All information & worksheets are available from the chapter section on the website: McLinGovEcon.Weebly.com

Cover Sheet: The Voting Rights Act 1965

Name: ………………………………………………….…………….. Period: ………….

Section Checklist (check the left-hand bullet & fill in the points on the right-hand side

for the activities that you have fully completed – no credit for partial completion):

Hand In (Excused Absence (1 class to catch up) …..…; Tardy (lose participation points) …….…; Truant (no make-up allowed) ..…… )

Bellringer .............................................................................. ______ /2

CNN News (archived at http://www.cnn.com/cnn10) ......................... ______ / 2

VRA dbq (back of this sheet) .................................................. ______ / 5

Lynching Postcards Analysis Worksheet ............................... ______ / 5

Lynching Article (mark article & answer questions) ............. ______ / 6

The Voting Rights Act 1965 & Beyond Worksheet ................ ______ / 10

Participation* ...................................................... ................. _______ /5

Total Points Awarded: _____________ / 35

Bellringer & CNN Write-ups (one sentence or phrase = zero credit) Bellringer

Title: ____________________________________________________________________________________

Summary: ________________________________________________________________________________

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CNN News (choose any one segment of the day’s news broadcast)

Segment Title: _____________________________________________________________________________

Summary: ________________________________________________________________________________

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*Participation: points will be deducted for non-academic behavior such as low levels of participation, excessive

chatting, ‘phone use, being off-task, profanity, tardiness, classroom disruption or insubordination.

Name/s: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Period: ……………

Lynching Postcards and Photos Analysis Worksheet Link to photos: http://withoutsanctuary.org/pics_01.html

Step 1—Observation

Select 4 postcards from the link above. Study each photo for a minute or two. What is your overall impression of this image? Complete your responses in the boxes below. Make sure that you detail the photo number in each box.

Photo # ………………………………………… Describe the people ~ Describe the objects ~ Describe the activities

Photo # …………………………………………

Describe the people ~ Describe the objects ~ Describe the activities

Photo # …………………………………………

Describe the people ~ Describe the objects ~ Describe the activities

Photo # …………………………………………

Describe the people ~ Describe the objects ~ Describe the activities

Name/s: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Period: ……………

Now, focus on ONE postcard, and respond to the following prompts: Postcard # and title: …………………………………………………………………………

Step 2--Inference Based on the notes you have taken of what you have observed above, list three things you might assume from this photo.

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Step 3—Questions Based on the notes you have taken of what you have observed above, come up with two questions.

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Step 4—Postcard Comments Write a postcard comment as if you witnessed and approved of the lynching and why.

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Write a postcard comment as if you are visiting the south from a northern state. Write a postcard comment as if you were appalled of the image and why. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

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Name/s: ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Periiod: …………………

Lynching Article Write-Up Sheet

Directions:

Read “Lynching and the Excuse for It” by Ida B Wells.

1. Part One: Mark the article:

a. Number each paragraph

b. Circle Key Terms, Names of People, Names of Places, and or Dates.

c. Underline or highlight an Author’s Claims.

i. Data, facts, or other backing should support an assertion.

d. Underline or highlight Relevant Information

i. Evidence

ii. Definitions

iii. Explanations

iv. Descriptions

v. Data/Statistics

2. Part 2: Answer the following questions:

How many lynching victims were there in the last 15 years of the 19th century?

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What does Wells say actually caused lynching?

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Why do you think Wells risked her own life to speak out against lynching?

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Life at the Turn of the Century 67

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PRIMARY SOURCE from “Lynching and the Excuse for It” by Ida B. Wells

Ida B. Wells crusaded against lynching throughout the United States and Europe.In this article, which she published in the magazine Independent in 1901, sheattacks the assumption that lynching resulted from a desire for justice. As youread, consider the conclusion she draws about the cause of lynching.

Section 3

It was eminently befitting that the Independent’sfirst number in the new century should contain a

strong protest against lynching. The deepest dyedinfamy of the 19th century was that which, in itssupreme contempt for law, defied all constitutionalguarantees of citizenship, and during the last fifteenyears of the century put to death 2,000 men, women,and children by shooting, hanging, and burningalive. Well would it have been if every preacher inevery pulpit in the land had made so earnest a pleaas that which came from Miss Addams’ forceful pen.

Appreciating the helpful influences of such adispassionate and logical argument as that made bythe writer referred to, I earnestly desire to say noth-ing to lessen the force of the appeal. At the sametime, an unfortunate presumption used as a basisfor her argument works so serious, though doubtlessunintentional, an injury to the memory of thousandsof victims of mob law that it is only fair to call atten-tion to this phase of the writer’s plea. It is unspeak-ably infamous to put thousands of people to deathwithout a trial by jury; it adds to that infamy tocharge that these victims were moral monsters,when, in fact, four-fifths of them were not soaccused even by the fiends who murdered them.

Almost at the beginning of her discussion thedistinguished writer says: “Let us assume that theSouthern citizens who take part in and abet thelynching of Negroes honestly believe that that isthe only successful method of dealing with a cer-tain class of crimes.”

It is this assumption, this absolutely unwar-rantable assumption, that vitiates every suggestionwhich it inspires Miss Addams to make. It is thesame baseless assumption which influences ninety-nine out of every one hundred persons who discussthis question. Among many thousand editorial clip-pings I have received in the past five years 99 per-cent discuss the question upon the presumptionthat lynchings are the desperate effort of theSouthern people to protect their women from black

monsters, and, while the large majority condemnlynching, the condemnation is tempered with aplea for the lyncher—that human nature gives wayunder such awful provocation and that the mob,insane for the moment, must be pitied as well ascondemned. It is strange that an intelligent, law-abiding, and fair-minded people should so persis-tently shut their eyes to the facts in the discussionof what the civilized world now concedes to beAmerica’s national crime.

This almost universal tendency to accept as truethe slander which the lynchers offer to civilizationas an excuse for their crime might be explained ifthe true facts were difficult to obtain; but not theslightest difficulty intervenes. The Associated Pressdispatches, the press clipping bureau, frequentbook publications, and the annual summary of anumber of influential journals give the lynchingrecord every year. . . .

A careful classification of the offenses whichhave caused lynchings during the past five yearsshows that contempt for law and race prejudiceconstitute the real cause of all lynching. During thepast five years, 147 white persons were lynched. Itmay be argued that fear of the “law’s delays” wasthe cause of their being lynched. But this is nottrue. Not a single white victim of the mob waswealthy or had friends or influence to cause a mis-carriage of justice. There was no such possibility; itwas contempt for law which incited the mob.

from Ida B. Wells, “Lynching and the Excuse for It,”Independent, May 16, 1901.

Discussion Questions1. How many lynching victims were there in the

last 15 years of the 19th century? 2. What does Wells say actually caused lynching?3. Why do you think Wells risked her own life to

speak out against lynching? Cite evidence fromyour textbook to support your opinion.

CHAPTER

8

The Voting Rights Act, 1965 and Beyond http://mclingovecon.weebly.com/the-voting-rights-act-1965-and-beyond.html Password’s westmont.

1. Movie: The Right to Vote

a. In your own words, describe what obstacles stood between African Americans and the vote.

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b. Summarize what happened on the march from Selma to Montgomery, AL on Sunday, March

7th, 1965.

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c. What effect did President Johnson’s speech have on the nation?

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d. Describe what happened on the 3rd march, led by Dr Martin Luther King Jr, on Sunday,

March 7th, 1965 over the over the Edmund Pattus Bridge to Montgomery.

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e. What happened on August 6th, 1965?

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2. What the Voting Rights Act Said

a. Read the short PDF

b. When you’ve read it, write a few sentences to explain what barriers to voting the new law

banned, and why the law was necessary.

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3. Effects of the Voting Rights Act, 1965

a. Read this handout: Percentage of Registered Voters in Black Voting-Age Population

i. What do the states in the table have in common?

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ii. Why are these states (rather than others) included here?

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iii. Look closely at the data in the table. What overall trend do you see? What do you

think accounted for the trend?

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iv. What exceptions to that trend do you see? What do you think might account for the

exceptions?

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1.

b. Read this handout: Number of Black Legislators in the South (1868-1900 and 1960-1992)

i. Start with the first time period that the graph shows, 1868-1900.

1. What do you notice about the number of black legislators elected during

that time period?

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2. When did the number reach its peak?

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3. Based on what you know about American history, what do you think

accounted for that peak?

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ii. Based on what you know about American history, what do you think caused the

sharp decline that followed?

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iii. Now look at the later time period, 1960-1992 (on page 2). When did the number of

elected black legislators begin to rise? What do you think was the cause of that rise?

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iv. Summarize the effects that the Voting Rights Act has had. Would you say it has been

successful? Why or why not?

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