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Year 11
AQA

Social and civil progress in the USA, c.1950-1973

I can assess the extent of progress experienced by African Americans and women in the USA between the 1950s and 1970s.

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New
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Year 11
AQA

Social and civil progress in the USA, c.1950-1973

I can assess the extent of progress experienced by African Americans and women in the USA between the 1950s and 1970s.

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Share activities with pupils
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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Many women and African Americans felt like second class citizens.
  2. Women and African Americans benefitted from changes in the law in the 1950s, 60s and 70s.
  3. Some new laws were poorly enforced.
  4. Some groups continued to oppose equality for women and African Americans.

Keywords

  • Second class citizen - someone who is not given the same rights and opportunities as other people in a society, usually because they belong to a particular group

Common misconception

New laws immediately improved the lives of women and African Americans.

Poor enforcement and unchanged attitudes undermined the impact of some changes in the law.

After Task C, get pupils to debate with one another whether African Americans and women could still be considered second class citizens by the mid-1970s. Students may wish to distinguish between black and female experiences when formulating their responses to this.
Teacher tip

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is a drug or object that prevents a woman from becoming pregnant called?
Correct Answer: contraceptive, a contraceptive, contraceptives
Q2.
Which of the following individuals helped to inspire the Feminist Movement?
Correct answer: Betty Friedan
Phyllis Schlafly
Richard Nixon
Q3.
Which Supreme Court case legalised abortion in the USA?
Plessy v. Fergusson
Brown v. Board
Correct answer: Roe v. Wade
Q4.
Which group threw products such as mops, pans, high heels and bras into 'freedom trash cans'?
Libbers
NOW
Correct answer: Stop ERA
Q5.
In 1975, the average female income was what percentage of the average male income?
50%
Correct answer: 60%
70%
80%
100%
Q6.
Starting with the earliest, sort the following events into chronological order.
1 - Women gained the right to vote in all parts of the USA.
2 - Women were encouraged to work in factories during WW2.
3 - Many women returned to housework and traditional 'female' jobs.
4 - 'The Feminine Mystique' was published.
5 - Shirley Chisholm ran for president.
6 - Roe v. Wade.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is a second class citizen?
someone who is poorer than most other people
someone who is richer than most other people
Correct answer: someone who is not given the same rights and opportunities as other people
Q2.
What were the segregationist laws in the US South known as?
Correct Answer: Jim Crow laws, Jim Crow
Q3.
Out of a total of 531, how many members of Congress were female in 1955?
0
Correct answer: 15
51
110
Q4.
What happened to the number of registered African American voters in the South in the years immediately after the Voting Rights Act was passed?
decreased
remained the same
Correct answer: increased
Q5.
Which examples best demonstrate that new laws did not always change the views of those who opposed equality?
Correct answer: Phyllis Schlafly successfully led the Stop ERA campaign.
Shirley Chisholm became the first black woman elected to Congress in 1969.
The 1964 Civil Rights Act banned discrimination on the basis of race and sex.
Correct answer: Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968
Q6.
Starting with the earliest, sort the following events into chronological order.
1 - Brown v. Board of Education
2 - Montgomery Bus Boycott
3 - Equal Pay Act
4 - Voting Rights Act
5 - Assassination of Martin Luther King
6 - Roe v. Wade
7 - ERA defeated