Lesson 3: The Impact of the Jim Crow Era on Education, 1877-1930s

Introduction

Objectives

Students will: 

1.    Explain what happened to the rights of African Americans after Reconstruction.

2.    Define discrimination and segregation and be able to explain how these have and can affect people, working with primary sources to accomplish this goal.

3.    Understand how the Jim Crow laws and the 1902 Virginia Constitution affected voting rights and education in Virginia.

4.    Using primary source photographs, documents, and a chart, students will assess the differences between white and black schools during the Jim Crow period.

Grade Level

4, 6 or 7, 11

Duration

Estimated time is 1-2 class periods (45 minutes each), but feel free to adapt this lesson to your needs.

Standards

Grade 4: Virginia Studies

VS.1 The student will develop skills for historical and geographical analysis and responsible citizenship, including the ability to:
a) identify and interpret artifacts and primary and secondary source documents to understand events in history;
b) determine cause-and-effect relationships;
c) compare and contrast historical events;
f) sequence events in Virginia history;
g) interpret ideas and events from different historical perspectives.

VS.8 The student will demonstrate knowledge of the reconstruction of Virginia following the Civil War by: (a) identifying the effects of Reconstruction on life in Virginia;
(b) identifying the effects of segregation and "Jim Crow" on life in Virginia for whites and African Americans.

Grade 6 or 7: United States History II – 1865 to the Present

USII.1 The student will demonstrate skills for historical and geographical analysis and responsible citizenship, including the ability to: (a) analyze and interpret primary and secondary source documents to increase understanding of events and life in United States history from 1865 to the present.

USII.4 The student will demonstrate knowledge of how life changed after the Civil War by: (c) describing racial segregation, the rise of "Jim Crow," and other constraints faced by African Americans and other groups in the post-Reconstruction South.

Grade 11: Virginia and United States History

VUS.1 The student will demonstrate skills for historical and geographical analysis and responsible citizenship, including the ability to: (a) identify, analyze, and interpret primary and secondary source documents, records, and data, including artifacts, diaries, letters, photographs, journals, newspapers, historical accounts, and art to increase understanding of events and life in the United States.

VUS.8 The student will demonstrate knowledge of how the nation grew and changed from the end of Reconstruction through the early twentieth century by: (c) analyzing prejudice and discrimination during this time period, with emphasis on "Jim Crow."