Resistance to Jim Crow in Virginia

Lesson 1: Jim Crow: From Bias to Law
Time Estimated: 1 day
Objectives:

Students will:

  1. Share prior knowledge of Jim Crow and events leading up to this era.
  2. Sequence major events leading to the establishment of Jim Crow laws.
  3. Place prior events and newly learned events on a rudimentary timeline.
Materials:
  • Seven sets of index cards with events prior to Jim Crow. Each card will have a magnetic strip on the back. Some cards will be blank for the students to fill in any other events they see as important. Each set of cards will have the following information:

    • SET I

    1. John Brown’s Raid
    2. Emancipation Proclamation
    3. Reconstruction begins
    4. Amendments 13, 14 and 15 to the U.S. Constitution
    5. Virginia’s Reconstruction constitution, 1867-1868
      (Note to teacher: this constitution was ratified in 1869)
    6. Reconstruction ends

    SET II

    1. Rutherford B. Hayes becomes President
    2. Virginia’s Redeemers Constitution 1901-1902
    3. John Mitchell becomes editor of The Richmond Planet
    4. Maggie Lena Walker’s “Penny Bank” established
    5. Brown v. Board of Education
    6. Massive Resistance

  • Virginia history textbook, such as Social Studies Virginia, Scott Foresman
  • Colored Pencils
  • Magnetic tape (available at craft or fabric stores)
  • Handout: Vocabulary Worksheet of people and terms including:

    1. John Mitchell, Jr.
    2. Rutherford B. Hayes
    3. Redeemers
    4. Jim Crow
    5. Constitution
    6. Civil rights
    7. Compromise
    8. Boycott
    9. The Richmond Planet
    10. Prejudice
    11. Maggie Lena Walker
    12. Harry Byrd, Sr.
    13. Brown v. Board of Education
    14. Massive Resistance

  • Print out one copy of the Hayes-Tilden controversy and compromise from the “Rise and Fall of Jim Crow,” PBS website: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_events_election.html
  • Create a copy and make handouts from Library of Virginia site on John Mitchell: advertisement for The Richmond Planet at http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whoweare/exhibits/mitchell/planhq.htm
  • Create a copy and make handouts from the article “Jim Crow” Street-Car Law Set to Catch Negroes: Only White Folks in the Trap at http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whoweare/exhibits/mitchell/trap.htm
  • Create handouts from the National Archives worksheet: “Written Document Analysis Worksheet” (2 per student) available at http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/worksheets
Strategies:
  1. Announce that we will be studying the Jim Crow era in Virginia.
  2. Hook: Divide the students into groups of three. Hand out the “Set I” index cards with events listed. Let the students know you have some blank cards if they would like to add some events.They may use their books to research dates if needed. Using magnetic surfaces around the classroom, have the students display the events in the order in which they occurred. Suggest that they write the dates on the cards.
  3. Discuss any differences between groups. Display the correct order of events on the dry-erase board or another easily seen magnetic surface (lockers, cabinets). Lead a discussion on the events listed and any others the students may have added. Discuss the origin of the term “Jim Crow” and ask the students to give some examples of Jim Crow laws. (The term comes from a minstrel show song containing the refrain “jump-jump-jump Jim Crow.”)
  4. Hand out the “Set II” index cards. Check students’ prior knowledge of these items.
  5. Ask: who was John Mitchell, Jr.? Using the textbook, read the excerpt on John Mitchell Jr., pages 338-339 (If you do not use this textbook, a brief biography of Mitchell is available at the Library of Virginia site listed under websites). Place John Mitchell, Jr. on the timelines.
  6. Ask: who were the “Redeemers.” (See historical background.) If students have not referred to the new constitution that Virginia was required to write after the Civil War, remind them of the requirements needed for Virginia to re-enter the Union. Note this constitution was ratified in 1869, but this was not the Redeemers’ constitution. Discuss the prefix “re” (again; again “deem”) and the meaning of the word “redeem” (to buy back, or to get or win back). Guide students to the understanding: With the 1869 constitution in place, what do you think the Redeemers wanted to do? They wanted to get back to the way things used to be before Reconstruction. How could they do this?
  7. Where does Rutherford B. Hayes fit into this picture? Briefly explain the boondoggle of the Hayes-Tilden election. Tilden had the popular vote, but was one vote shy in the Electoral College. Hayes was a Republican; the Redeemers were southern Democrats. A deal was struck. If Hayes agreed to end Reconstruction, the southern Democrats would back his election. Hayes agreed and with that, the door slammed shut on civil rights for African Americans in Virginia and the rest of the south. The national government pretty much told the black populace they were on their own and gave the Redeemers free rein. If time permits, read the PBS excerpt about the Hayes-Tilden election found at the Jim Crow website listed above. In 1870, Virginia was re-admitted to the Union. By 1877 getting back to good old boy business as usual was moving forward.
  8. Primary Sources:
    Note that, even though things got very bad very fast for African Americans after 1877, and would get worse, there were always ways to protest the unfair environment of Jim Crow.
    • Hand out copies of the advertisement for The Richmond Planet and the National Archives sheet for evaluating written documents. Model how to really look at the primary source documents, filling out the sheet together.
    • Hand out copies of the “streetcar” source and an evaluation sheet from the National Archives. (Note: the date for this is 1904. This is not shown on the article, and should be written on the handout. The students will not be able to read the entire article, but will be able to get the general idea of the boycott.) Allow the students at least 20 minutes to work on this. At the end of that time, discuss their findings and write them on the board. Hand out and read the excerpt from the Jim Crow history site that gives information on the boycott of and eventual bankruptcy of the Virginia Passenger and Power Company.
  9. Homework: Have the students complete the vocabulary worksheet of people and terms.
Differentiation:

Student collaboration will aid struggling learners. This lesson provides expression by kinesthetic learners as well as auditory and visual learners.