From its inception, the United States struggled to reconcile the idea of freedom with African American slavery. While it seemed as if the Civil War would resolve this dilemma, the end of slavery did not bring the equal rights imagined by African Americans and their allies. It instead led to a battle for even the most basic political and human rights which continued for over a century. This class explores the competing visions of America, from the time of the Civil War through the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and how key events of this period still affect us today.
Course Effective Dates: 12/21/22 – Present
Outline of Major Content Areas
Antebellum Racism
Jim Crow South
Lynching and terrorism
Northern Migration
Reconstruction
The Civil Rights Movement
The Civil War
World War II
Learning Outcomes
Identify key turning points in the fight for African American rights between 1860 and 1965.
Explain why the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were necessary despite the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution
Explain how major events of African American history in the period under study still have a profound effect on U.S. society today.
Analyze primary and secondary sources.
Explore multiple perspectives on historical issues.
Minnesota Transfer Curriculum Goal Area(s) and Competencies Goal 05 — Hist/Soc/Behav Sci
Employ the methods and data that historians and social and behavioral scientists use to investigate the human condition.
Examine social institutions and processes across a range of historical periods and cultures.
Use and critique alternative explanatory systems or theories.
Goal 7B — Race/Power/Justice
Understand historical and contemporary systemic structures of racism that sustain social, political, economic, and/or environmental inequities, particularly for Black, Indigenous lands and people, and other communities of color.
Describe individual and institutional dynamics of unequal power relations among racial groups in the United States- and how inequality is maintained by redefining race and other social identities and structures.
Examine significant challenges of and contributions by people in the United States who have experienced racism and other forms of oppression such as sexism, classism, ableism, heterosexism, transphobia, antisemitism, and Islamophobia.
