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Year 11
Edexcel

Segregation and discrimination in the USA

I can describe the history of segregation in the USA.

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New
New
Year 11
Edexcel

Segregation and discrimination in the USA

I can describe the history of segregation in the USA.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. In 1865, slavery came to an end, but racism would not disappear overnight.
  2. Jim Crow laws had enforced segregation across southern states in the US, but also some northern states.
  3. Jim Crows laws were introduced to limit the freedoms introduced in the Reconstruction era.
  4. Discrimination and segregation increased in the late 1800s, and worsened after the Plessy v Ferguson verdict (1896)

Common misconception

Jim Crow laws only impacted southern states in the US.

Although Jim Crow laws were implemented in every southern state, there was still some segregation in northern states.

Keywords

  • Discrimination - discrimination is unjust treatment based on a particular characteristic or physical trait

  • Segregation - when different groups of people are forcefully kept separate or apart it is called segregation

  • Jim Crow laws - Jim Crow laws were a set of laws that enforced segregation in the USA, named after 'Jim Crow' - a stereotype of lazy, black American people

  • Lynched - when someone is lynched they are killed for an offence without a trial, usually by an armed group

In emphasising that there was some degree of segregation across the US, make clear the impact that this would have on an attempt to challenge it. It would be very difficult as, even in several northern states, a more informal version of Jim Crow laws existed.
Teacher tip

Content guidance

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

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).

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
is a form of discrimination or prejudice based on someone's race or ethnicity.
Correct Answer: Racism, racism
Q2.
Which President of the USA was responsible for implementing the New Deal?
Correct answer: Franklin D. Roosevelt
Calvin Coolidge
Herbert Hoover
Harry S. Truman
Q3.
Starting with the earliest, sort the following events into the order in which they happened.
1 - The Great Depression
2 - The New Deal
3 - World War Two
4 - The Red Scare
Q4.
Which statements are correct?
Correct answer: Roosevelt promised that his New Deal would deliver relief, recovery and reform.
All Americans were lifted out of poverty by the New Deal.
Correct answer: Many Americans were lifted out of poverty by the New Deal.
Correct answer: The New Deal did not end unequal treatment of African Americans in the USA.
Q5.
Which statements are correct?
African Americans did not gain new opportunities for employment during the war.
Correct answer: African Americans gained new opportunities for employment during the war.
Correct answer: African Americans faced discrimination in the military and on the home front.
Q6.
Match the following words with their definitions.
Correct Answer:Civil rights,protections that ensure equal treatment and prevent discrimination

protections that ensure equal treatment and prevent discrimination

Correct Answer:Inequality,disparity in the distribution of resources or opportunities

disparity in the distribution of resources or opportunities

Correct Answer:Abolition, the movement to permanently end the practice of enslaving humans

the movement to permanently end the practice of enslaving humans

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
In which year did Abraham Lincoln issue the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery across the USA?
1776
1861
Correct answer: 1865
Q2.
Match the words with their definitions.
Correct Answer:Discrimination, unjust treatment based on a particular characteristic or trait

unjust treatment based on a particular characteristic or trait

Correct Answer:Segregation,when different groups of people are forcefully kept separate or apart

when different groups of people are forcefully kept separate or apart

Correct Answer:Lynch,to kill someone for an offence without a trial

to kill someone for an offence without a trial

Q3.
Complete the sentence. were the rules that enforced segregation, named after a stereotype of lazy, black American people.
Correct Answer: The Jim Crow laws, the jim crow laws
Q4.
Which of these statements best describes where segregation existed in the USA?
Only the southern states of the USA
Only the northern states of the USA
All of the states of the USA
Correct answer: Every southern state and some of the northern states of the USA
Q5.
Which statements are correct?
Correct answer: The Jim Crow laws segregated all public facilities, such as schools.
Black Americans had the same quality of life as their White counterparts.
Correct answer: Black Americans were forced to use poorer quality facilities under Jim Crow.
Correct answer: The 15th Amendment aimed to ensure that all Black Americans were able to vote.
Q6.
Which of the statements best describes the outcome of Plessy v Ferguson in 1896?
Correct answer: Segregation was legal so long as it was ‘separate but equal’.
Segregation was not legal.
Segregation was legal so long as it was ‘separate but not equal’.

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