Lessons and Resources for Teaching About Black History

Beginnings

The ancestors of many Black Americans came to America not as willing immigrants, but as captured slaves. As such, the promises of the Declaration of Independence for “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” were denied them and except for purposes of state representation, they were ignored by the original Constitution. Victims of a vicious system of slavery, they endured, resisted, and made many contributions to the United States, but the struggle for freedom and equality had just begun.
An Overview of the African American Experience  | The Constitution and Slavery  |  Slavery in the American South  | Moving Toward Equality Under Law     

Emancipation Day: Past and Present
Before Juneteenth was made a national holiday in 2021, Black communities throughout the country commemorated the end of slavery on different dates. But how was emancipation celebrated by Black communities historically, before the American Civil War? We can look closely at the example of the State of New York. (This lesson was written in partnership with the New York Public Library’s Center for Educators and Schools.)

Abolitionists and the Constitution  
Two great abolitionists, William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass, once allies, split over the Constitution. Garrison believed it was a pro-slavery document from its inception. Douglass strongly disagreed.

The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850   
In 1850, Southerners succeeded in getting a new federal law passed to return fugitive slaves who had escaped to the North. The U.S. government enforced this law, but some Northern states passed laws to resist it. Sometimes, free Blacks and sympathetic whites joined to rescue captured fugitive slaves. The idea of returning fugitive slaves to their owners originated at the Constitutional Convention in 1787.

Civil War

During the Civil War, the future of the Union and African Americans hung in the balance. Black men made a significant contribution to the eventual Union victory by providing some 180,000 troops out of the approximately 2.2 million men who served the Northern cause. One of the fruits of victory was the passage of the so-called Reconstruction amendments to the U.S. Constitution, one of which, the 15th Amendment, promised black men the right to vote.
Black Troops in Union Blue  |  15th Amendment

The Era of Legal Segregation

The end of slavery did not bring equality to African Americans. Almost immediately, Southern states began passing laws to oppress Black people, and the end of Reconstruction in 1877 spurred even more legislation designed to segregate African Americans and deny them rights enjoyed by white Americans, including voting.
A Brief History of Jim Crow | Race and Voting in the Segregated South   

Ida B. Wells and Her Crusade for Racial Justice
The abolition of slavery after the Civil War became the foundation of Ida B. Wells's life work as a teacher, anti-lynching activist, community organizer, and woman suffragist.

The Civil Rights Movement

The modern civil rights movement in the United States took place from the mid-1950s through the early 1970s. This turbulent period transformed the country. This sprawling movement can be divided into three parts.

One is social activism—the protests, demonstrations, and boycotts. Another is the legal struggle that took place in courts. The third occurred in the legislative arena to enact civil rights laws.
Social Protests  |  In the Courts  |  The Civil Rights Act of 1964  |  The Voting Rights Act of 1965 

Brown v. Board of Education  
This lesson explores the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision which led to the end of legal school segregation and other forms of legal segregation throughout the United States.

Building Constituencies: Case Study of The Montgomery Bus Boycott
This lesson introduces students to the importance of building a constituency to support or oppose public policies using the case study of the Montgomery Bus Boycott as an example. 

Martin Luther King and the Philosophy of Nonviolence
Martin Luther King, Jr. is remembered for his achievements in civil rights and for the methods he used to get there — namely, nonviolence. More than just a catchphrase, more than just the “absence of violence,” and more than just a tactic, nonviolence was a philosophy that King honed over the course of his adult life. It has had a profound, lasting influence on social justice movements at home and abroad.

The Wilmington 10: Criminal Justice and Exoneration  
In the civil strife following school desgregation in 1971 in Wilmington, North Carolina, nine Black people and one white person known as the "Wilmington 10" were tried and convicted for arson (among other charges). They were ultimately exonerated. In this lesson developed in partnership with Carolina K-12, students examine a mix of primary and secondary sources to learn more about the historical circumstances of the Wilmington 10 case. Additional lessons from this partnership can be found here (The Hamlet Fire), here (The Greensboro Massacre), and here (Talking About Reparations: A Civil Conversation).

Voices of Change

The civil rights movement could trace its roots to a variety of leaders and thinkers from different eras and regions; its successes, in turn, influenced leaders of other movements that would follow it. At the turn of the 20th century, W.E.B. Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, and Marcus Garvey outlined different visions for the future of Blacks in America. Martin Luther King Jr. found inspiration for the tactics of civil disobedience in the works and actions of Henry David Thoreau and Mahatma Gandhi and in turn influenced Cesar Chavez. Thurgood Marshall, perhaps best known for being the first African-American U.S. Supreme Court justice, was an untiring lawyer who litigated many significant civil rights cases leading up to Brown v. Board of Education.

Frederick Douglass  |  W.E. Du Bois | Booker T. Washington | Marcus Garvey | Henry David Thoreau  | Mohandas Gandhi  |  Cesar Chavez  | Thurgood Marshall   

A Long Road to Historic Beginnings: Barack Obama as the Nation's First Black President  
Trace the history of Black electoral campaigns from Reconstruction through the 20th century to the election of Barack Obama with primary sources on Obama, Sen. Hiram Revels, Rep. Joseph Rainey, and Rep. Shirley Chisholm.