Segregation in
the Wilson Administration: Should the President be Held Accountable?
Zachary Cain
AHTC 2010 Summer Institute
To download this lesson in PDF format, click here
Abstract
In this lesson, students will examine the idea of
segregation and the precedent of “separate but equal” as established by Plessy v. Ferguson.
They will then go on to examine if segregation was truly “separate but
equal” as it relates to the 14th Amendment. Specifically, students will look at how
segregation impacted African-Americans who were employed by the United States
Postal Service and the United States Treasury.
After examining various primary and secondary sources, students will
then address the question on whether or not President Woodrow Wilson should be
held accountable for violating the Constitutional rights of African-Americans.
Essential
Questions
·
What is a Constitutional Right?
·
What is Segregation?
·
Was the United States truly “separate
but equal”?
·
Should a president be held accountable
for violating the rights of the citizens?
Assessment
After having examined various primary and secondary
sources concerning the segregation of African-Americans employed by the United
States Postal Service and the United States Treasury, students will explain why
or why not President Woodrow Wilson should be held accountable for the
violation of African-Americans’ Constitutional rights.
Activities
1.) Setting
the Purpose: The teacher will ask the basic question, “What are Constitutional
Rights”? During this time, small groups
will work together to brainstorm an answer to this question, and provide at
least two specific examples.
2.) The
teacher will then pass out Handout #1 (14th Amendment) and Handout
#2 (Document Analysis Worksheet), and lead a whole class review of the 14th
Amendment, and the significance to the Constitutional Rights it guaranteed.
3.) In
small groups, the teacher will then provide copies of Handout #3 (Plessy v. Ferguson) and Handout #4 (Document Analysis
Worksheet) and have group examine the significance of this court case.
4.) The
class will reassemble and share out their findings from Plessy
v. Ferguson, and the teacher will discuss the overall significance of the court
case.
5.) The
teacher will then pose the question, “Was the United States truly ‘separate but
equal’”? Groups will then discuss the
question and then share their findings will the entire class.
6.) The
teacher will then provide groups with Handout #5 (Another Open Letter to
Woodrow Wilson), Handout #6 (The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow: Segregation in the
U.S. Government), Handout #7 (The History and Experience of African Americans
in America’s Postal Service), Handout #8 (Documents Analysis Worksheet), and
Handout #9 (Was America Truly “Separate But Equal”?), and have groups determine
if America was truly “separate but equal”.
7.) Groups
will share out there findings with the entire class.
8.) The
teacher will then ask, “Should a president be held accountable if his/her
administration violates the rights of the people”? Groups will discuss this question, and then
share their findings with the entire class.
9.) Finally,
the teacher will pass out Handout #10 (Should Wilson Be Held Accountable?), and
explain that student will imagine that they are a citizen living during the
Wilson Administration, and they are writing a letter to their U.S.
Senator. In this letter, they will
explain why or why not they believe the Wilson Administration had violated the
rights of African-Americans working for the government.
Analysis
of Local Primary Sources
In this lesson, student
will be analyzing national primary sources only, but these sources will help
lead to later lessons that will examine local primary sources that examine how
segregation impacted their local community.
Ties
to National Primary Sources
In this lesson,
students will examine how the ruling of Plessy v.
Ferguson and the idea of “separate but equal” lead to the policy of segregation
in the United States. Further, students
will examine how this policy impact the Constitutional rights of
African-Americas employed by the United States Government, and whether the
President should be accountable for the violation of these rights.