
The Plainest Demands of Justice: Documents for Dialogue on the African American Experience
7 LessonsThis curriculum is designed to put teachers and students in conversation with those who strove and continue to strive for a greater realization of the promises of liberty and equality as outlined in the Declaration of Independence.
Six chronological primary source sets covering the colonial era to the present day allow students to consider how the efforts of law- and policy-makers, the courts, and “We the People” – individuals and groups – have worked to ensure a society faithful to the ideals of the Declaration of Independence. A culminating assessment has students choose a topic to research and present to make connections to how the work to ensure a society aligned with Founding principles continues in the present day.
Full Table of Contents
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7 Lessons

Lesson 1: The Declaration of Independence and the Promise of Liberty and Equality for All: Founding Principles and the Problem of Slavery
Students will be introduced to the concept of Founding principles based on natural law and natural rights as expressed in the Declaration of Independence. They will then analyze primary source documents to determine the extent to which the writing of the Declaration of Independence contributed to the quest to end slavery in the United States in the Founding era.

Lesson 2: Slavery and the Struggle for Abolition from the Colonial Period to the Civil War
In this lesson, students will consider how Founding principles of liberty, equality, and justice were invoked or ignored in the quest to end slavery. Students will use primary source excerpts to consider the ways in which legislators, courts, and individuals interacted and interpreted these principles in the quest to end slavery from colonial times to the outbreak of the Civil War.

Lesson 3: The Lost Promise of Reconstruction and Rise of Jim Crow, 1860-1896
This lesson asks students to look at primary source documents as they consider the following question: To what extent did Founding principles of liberty, equality, and justice become a reality for African Americans from Reconstruction to the end of the nineteenth century? The Civil War ended slavery and African Americans were in a position to claim their natural rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But would that happen?

Lesson 4: The Struggle Continues: Stony the Road (1896-1941)
The following lesson asks students to look at primary source documents as they consider the following question: To what extent did the Founding principles of liberty, equality, and justice become a reality for African Americans in the first half of the twentieth century? The documents come from a variety of actors in the American republic: legislators and policymakers, the courts, and individuals and groups. As students go through the documents, encourage them to think not only about the principles of liberty, equality, and justice, but also about the ways in which these groups interact with each other in creating or stalling change.

Lesson 5: Continuing the Heroic Struggle for Equality – The Civil Rights Movement
The following lesson asks students to look at primary source documents as they consider the following question: To what extent did Founding principles of liberty, equality, and justice become a reality for African Americans in the civil rights movement? The documents come from a variety of actors: legislators and policy makers, the courts, and individuals and groups. As students go through the documents, encourage them not only to think about the principles of liberty, equality, and justice, but also about the way in which these groups interact with each other in creating or stalling change.

Lesson 6: Where Do We Go From Here? 1967-Present Day
The following lesson asks students to look at primary source documents as they consider the following question: To what extent did Founding principles of liberty, equality, and justice become a reality for African Americans in the latter half of the twentieth century to today? What work must still be done? Primary sources show the splintering of the later civil rights movement and continued debates over the full realization of equality and justice for African Americans in the present day.

Lesson 7: The Work Continues: Final Project
In this lesson, students reflect on what they have learned across the “Plainest Demands of Justice” resource and choose a topic to explore further.