Mississippi and Civil Rights
About the Mississippi and Civil Rights Lesson
Summary
A lesson on civil rights and school integration in the state of Mississippi. The reading is accompanied by true/false questions.
Objectives
• To introduce students to the history of civil rights and school integration in the state of Mississippi.
Suggested Grades
4th Grade
5th Grade
6th Grade
Excerpt
Before the Civil War, when the federal government attempted to maintain an equal balance between the number of states that allowed slavery and those that did not, Mississippi was a Slave State. Large plantation owners relied on slaves to work the fields and these wealthy men also controlled state government and politics. In fact, slavery was defended as a way of bringing civilization and Christianity to African people. Other arguments stated a theory of white supremacy that whites were inherently superior to people with black skin. The idea of white supremacy remained a force in Mississippi for about 100 years after the Civil War.
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