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Year 11
AQA

Martin Luther King and peaceful protest

I can assess the impact of Martin Luther King's peaceful protest movements between 1963 and 1966.

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New
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Year 11
AQA

Martin Luther King and peaceful protest

I can assess the impact of Martin Luther King's peaceful protest movements between 1963 and 1966.

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Share activities with pupils
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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Major civil rights protests took place in Birmingham, Washington and Selma.
  2. Martin Luther King Jr hoped to pressure lawmakers into taking action on civil rights.
  3. The federal government passed the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act in 1965.
  4. King's Chicago Freedom Movement achieved little success.

Keywords

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

  • Ghetto - an area of a city where people of a particular race or religion live, especially a poor area

Common misconception

Martin Luther King wanted to avoid violent reactions from opponents of the Civil Rights Movement.

King stuck to peaceful protest but deliberately campaigned in locations like Birmingham where it was believed opponents were likely to react violently.


To help you plan your year 11 history lesson on: Martin Luther King and peaceful protest, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

At the end of task C, pupils could be asked to work in pairs to make their own conclusions on how successful peaceful protest was in the period between 1963 and 1966. Emphasis should be placed on what overall criteria for success is (i.e. prompting political response, long-term improvement, etc).
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Teacher tip
content-guidance

Content guidance

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

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

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: Direct action aimed to attract attention.
Correct Answer: media, Media
Q2.
Identify the example which was not a form of direct action.
Correct answer: Brown v. Board of Education
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Greensboro sit-in
Freedom Rides
Q3.
Who emerged as a civil rights leader during the Montgomery Bus Boycott?
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Harry Truman
Joseph McCarthy
Correct answer: Martin Luther King Jr
Q4.
Write the missing region. The Freedom Riders travelled through the American during 1961.
Correct Answer: south, South
Q5.
Identify the outcomes which were not benefits of publicity for civil rights campaigners using direct action.
Correct answer: it made opponents realise that they were wrong
helped increase participation
put pressure on the federal government to act
Correct answer: forced the Supreme Court to outlaw more racist laws
Q6.
Starting with the earliest, sort the following events into chronological order.
1 - Brown v. Board of Education
2 - Montgomery Bus Boycott
3 - Greensboro sit-in
4 - Freedom Rides

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Write the missing word. is when the right to vote (the franchise) is taken away from a group of people.
Correct Answer: disenfranchisement, Disenfranchisement
Q2.
Which African American is often considered the leader of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s?
Correct Answer: Martin Luther King Jr, Martin Luther King, King, MLK
Q3.
What type of protest was the leader of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s committed to?
Correct answer: peaceful
radical
violent
Q4.
In which Northern city did the leader of the Civil Rights Movement lead a freedom movement in 1966?
Correct Answer: Chicago, chicago
Q5.
Why was a large-scale civil rights campaign staged in Birmingham in 1963?
the police force in Birmingham was supportive
Correct answer: the police force in Birmingham was violent
the police force in Birmingham was weak
Q6.
Starting with the earliest, sort the following events into chronological order.
1 - 1964 Civil Rights Act passed
2 - African Americans continue to suffer from disenfranchisement
3 - March organised from Selma
4 - Bloody Sunday
5 - 1965 Voting Rights Act passed

Additional material

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