VS.8b

Identifying the effects of segregation and "Jim Crow" on life in Virginia.

READY RESOURCES

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

• In this lesson, students will learn how segregation and “Jim Crow” laws affected life in Virginia.
  
  
• Review Reconstruction and remind students that African Americans, because of their newly won freedoms, had earned equal rights – the rights to vote and to hold office.
  
  
• Introduce the term segregation as the separation of people, usually based on race or religion.
  
  
• Read from teacher-selected books on segregation. Explain and remind students that some Virginians and some Confederate leaders resented the fact that African Americans now had the same rights as white people, so Virginia and other southern states passed laws that took away the rights that African Americans gained during Reconstruction. These laws were called “Jim Crow” laws. They separated the races and reinforced prejudices held by whites.
  
  
• Show Virginia Pathways Episode 5: Civil Rights, segments 1 and 2.
  
  
• On a sentence strip or 8- by 12-inch poster, write “Jim Crow” Laws. List effects on separate strips of posters and discuss each one with students. Post in the classroom for quick reference, and review the effects “Jim Crow” laws had on African American life. Unfair poll taxes and voting tests were established to keep African Americans from voting. African Americans found it very difficult to vote or hold public office. African Americans were forced to use separate drinking fountains. African American and white children attended separate schools.
  
  
• Explain cause and effect. Write a paragraph explaining the results of the "Jim Crow" laws. How did this affect the lives of African Americans? Could this time period affect the attitudes of people today?
  
  
• Use the following Web sites for student research:
  The Origin of Jim Crow at http://vastudies.pwnet.org/pdf/jim_crow.pdf
  History of Jim Crow at http://www.jimcrowhistory.org
  “The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow” at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow
  
  
• Have student groups research information about segregation and "Jim Crow" laws in Virginia from this student-oriented Web site: http://www.mcps.org/ss/5thgrade/postrecon.html.
  
  
• Explore the complex African-American experience of segregation from the 1870s through the 1950s in this resourceful Web site about the history of Jim Crow laws. The National Park Service Web site offers a variety of eductioanl resources relating to "Jim Crow." http://www.jimcrowhistory.org
  
  
• Create a class or student group time line of events that occurred in Virginia during the time of "Jim Crow."
  
  
• Use the Study Guide from the Virginia Pathways Episode 5 to describe the effects of "Jim Crow" laws in Virginia. http://www.vastudies.org/episode5/studyguide.html
  
  
• Use the Study Guide from the Virginia Pathways Episode 3 Segment 2: Civil War, Reconstruction, 20th Century (page 28) to further the student's knowledge of life in Virginia during this time period. http://www.vastudies.org/episode3/studyguide.html

TEACHER BACKGROUND RESOURCES

WEB SITES

• http://www.vahistorical.org/sva2003/new_southerners.htm
  This site gives insight into the social and economic events of Reconstruction and beyond.
  
  
• http://valley.vcdh.virginia.edu/HIUS403/freedmen/overview.html
  This site supplies a brief history of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands during Reconstruction. It outlines four areas of contribution to the life of emancipated slaves.
  
  
• http://www.lva.lib.va.us
  This site provides access to multiple databases, digital images of text, photographs, and maps.
  
  
• http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit
  This two-part site explores the life of former slaves during Reconstruction, including efforts for education and economic equality.
  
  
• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reconstruction/states
  This site offers an extensive list of electronic and printed resources on Reconstruction.
  
  
• http://www.vahistorical.org/storyofvirginia.htm
  This site consists of ten concise, easy-to-read chapters on Virginia history from prehistoric times to the present.
  
  
• http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/reconstruction/timeline.html
  This chronological presentation identifies and describes the major events of 1865-1877.
  
  
• http://chumby.dlib.vt.edu/melissa/posters
  Users can click on “The Civil War Era” for posters on people and events of the Civil War.
  
  
• http://www.teacherlink.org/content/social/vcdh_lessons
  This collaborative work with the Woodson Institute for Afro-American and African Studies at UVa includes material on slavery and emancipation, Reconstruction, and the era of Jim Crow segregation in the South.
  
  
• http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_events_14th.html
  This site features people, events, and narratives focusing on life during the era of Jim Crow.