieved 4-14-2013.
 http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-04-11-civil-
war-civil-rights_N.htm
 Separate is Not Equal: Jim Crowe Laws.
Smithsonian, National History Museum. Retrieved 4-14-
2013.
 http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/1-segregated/jim-
crow.html
 Little Rock Nine. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and
Culture. Retrieved 4-14-2013.
 http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-
detail.aspx?entryid=723