Civil Rights and the Jim Crow
Warm-up
Understanding the American Civil War
Group assignment
Question 1:
What is a civil war?
Question 2:
Do you know what it was about? Have you seen any films or tv-series about the
American Civil War?
Watch the YouTube clips on the website about the civil war to find out what it was all about.
Question 3:
Write down in your own words why the North and South started fighting each other.
Warm-up part 2
Life in the South for slaves before the Civil War
Slaves were not at all happy with their situation. They often tried to escape even though this was
very dangerous it meant leaving your family behind.
Step 1
Watch and listen to the powerpoint about the Underground Railway to find out more.
Step 2
Read the fact sheets about Harriet Tubman and do the assignment.
The Jim Crow Laws
The Jim Crow Laws were laws that legalised the discrimination of all non-white people in the Deep
South of the United States.
Each state in the Deep South had different laws.
Watch the YouTube clips on the website to find out how life was under Jim Crow
Assignment
You are going to find out about the what the Jim Crow laws meant for coloured people in the South.
By coloured people, the Jim Crow Laws meant all people who were not white. In practice, this meant
black people and Mexicans or Hispanics, as they were sometimes called.
Remember to make a list of all the sources that you used.
Step 1 General fact finding mission
Find out and make a fact sheet:
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During which time were the Jim Crow laws applied
In which states in America did they apply
Where did the name Jim Crow come from
Explain the word segregation
Use pictures to support the facts on your fact sheet
Step 2 what did the laws actually say?
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Look up the laws on the internet, each state had different laws
Write down the laws for 2 different states
Step 3 Separate but equal
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The Jim Crow law supporters and the government said that the laws did not discriminate.
They said that everyone was separate but equal.
Look at this picture of Jim Crow
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Do you think that this picture of Jim Crow supports the separate but equal claim? Explain
your answer in 5-10 sentences.
Step 4 Not the only country
Which other country had similar laws that made discrimination legal and what was the name of this
systematic discrimination?
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Name the country
Name the system
When was it abolished
Use pictures to support your facts