This module is for Grades: 6-8 Introduction

Thurgood Marshall, along with two other attorneys for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, poses outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., after arriving, Aug. 28, 1958, for the extraordinary session of High Tribunal on integration. From left: William T. Coleman, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, and Wiley A. Branton. (AP Photo/William J. Smith)

In the United States, the practice of slavery officially ended in 1865; however, African Americans continued to be denied basic human and civil rights. During the 19th and 20th centuries, African Americans in the United States collectively worked toward obtaining and retaining human and civil rights that were guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution and its democratic ideals and laws.

In this lesson, you will explore the historical context of the 19th and 20th centuries to learn how Thurgood Marshall utilized civil rights as a means to ensure that the United States lived up to its democratic ideals, guaranteeing that all people in the United States had basic human rights.

In today’s lesson, you will:

  • Identify the purpose of the Reconstruction Amendments established within the U.S. Constitution.
  • Identify how African Americans in the United States were denied human rights that were established in the U.S. Constitution through the Reconstruction Amendments.
  • Explore how the Reconstruction Amendments were the bedrock of Thurgood Marshall’s work.
  • Identify how Thurgood Marshall used the law to ensure that the ideals of democracy existed for all who lived in the United States.
  • Make connections to Thurgood Marshall’s legacy and impact.

 

Key Vocabulary

Are you curious to learn more? Select the arrows to review these key vocabulary terms. Select the Turn button to read the definition for each vocabulary word.


 

Essential Questions:

Throughout the lesson, you will think and reflect on these essential questions.

  • Why were the Reconstruction Amendments established within the U.S. Constitution?
  • During the 20th century, how were African Americans in the United States denied human and civil rights that were established in the U.S. Constitution through the Reconstruction Amendments?
  • How did Thurgood Marshall use the law to ensure that the ideals of democracy existed for all who lived in the United States?
  • What can we learn from the legacy Thurgood Marshall left behind?
  • How did Thurgood Marshall leave a legacy of using civil rights as a democracy project to ensure that all people in the U.S. had basic human rights?