Lesson
Unit 5 Civics Connection: Civil Rights and Economic Freedom

A review lesson for Unit 5 (1877-1898) that asks students to reconsider how constitutional principles were applied during the time period.
Objectives:
- Analyze descriptions of laws and Supreme Court cases related to developments in U.S. law in the Gilded Age, 1877-1898, to evaluate whether the rights of African Americans were protected and to evaluate changes in the role of government resulting from rapid economic growth.
- Recognize constitutional principles and evaluate the role of each branch of the federal government upholding them.
Materials
- Handout A: Civil Rights and Economic Freedom Student Packet
- Part 1: Civil and Political Rights in the Gilded Age
- Part 2: Economic Freedom in the Gilded Age
- Handout B: Principles and Virtues Glossary
- Handout C: Principles and Virtues Graphic Organizer
- Students should have red and green pencils available.
Lesson Components

ActivityCivil Rights and Economic Freedom Student Packet
Narrative and timeline content that showcase the major governmental and political actions as relates to Civil Rights and Economic Freedom during the Gilded Age.
Lesson plan
80 minClick a phase to open it
More Information
If this is the first time your students have considered constitutional principles, have them use the Principles and Virtues Glossary and focus specifically on checks and balances, due process, federalism, freedom of contract, liberty, and private property.
Standards
Advanced Placement
- Topic 6.4 · The New South
- Theme · American and National Identity
- Theme · Work, Exchange, and Technology
- Theme · Politics and Power
- Theme · Social Structures
- Learning Objective · Unit 6C
- Historical Development · 6.1.II.D
- Historical Development · 6.3.II.C
- Reasoning Skill · Source Claims and Evidence
- Reasoning Skill · Contextualization
- Reasoning Skill · Argumentation
- Reasoning Process · Comparison
- Reasoning Process · Continuity and Change
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