Lesson Introduction – Little Patriots Learning

The Civil Rights Movement: 5th Grade Lesson Introduction

Think About It

Recall from our previous lesson how hard life was for Black Americans after the Civil War under the Jim Crow laws that segregated people based on the color of their skin. We learned how Jackie Robinson bravely stood up against this injustice when he broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball and joined the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Robinson’s peaceful protest against segregation in America is part of a larger effort called the Civil Rights Movement, which was the struggle for Black equality that occurred after World War II, mainly in the 1950s and 1960s.

Review

For a brief context, World War II was a global conflict fought between the Allies (led by Great Britain, the US, and the Soviet Union) and the Axis powers (led by Germany, Japan, and Italy) between 1939 and 1945. The U.S. joined the war in 1941 after Japan bombed the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. World War II was the most devastating conflict in history, and a big part of it was fought because Germany (led by Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party) wanted to take over other countries and eliminate people whom they thought were inferior. The Allies were fighting to stop this and to defend freedom, independence, and democracy.

The Allies defeated the Axis powers, but this wouldn’t have been possible without the bravery of more than one million Black Americans who served in the U.S. military during World War II. Despite their service to America, Black Americans faced segregation in the military and discrimination from some of their fellow white soldiers.

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