US Department of Justice
Introduction to Federal Voting Rights Laws
From the U.S. Justice Department, this is a history of voting rights laws in the United States, including a discussion of the Fifteenth Amendment.
Thomson Reuters
Find Law: u.s. Supreme Court: New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)
Provides a brief summary and the text of Chief Justice Brennan's opinion of the Supreme Court in this case involving libel.
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Gilder Lehrman Institute: History Now: Historian's Perspective: Winning the Vote: History of Voting Rights
[Free Registration/Login Required] Historian-authored three-part overview looks at the history of voting rights in America, touching on all the critical moments in American history when voting rights were first denied then granted to...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Writing in u.s. History: 1968: A Time of Change
Explore how the events and cultural and political changes that occurred in 1968 came to represent the upheaval and dramatic changes in American life during the 1960s. In this interactive lesson from WGBH, students develop a written...
Brigham Young University
World War I Document Archive: The u.s. Sedition Act
Find the text of the U.S. Sedition Act, section three of the Espionage Act passed during World War I.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Primary Source Set: Voting Rights Act of 1965
This collection uses primary sources to explore the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Primary Source Set: The Equal Rights Amendment
This collection uses primary sources to explore the Equal Rights Amendment.
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Civil Liberties in Wartime (Lesson Plan)
Examine the rights and responsibilities of a citizen in a democratic system and those guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Consider the conditions of war and debate the pros and cons of the wartime curtailment of civil liberties.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Rosa Parks started a revolution by refusing to give up her seat on a bus. Read about the Montgomery bus boycott, and see how the nonviolent actions of supporters of the Civil Rights movement succeeded in using the boycott to inspire more...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: u.s. Supreme Court Plessy v. Ferguson [Pdf]
Read this concise discussion of the landmark Supreme Court decision, Plessy v Ferguson. Find a synopsis of the case, the majority opinion of the court, and the dissenting opinion by Justice Harlan.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Affirmative Action and the Usa
In this video from Wide Angle, two American NAACP lawyers arrive to advise Brazilian civil rights organizations, leading to a discussion of differences between race relations in the U.S. and Brazil.
Digital History
Digital History: Simple Justice
Follow the civil rights quest for integrated schools from the beginning in 1849 through the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. the Topeka Board of Education and the struggle that ensued for decades following in the most reluctant...
Read Works
Read Works: Famous African Americans Martin Luther King, Jr.
[Free Registration/Login Required] This biographical sketch contains information about the Civil Rights leader, Martin Luther King, Jr. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and...
Curated OER
National Park Service: International Civil Rights Walk of Fame: Thurgood Marshall
This is an informative biography discussing the role Thurgood Marshall had in the Civil Rights Movement, particularly as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: w.e.b. Du Bois
Read a brief biography of W.E.B. DuBois, who was an early civil rights activist and supporter of equal opportunity and treatment for African-Americans. See how he acted on his beliefs. Included is a brief quiz about the Progressive Era.
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Freedom: A History of Us
Online home of the sixteen-part PBS series on American history, A History of US is a storehouse of information and resources to enrich any study of America. Includes an interactive timeline, an image browser, games, quizzes, first-person...
Digital History
Digital History: The Equal Rights Amendment
In 1972, Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the U.S. Constitution. The ERA subsequently failed to be ratified by the necessary number of states and was never added to the Constitution.
Thomson Reuters
Find Law: u.s. Supreme Court: Shelley v. Kraemer (1948)
The full text of the Supreme Court decision of Shelley vs. Kraemer, relating to the enforcement by the courts of private agreements that exclude persons of color.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Radical Reconstruction
Read about the frustration the Radical Republicans in Congress had with the Reconstruction plans of Andrew Johnson. Find out what legislation they were able to pass over Johnson's veto, and how they attempted to protect emancipated...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The Sit in Movement
Just like the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the first sit-in at a Woolworth's lunch counter was the beginning of a nonviolent movement to challenge "white only" laws. Read about how the sit-in movement spread across the South. See how...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Japanese American Internment
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, fear of Japanese-Americans irrationally increased, resulting in Roosevelt's executive order that created internment camps for American citizens. Read about the camps, the life in the camps, and...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society"
President Lyndon Johnson launched his legislation plans for his "Great Society" soon after he became president. Read about the many pieces of legislation that were passed in just a few years. See what happened to tarnish Johnson's...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Kennedy's New Frontier
Read about John Kennedy's vision for America upon his becoming president. Find out about the space race with the Soviet Union, and expanded social programs for the poor and elderly in America.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Separate No Longer?
An explantion of how the Supreme Court decision in Brown v Board of Education of Topeka turned the concept of separate but equal on its head. See how they determined that the 14th Amendment was being violated when schools did not fund...