Course Syllabus

Something making me happy (hopefully you too)  if you need.

Read, listen, learn - Link to Resources. Send me questions, send me resources you like or want to know more about - I'll do what I can to help you.  

Outline for 6/4

Optional zoom check in

What you should be doing/hw:

While you are waiting to check in or if you choose not to, you should continue to locate evidence to support/refute assertion. Going into next class  (6/8), you should have thought about & have started how you want to present the information/analysis.

Lesson, Monday 6/1

Final Experience Document - Schedule is in it.

Lesson, Thursday 5/21

Lesson Thursday, May 14th

Agenda

• We will read through the project and then you have the remaining time, as well as hw to work on the project. 
• PDFs of varying starter articles on different groups are in the class below from 5/11.
• Link to Project Page

Schedule

Lesson - Monday, May 11th

Focus Questions:

• What factors led to the quickening of civil rights movements for African Americans? 
• How did the fight for or access to greater equality change for African Americans with the changing cultural climates?

Agenda

• Discuss overarching questions to film, “A Time of Justice”.  
  • What were the goals of the civil rights movement? 
  • What were the strategies of the movement’s participants? 
  • What did you find most striking about the civil rights movement? 
    • Go over 6 Principles of Non-Violence
      • 
  • What surprised or confused you about the civil rights movement? 
    • Louisiana Literacy Test for African Americans 1950s-60s.pdf
    • 40 Martyrs Who Gave their Lives for Civil Rights

• Discuss focus questions:
• Could you see the impact of  factors that we discussed last class and whether they led to the quickening of civil rights movements for African Americans? 
• How did the fight for or access to greater equality change for African Americans with the changing cultural climates?
• Present Day:    “Ahmaud Arbery and the America That Doesn’t Exist” by Esau McCaulley, May 10th, 2020.
• Opinion | Ahmaud Arbery and the America That Doesn’t Exist - The New York Times.pdf
• I would like you to read this Op-Ed from the NYTimes. An Op-Ed  expresses the opinion of an author usually not affiliated with the publication's editorial board. I’m unsure if it is a reading we are going to discuss.  I believe it is important and reflects the history we just went through in a thoughtful and analytical manner.  It is religious at times, but no more so than Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was in so many of his writings and speeches.  I ask you to consider the following while or after you read this:
• Consider the reasons we’ve learned to support that  African Americans may have “distrust of the system charged with protecting us and punishing those who do us harm”.
• Consider the validity of this statement & what you can do to support it: 
• “We need this country to become something different, something more”.

HW: Start project - read through, narrow to a group (or 2) -we’ll go over it in full Thursday.  

Lesson Thursday, May 7th

Focus Questions:

• What factors led to the quickening of civil rights movements for African Americans? 
• How did the fight for or access to greater equality change for African Americans with the changing cultural climates?

Agenda

• Discuss themes/patterns to answers of “The Movement Before the Movement” activity.
  • To what extent do these events demonstrate a quickening of the Civil Rights Movement?  
  • Why? What factors led to this?
  • How would you describe the cultural climate using the information from the hw?
  • Overall, what do these events tell us about the 1940s & Civil Rights?
• Define terms within the question: What does changing cultural climate mean?
• Factors Quickening the Civil Rights Movement Google Slides
  • Includes Brown vs. Board of Ed I & II.
  • Intros you to video. 
• Start video & finish for hw: “A Time for Justice” - Make a copy of this video guide to fill out on your own.  Fill out the video guide so you are prepared to discuss the overarching questions next class.  

Lesson, Monday, May 4th

Focus:  

• What forces marginalized African Americans during WWII (both at home & abroad)?
• How did their experiences during WWII compare/contrast with those during WWI?
• What were the political, social, economic and/or religious methods (techniques/strategies) that African Americans used to change to their lives and gain greater equality?

Into to new questions: 

• What factors led to the quickening of civil rights movements for African Americans? 
• How did the fight for or access to greater equality change for African Americans with the changing cultural climates?

Agenda

• Go over hw in small groups & then go over for next time.  
  • What forces marginalized African Americans during WWII (both at home & abroad)?
    • How did their experiences during WWII compare/contrast with those during WWI?
  • What were the political, social, economic and/or religious methods (techniques/strategies) that African Americans used to change to their lives and gain greater equality?
• Define terms: What does changing cultural climate mean?
  • Discuss climate in hw.
• Go over HW for Weds class.  Be prepared to discuss themes/patterns within your answers.
  •  The Movement Before the the Movement analysis.  I suggest you make a chart with the questions below and fill it in per event so then you can look down a column or row to see patterns/themes, etc and we can more easily talk about observations about how there was a movement before the movement, next class.  
    • PDF:  event-cards for the movement before the movement - African Americans-1.pdf
    • What event is the card describing?
    • What type of inequality is being targeted?  Is it in housing, voting, jobs, public places, etc?
    • Who is participating?  What part of the population - what is their demographic?
    • In what part(s) of the country is this taking place?  Is it rural, urban, northeast, northwest, south, midwest?
    • Was there a result?  What was it?
    • What forces that African Americans have had to work against in the past were being fought against in this event?

Lesson Thursday, 4/30 - From WWI to  WWII

Focus questions

• What forces marginalized African Americans from WWI through WWII?  To what extent have those forces stayed the same? To what extent have they changed?

• What were the political, social, economic and/or religious methods (techniques/strategies) that African Americans used to change to their lives and gain greater equality? To what extent have those methods (techniques/strategies) stayed the same? vTo what extent have they changed?

Agenda

• • Go over hw using focus questions:
    • Du Bois & WWI
      • According to Du Bois, what forces marginalized African Americans in WWI?
        • To what extent have those forces stayed the same? To what extent have they changed?
    •  Give a little more background on Harlem Renaissance

• • • • Slides
        • According to the readings, what forces marginalized African Americans in WWI and the Harlem Renaissance?
          • • To what extent have those forces stayed the same? To what extent have they changed?
            • What were the political, social, economic and/or religious methods (techniques/strategies) that African Americans used to change to their lives and gain greater equality?  To what extent did those methods (techniques/strategies) stay the same? To what extent did they change?

• Reading:  Impact of the Great Depression on African Americans The American Mosaic- The African Americ...can Americans and the Great Depression.pdf
• What forces marginalized African Americans during the Great Depression? 
• And, how did these forces work?  (how did they play out)
• What were the political, social, economic and/or religious methods (techniques/strategies) that African Americans used to change to their lives and gain greater equality?

HW: Watch WWII Doc

• The Good Fight (Links to an external site.) (28:01)  Questions to answer as you watch:
  • What forces marginalized African Americans during WWII (both at home & abroad)?
  • How did their experiences during WWII compare/contrast with those during WWI?
  • What were the political, social, economic and/or religious methods (techniques/strategies) that African Americans used to change to their lives and gain greater equality?

Lesson Monday, April 26th

Focus question

•  What forces have marginalized African Americans according to these activists?
• What methods (techniques/strategies) suggest/promote for African Americans do to make changes to their lives & gain greater equality?

• How did these responses (how Af-Ams combatted discrimination) compare/contrast?

Agenda

• Go over hw:
  • What forces are these activists acknowledging exists in American society that have or are hindering African Americans from greater equality?
  • What forces can help African Americans reach greater equality?
  • Why does it matter who said what?
• Recognizing quotes activity: Who said it?
• Discussion Questions for after the activity:
• Plessy vs. Ferguson Reading  plessy v ferguson.pdf
• What was the decision of the court?
• What were the effects of the decision?
• African Americans, the Progressive Era & WWI
  • Timeline for Up South: African-American Migration in the Era of the Great War · HERB: Resources
• Timeline for post Civil War

HW:  Reading on “Returning Soldiers” -W.E.B Du Bois on WWI - complete discussion questions and the reading on the Harlem Renaissance - complete questions under “Reading Review”. 

Returning Soldiers Dubois on WWI.pdf

Harlem Renaissance Reading.pdf

Lesson - Thursday April 23rd

Focus

• What were the experiences of African Americans during Reconstruction and how did they combat marginalization?   

• How did these responses (how Af-Ams combatted discrimination) compare/contrast?

Agenda

• Review Reconstruction Amendments, Black Codes, voting, etc
  • Timeline of Reconstruction - African American Identity 
  • Bar Graph of Lynchings of African Americans, 1890-1929
• Go over hw - questions for video
  • We’re going to do this in 2 groups, so if you are in the second group, you are expected to complete the work below while I’m speaking to the first group & then visa-versa.
• Visions for African-Americans & African-American Activists
  • Booker T. Washing, W.E.B Du Bois & Marcus Garvey Reading. BookerT, Du Bois & Garvey Reading.pdf
    • Goal with readings/take notes on:  
      • Identify main ideas/goals of each activist
      • Identify strategies/tactics to get to goals.
      • Compare/contrast  strategies/tactics & goals of these activists.

HW: Read Ida B. Wells.pdf - shortened version.pdf and complete the same goals that are listed above.  

• Identify main ideas/goals of each activist
• Identify strategies/tactics to get to goals.
• Compare/contrast  strategies/tactics & goals of these activists.

Thursday Lesson 4/16

Focus Questions

 #1:  What forces have marginalized African Americans from the founding period to the Civil War?

#2:   What were the political, social, economic and/or religious methods (techniques/strategies) that African Americans used to make changes to their lives?

Agenda

• Discuss hw: What political, social, economic and/or religious forces these readings acknowledge that marginalized African Americans?
  • Good article on living conditions that will answer questions that some have:  Historical Overview, Living Conditions “Thirteen” PBS
  • Good article on the economics of slavery within American society:  Vox “How slavery became America’s First Big Business”.
  • Good article on slave rebellions:  The Five Greatest Slave Rebellions in the U.S, PBS
  • Answer questions from hw check:
  • Asked class:  According to the readings & video, what political, social, economic and/or religious forces these readings acknowledge that marginalized African Americans?
  • Asked class:  According to the readings & video, what were the political, social, economic and/or religious methods (techniques/strategies) that African Americans used to make changes to their lives?
• Frederick Douglas Reading - “What to the slave is the Fourth of July”, July 5th, 1852
  • Douglass.July5Speech.pdf 
  • Students either read this on their own or with me. 
  • How does Frederick Douglass compare the United States to a river?
    • Consider the positives & negatives of a river that he describes.
  • Near the end of the 1st paragraph, Douglass writes that the river that is the US could be “the sad tale of departed glory” - what glory do you think Douglas is referencing?  What do you think he thinks is glorious about the history of the United States?
  • In the 2nd paragraph, why does Douglas bring up July 2nd, 1776 and the actions of the Continental Congress?  What is he getting at here when he comments about what people were fighting for?
  • Why does Frederick Douglass use the terms “you” or “your”? What arguments does Douglass make that reinforce this point of view?
  • Where does Frederick Douglass place the blame for slavery in America and how does he make that argument?
  • How does Douglas use any of the forces (political, religious, economic, social) in his argument about ending slavery & in his commentary about the Fugitive Slave Law
•  Watch the video & answer questions below:  The World the War Made - 12 minutes. 
  • According to Eric Foner, Americans in 1865 believed they were living in a different country than the one they lived in before the Civil War. Why did they feel that way?  What changes had taken place because of the war? 
  • According to the scholars in the video, what were the experiences of white southerners during the war? What did some white southerners identify as their experiences during the war? How were their lives different after the war?
  • According to the scholars in the video, how did the lives of African Americans change as a result of the war? What were some of the opportunities that made freedpeople feel like they might be included as full members of American society?

HW - DUE  on Thursday April 23rd : The short video from class spoke of a new social order. This new social order will receive a tremendous amount of pushback and you are going to hear about both - the new social order (which included political, economic, etc changes and the pushback.  You are to watch the whole video of  “Reconstruction: American After the Civil War”,  Episode 2.  You are to take notes on the items listed below.  Keep in mind, forces = political, social, economic, religious, etc.  Warning - there are some upsetting images. Break up the doc however you see fit - its 55 minutes.  You have plenty of time since you have a week. Be prepared to discuss the doc.

• Forces marginalizing (limiting/hindering) African Americans during Reconstruction from being completely & utterly equal to whites.  
• Examples of positive change during Reconstruction (this change could be done by any entity - people, groups, govts, legislation, etc) that moves African Americans in a direction (not complete) but in the direction of greater equality to whites.

Monday Lesson - 4/13

Class 1 - Equality & Hierarchy

Essential Question: What forces have made the United States legally and socially more inclusive and how so?

Focus:  What forces have marginalized African Americans from the founding period to the Civil War?

Agenda

• Defining Equality & Hierarchy
• Go over the essential question:  

• Race in the Constitution
• Leads into “Race, Power of Illusion" - Clip of Episode 2
  • Goal is to be able to answer this question:   According to the video, how did the Founding Fathers explain the contradiction between their ideals of freedom and liberty and the existence of slavery in early America?
• Antebellum Slavery - Digital History Reading.  You are looking for forces have marginalized African Americans.  Think political, social, economic or religious, etc.