Selma & Voting Rights: Standing Up for Equality

African American demonstrators outside the White House

Overview

Through inquiry into primary sources, students discover a story of citizens shaping and sustaining our democracy through civic action and will contemplate the import and impact of citizens who strive for equality. This lesson may be used prior to reading a fictional work or poem related to the civil rights movement or in conjunction with a close reading of Lyndon B. Johnson’s March 15, 1965 voting rights address to Congress (in whole or in part).

Related Resources

Grade

Middle School

Subjects

Civics, English Language Arts

Length

60-80 minutes

Topics

Lyndon B. Johnson, civic action, civil rights, equality, march to selma, selma, voting, voting rights, voting rights act, voting rights address

Author

Citizen U DePaul

More Lessons

The Impact of Voting

By Citizen U CRF

Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909

By Tom Bober

Gun Violence and Next-Generation Coalitions

By Citizen U DePaul

Around America to Win the Vote

By Tom Bober

We Shall Overcome

By Primary Source Nexus

The Scientific Method, School Shootings, and Civic Action

By Citizen U DePaul

Civil Rights and Civic Action

By Citizen U DePaul

Absentee Voting & Voting by Mail

By Teaching with the Library of Congress

Why We Can’t . . .

By Primary Source Nexus

Electoral College: Does Your Vote for President Count?

By Primary Source Nexus

The Constitutional Amendment

By Primary Source Nexus

Champions of Change

By TPS Eastern Region

Making a Mark: Marching & Leaping Towards Reform

By Academy of American Poets

Does Every Vote Count?

By Citizen U DePaul

The Fight for Women’s Rights

By Emerging America

Women’s Rights: Seneca Falls & Beyond

By Primary Source Nexus

The Declaration of Independence: Created Equal?

By Teaching with the Library of Congress