In this activity students learn about literacy tests and other barriers that kept black Southerners from being able to vote. Students also take a 1960s literacy test from Alabama.

In this lesson plan from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, students will identify and discuss the condition and aspirations of free African Americans in the years following the Civil War, identify the social factors that led to the rise of Jim Crow segregation and evaluate the effects of segregation.

In this activity, students study a political cartoon and answer a series of questions. The questions are designed to guide students into a deeper analysis of the source and sharpen associated cognitive skills.

In this lesson, students will learn about the case of Dorothy E. Davis, et al. vs. County School Board of Prince Edward County, Virginia using primary source materials. This case predated the Brown vs Board of Education case and was brought about by a 16 year old student who complied the data about the differences between her all black school and the all white school.

Students explore how immigration, citizenship, due process of law, and the freedoms of speech and assembly have shaped American values throughout American history. The article for this assignment can be found at http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20011119monday.html.