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Year 11
AQA

Civil rights legislation in the 1960s

I can explain the impact of civil rights legislation passed in the USA during the 1960s.

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New
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Year 11
AQA

Civil rights legislation in the 1960s

I can explain the impact of civil rights legislation passed in the USA during the 1960s.

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Share activities with pupils
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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The 1964 Civil Rights Act outlawed racial discrimination.
  2. The 1965 Voting Rights Act gave all Americans the right to vote.
  3. The 1968 Civil Rights Act made housing discrimination illegal.
  4. African Americans continued to face discrimination and racism.

Keywords

  • Legislation - laws passed by the government

  • Disenfranchisement - when the right to vote is taken away from a group of people

  • Enforced - making sure that laws and rules are obeyed

Common misconception

New civil rights led to immediate improvements in African American lives.

New civil rights were not always enforced by the government and many problematic areas of life, such as black American poverty, were not legislated for.


To help you plan your year 11 history lesson on: Civil rights legislation in the 1960s, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Ask students after the final question how the content from this lesson can help explain the rise of the Black Power Movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Push students in particular to consider how laws passed by the government compared to needs/ expectations.
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Teacher tip
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Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
  • Depiction or discussion of serious crime
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
supervision-level

Supervision

Adult supervision required

copyright

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), 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.
Write the missing word. A person may be described as if they support big social, economic or political changes.
Correct Answer: radical, Radical
Q2.
Malcolm X was a spokesperson for which radical group?
Black Panthers
NAACP
Correct answer: Nation of Islam
US government
Q3.
Write the missing two words. During the 1968 Olympics, Tommie Smith and John Carlos gave the salute.
Correct Answer: Black Power, Black power, black power
Q4.
Write the missing word. Over 20 000 children were fed by the Free for Children Program in the first year after it began.
Correct Answer: breakfast, Breakfast
Q5.
Which statement is most accurate?
The Black Panthers only focused on the use of violence against oppression.
The Black Panthers only focused on providing services for their community.
Correct answer: Black Panthers provided community services and used violence in self defence.
Q6.
Starting with the earliest, sort the following events into chronological order.
1 - Supreme Court declared segregation in schools unconstitutional.
2 - President Eisenhower sent federal troops to Little Rock.
3 - President Johnson approved the Civil Rights Act.
4 - Voting Rights Act was passed.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Write the missing word. A law is if authorities make sure that people obey it.
Correct Answer: enforced, Enforced
Q2.
Write the missing surname. President Lyndon B was responsible for signing the 1964 Civil Rights Act, 1965 Voting Rights Act and 1968 Civil Rights Act into law.
Correct Answer: Johnson
Q3.
Which law set up the Equal Opportunities Commission?
Correct answer: 1964 Civil Rights Act
1965 Voting Rights Act
1968 Civil Rights Act
Q4.
How did African American unemployment rates in 1970 compare to those of white Americans?
African Americans were almost half as likely to be unemployed.
African Americans were just as likely to be unemployed.
Correct answer: African Americans were almost twice as likely to be unemployed.
Q5.
Which of the following encouraged the government to pass the 1968 Civil Rights Act?
JFK's election as president
March on Washington
Correct answer: riots in ghetto areas
Q6.
Starting with the earliest, sort the following events into chronological order.
1 - JFK became president.
2 - March on Washington
3 - 1964 Civil Rights Act passed
4 - police attacked marchers from Selma
5 - Voting Rights Act passed
6 - widespread riots in US cities
7 - 1968 Civil Rights Act passed

Additional material

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