The U.S. Constitution and Civil Rights:

The Civil Rights Movement- How did we get here?

California Content Standard• 11.10 Students analyze the development

of federal civil rights and voting rights. • 11.10.6 Analyze the ffects of civil rights

and voting rights legislation (e.g., 1964 Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act of 1965) and the Twenty-Fourth Amendment, with an emphasis on equality of access to education and to the political process.

Lesson Objectives• Students will be able to:

* compare and contrast the conditions in which African Americans lived before and after the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments.

* identify the setbacks to reconstruction efforts

* evaluate the purpose of the U.S. Constitution

* examine how the conditions for African Americans in the U.S. lead to the Civil Rights movement

Constitutional Changes Under Reconstruction

• Thirteen Amendment (1865) Slavery and Involuntary Servitude

Section 1: Outlawing Slavery- neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been dully convicted, shall exist within the U.S., or any place subject to their jurisdiction

Section 2: Enforcement- Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation

Thirteen Amendment (1865) Slavery and Involuntary Servitude

• Before • After

Constitutional Changes Under Reconstruction

• Fourteenth Amendment (1868) Rights of Citizens• Section 1: Citizenship- All persons born or

naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileged or immunities of citizens of the United States ; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Fourteenth Amendment (1868) Rights of Citizens

• Before • After

Constitutional Changes Under Reconstruction

• Fifteenth Amendment (1870) Right to Vote-Race, Color, Servitude

Section 1: Extending the Right to Vote- The right of citizens of the U.S. to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the U.S. or any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Section 2: Enforcement- The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Fifteenth Amendment (1870) Right to Vote-Race, Color, Servitude

• Before • After

Reconstruction Backlash/Results

• 13th Amendment- Slavery

*Continual poverty for African Ams.

*Share Cropping, tenant farming

*limited opportunities

•

Reconstruction Backlash/Results

• 14th Amendment-Rights of Citizen

*Jim Crow laws- superior/inferior, societal norms

*Plessy v. Ferguson 1896- legalizes “separate but equal”

*Growth of the KKK-terrorism

Reconstruction Backlash/Results• 15th Amendment-

Right to Vote

*Voting Restrictions

1. poll tax- fee to vote

2. literacy tests- designed to keep African Ams. from voting

3. grandfather clause

Before the Civil Rights Movement the U.S. looked like

this…

Quick Write Prompt

• How effective were the constitutional changes made under reconstruction?

• How did the conditions in which African Americans lived elicit the need for a Civil Rights movement?