MLK & Civil Rights

MLK & Civil Rights

History of the Civil Rights Movement, how Martin Luther King Jr. impacted the movement, and where we are 50 years later

Poll

The Underground Railroad was a railroad under the ground for secret spies to use.

• True

• False

Poll

President Lincoln's main goal before the Civil War was to get rid of slavery in all states.

• True

• False

Poll

The Emancipation Proclamation freed all slaves in the Confederate States

• True

• False

Poll

The Civil Rights Movement was a movement for everyone to make the same pay.

• True

• False

Poll

Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white person.

• True

• False

Poll

Martin Luther King Jr. did whatever it took to get things done even if that meant being violent.

• True

• False

Poll

Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, or shot when he was 39 years old.

• True

• False

Slavery

• Slavery: one human being was owned by another. A slave was considered by law as property and was deprived of most of the rights ordinarily held by free persons.

• Slavery was most common in the Southern United States where big plantations for growing cash crops were located

Multiple Select

Why did the South not want to end slavery? (Choose as many as apply)

• They paid their slaves, so they were more like employees

• Running a plantation required a lot of man power and slaves were cheap

• Plantation owners allowed slaves to work whenever they wanted

• It would cost the plantation owners more money

Underground Railroad

• A secret passageway that slaves used to get to a free state in the North.

• Began in the late 1700s and continued until the Civil War ended

• Abolitionists, people who wanted to end slavery, helped enslaved people escape their owners to freedom

• The most famous conductor of the Underground Railroad was Harriet Tubman

Abraham Lincoln & Slavery

• Elected 16th president in 1860

• Seven Southern states seceded when Lincoln was elected

• Lincoln believed any new state admitted to the Union would be a "free state"

• Even though Lincoln did not agree with secession, he did not take action until Fort Sumter was attacked on April 12, 1861

Emancipation Proclamation

• January 1, 1863 Lincoln signed this decree into effect

• declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free."

• Many Southern slave owners did not view the Proclamation as law and did not set their slaves free

• The 13th amendment was ratified in 1865 legally abolishing slavery

Open Ended

Why did Abraham Lincoln sign the Emancipation Proclamation?

Jim Crow Laws

• Many white people still felt black people were inferior

• Southern states developed laws and statutes to segregate white and black people in public areas

• Black people could not vote, many could not own land, and they were only allowed to work certain jobs for minimal pay

• "Separate but equal"

Open Ended

Is the phrase "Separate but equal" true? Why or why not?

Civil Rights Movement

• An organized effort by black Americans to end segregation

• Started in the 1940s and ended in the 1960s with the passage of the Civil Rights Act

• Generally used nonviolent actions such as marches, sit-ins, and boycotts to demand equal protection under the law

Multiple Choice

What did the Civil Rights Movement hope to achieve?

• Black and white people to be treated equally and with equal rights

• Slavery to be illegal

• Bus boycotts

Martin Luther King, Jr.

• Born January 15, 1929, in Atlanta Georgia

• King, Jr. was a prolific public speaker and won awards for debates

• He graduated high school at age 15 and college at 19. Then he went on to seminary and graduated at age 22

• King, Jr. was outspoken on his desire for all people to have equal rights under the law and became a leader in the NAACP

MLK & Rosa Parks

• In 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montogermy, AL, the bus boycott began.

• 382 days later, the Supreme Court declared segregation on buses illegal

• Even though MLK believed in nonviolence, strong violence was used against him during the boycotts

Open Ended

Martin Luther King Jr. was threatened and mistreated many times yet he continued to protest peacefully. What type of person do you think this makes Martin Luther King Jr.?

Martin Marches

• For 11 years, MLK would lead massive protests and marches demanding equal treatment for colored people

• His largest march is known as the "March on Washington"

• 250,000 people gathered at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to hear him proclaim his dream for America

Open Ended

What do you think MLK. meant when he said he hoped his four children would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their hearts?

Continuing the Fight

• King, Jr became the youngest person to ever receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964

• The Civil Rights Act was passed by President Johnson in 1964 ending segregation

• In 1965, the Voting Rights Act was passed prohibiting colored people from having to pay a tax to vote

• Martin was assassinated in Memphis, TN on April 4, 1968

Open Ended

There were a lot of people involved in helping the Civil Rights Movement, but Martin Luther King Jr. is the one who has a National holiday honoring him. Why do you think he was given this recognition over others?

Where do we go from here?

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life was tragically cut short, but that doesn't mean his work stopped.