Alabama Social Studies SS24.USG.7b
The Standard
- SS24.USG.7
- Analyze how the expansion of suffrage affected the political system of the United States, including the enfranchisement of non-property owners, women, Black Americans, and persons 18 to 20 years of age.
Describe how Black Codes, Jim Crow laws, and the Selma-to-Montgomery March influenced the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain how Black Codes restricted freedpeople's rights after the Civil War and how later Jim Crow rules blocked Black voters. They connect violence against Selma marchers to growing support for a federal voting law.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can put Black Codes, Jim Crow voting rules, and the Selma march in order and explain each one's role. They can name literacy tests as a voting barrier and explain how the 1965 law addressed them.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think Black Codes and Jim Crow laws were the same laws from the same period. Some think the march itself changed the law, or that Black citizens first gained the right to vote in 1965.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Put Black Codes, Jim Crow literacy tests, and the Selma march in order. In two sentences, explain how these events and laws led to the Voting Rights Act.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Have pairs place a Black Code labor rule, a Jim Crow literacy test rule, and a Selma photo on a timeline.
Ask students to write: Why did images of violence against Selma marchers build support for a federal voting law?
Play a matching round with cards naming Black Codes, literacy tests, Selma, and federal oversight, pairing each with its effect.
Use your state's voter registration website to list today's requirements, then compare them with a 1960s Alabama literacy test rule.
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