CIVIL RIGHTS DOCUMENT BASED QUESTION (DBQ)
Lauren Thomas ● AP U.S. History ● Brockton High School ● Brockton, MA
UNIT OF STUDY
CONNECTION TO
THE
MASSACHUSETTS
STATE
FRAMEWORKS
CONNECTION TO
THE MODULE
The Civil Rights Movement
USII.25: Analyze the origins, goals, and key events of the Civil Rights movement.
USII.26: Describe the accomplishments of the Civil Rights movement.
The book, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Struggle of the 1950s
and 1960s: A Brief History with Documents by David Howard-Pitney, provided primary
sources for the DBQ.
Primary sources of pictures for DBQ found in The Civil Rights Movement: A
Photographic History, 1954-1968 by Steven Kasher.
The timeline on Women and Gender in the Civil Rights movement given by Dr. Dayo
Gore from UMASS, Amherst was used as a reference in constructing documents in the
DBQ.
MATERIALS NEEDED
•
•
•
OBJECTIVES
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Hand-out with DBQ question and documents A-K
Document A: Richmond Times Dispatch (September 2, 1958), political cartoon
Document B: City of Norfolk Ballot (November, 1958)
Document C: George Wallace (January, 1963) Inaugural Address
Document D: Reverend Martin Luther King Letter from Birmingham Jail (April 16,
1963)
Document E: Fannie Lou Hamer, Speech at the Democratic National Convention (July
22, 1964)
Document F: California Proposition 14 – Amendment to the Rumford Fair Housing
Act, sponsored by the California Realtors Association(November, 1964)
Document G: 1965 Political Cartoon
Document H: Signing the Voting Rights Act, U.S. News and World Report, (August 16,
1965)
Document I: Black Panther Party Platform, 1966
Document J: Black Panther Party Poster, NYU Archives Collection, 1969
Document K: The Log, Salem State College (October 24, 1972)
Grading Rubric for Civil Rights DBQ
Students will apply a variety of reading skills and strategies to examine print and
electronic materials.
Students will write with clarity, purpose and understanding of audience.
Students will recognize that different people, with different motives and interests, have
the ability to change through collaboration.
Students will understand the importance of treating all individuals with dignity and
respect.
Students will comprehend the meaning of primary source documents.
Students will identify through research injustices people have endured and how they
were able to rise above these injustices and accomplish success.
Students will identify several specific examples of common racial, gender, ethnic,
religious, and socio-economic stereotyping as they examine print and electronic
materials.
Students will cite specific examples of various forms of protest and analyze their
effectiveness in bringing about change.
LESSON: Civil Rights Document Based Question (DBQ)
LESSON
1. The lesson is designed to take one entire class period, however as an alternative the
documents may be taken home without the question to read, highlight, and make notes on.
The next day the students would be given the question and could spend the period writing
the DBQ.
2. Students will have completed the unit on the Civil Rights movement prior to completing this
essay, and it is viewed as a cumulating activity.
See attached pages for materials
Name ________________________________________________ Date _____________
Civil Rights DBQ Question
Directions: The following question requires you to construct a coherent essay that
integrates your interpretation of Documents A-K and your knowledge of the period
referred to in the question. High scores will be earned only by essays that cite key pieces
of evidence from the documents and draw on outside knowledge of the period.
Question: From the 1950s to 1970s leaders of the Civil Rights movement used various
methods to affect change. Analyze the types of resistance and the extent to which the
methods successfully advanced the movement.
Civil Rights DBQ Question/Rubric
Question: From the 1950s to 1970s leaders of the Civil Rights movement used various
methods to affect change. Analyze the types of resistance and the extent to which the
methods successfully advanced the movement.
The 8-9 Essay
• Contains a well-developed thesis that examines the types of resistance and the
extent to which the methods successfully advanced the Civil Rights movement
• Supports the thesis with an effective analysis of the types of resistance and the
extent to which the methods successfully advanced the Civil Rights movement
o Examines multiple methods of resistance in a balanced manner
• Effectively uses a substantial number of documents
• Supports the thesis with substantial and relevant outside information
• May contain minor errors
• Is clearly organized and well written
The 5-7 Essay
• Contain a thesis that addresses the types of resistance and the extent to which the
methods successfully advanced the Civil Rights movement
• Has some limited analysis of the types of resistance and the extent to which the
methods successfully advanced the Civil Rights movement
o Examines some methods of resistance, may be imbalanced
• Effectively uses some documents
• Supports thesis with some relevant outside information
• May have errors that do not seriously detract from the quality of the essay
• Shows acceptable organization and writing: language errors do not interfere with
the comprehension
The 2-4 Essay
• Contains a limited or undeveloped thesis
• Deals with the question in a general, simplistic, or superficial manner
• Merely paraphrases, quotes, or briefly cites documents
• Contains little outside information, or information that is inaccurate or irrelevant
• May contain major errors
• May be poorly organized and/or poorly written
The 0-1 Essay
• Lacks a thesis or simply restates the question
• Exhibits inadequate or incorrect understanding of the question
• Has little or no understanding of the documents or ignores them completely
• May contain substantial factual errors
• Is poorly organized and/or poorly written
The – Essay
• Is blank or completely off task
Documents
Document A: Richmond Times Dispatch (September 2, 1958)
(November, 1958)
Document B: City of Norfolk Ballot
Document C
….. Today I have stood, where once Jefferson Davis stood, and took an oath to my people. It is very appropriate then
that from this Cradle of the Confederacy, this very Heart of the Great Anglo-Saxon Southland, that today we sound
the drum for freedom as have our generations of forebears before us done, time and time again through history. Let
us rise to the call of freedom-loving blood that is in us and send our answer to the tyranny that clanks its chains upon
the South. In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the
gauntlet before the feet of tyranny . . . and I say . . . segregation today . . . segregation tomorrow . . . segregation
forever…..
George Wallace, January, 1963 Inaugural Address
Document D
“…You may well ask: "Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?" You
are quite right in calling, for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action
seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is
forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation
of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent-resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not
afraid of the word "tension." I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent
tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so
that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and
objective appraisal, we must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will
help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and
brotherhood…”
-Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.
Letter from a Birmingham Jail (April 16, 1963)
Document E
…All of this is on account of us wanting to register, to become first-class citizens, and if the freedom Democratic
Party is not seated now, I question America, is this America, the land of the free and the home of the brave where we
have to sleep with our telephones off of the hooks because our lives be threatened daily because we want to live as
decent human beings, in America?
-Fannie Lou Hamer, Speech at the Democratic National Convention, July 22, 1964.
Document F
"Neither the State nor any subdivision or agency thereof shall deny, limit or abridge, directly or indirectly,
the right of any person, who is willing or desires to sell, lease or rent any part or all of his real property, to
decline to sell, lease or rent such property to such person or persons as he, in his absolute discretion,
chooses."
- California Proposition 14 – Amendment to the Rumford Fair Housing Act, sponsored by the California
Realtors Association - November, 1964
Document G
1965 Political Cartoon
Document H
"Signing the Voting Rights Act," U.S. News and World Report, August 16, 1965.
Document I
7. We want an immediate end to police brutality and murder of black people.
We believe we can end police brutality in our black community by organizing black self-defense groups that are
dedicated to defending our black community from racist police oppression and brutality. The Second Amendment to
the Constitution of the United States gives a right to bear arms. We therefore believe that all black people should arm
themselves for self defense.
- Black Panther Party Platform, 1966
Document J
Black Panther Party Poster, NYU Archives Collection - 1969
Document K
The Log, Salem State College (October 24, 1972)