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Lesson

Civil Disobedience across Time

Duration
90 min
Grade
9–12
Published
Nov 15, 2020
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speaking to a large crowd during the March on Washington, with the Lincoln Memorial in the background.
Use this lesson with the Freedom Riders Narrative; The March on Birmingham Narrative; the Black Power Narrative; the Martin Luther King Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail," 1963 Primary Source; the Martin Luther King Jr., "I Have a Dream," August 28, 1963 Primary Source ;The Music of the Civil Rights Movement Lesson; and the Civil Rights DBQ Lesson to discuss the different aspects of the civil rights movement during the 1960s

Founding Principles

Equality

Objectives:

  • Students will be able to identify how natural law can be interpreted as the citizen’s duty to correct injustice by comparing Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech as practical interpretations of the natural law ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence.
  • Students will analyze primary source documents by answering comprehension questions to guide them to conclusions about the arguments presented in the documents.

Materials

Lesson Components

ActivityMartin Luther King Jr., “I Have a Dream,” August 28, 1963

Use this primary source text to explore key historical events.

Lesson plan

90 minClick a phase to open it

More Information

This lesson assumes a level of familiarity with the principles of the U.S. Founding, particularly the idea of the natural rights of man.

Standards

Advanced Placement

  • Topic 8.10 · The African American Civil Rights Movement (1960s)
  • Theme · Social Structures
  • Learning Objective · Unit 8L
  • Historical Development · 8.2.I.A
  • Reasoning Skill · Developments and Processes
  • Reasoning Skill · Sourcing and Situation
  • Reasoning Skill · Source Claims and Evidence
  • Reasoning Skill · Contextualization
  • Reasoning Skill · Making Connections
  • Reasoning Skill · Argumentation
  • Reasoning Process · Comparison
  • Reasoning Process · Continuity and ChangeHandout A: Warm-Up: America’s Founding Principles Handout B: The Duty of a Citizen in the Face of Injustice Handout C: Civil Rights and Natural Rights

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Primary SourceLetter from Birmingham Jail

Excerpts of Letter from Birmingham Jail Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. April 16, 1963

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LessonThe Music of the Civil Rights Movement

Use this lesson with the Freedom Riders Narrative; The March on Birmingham Narrative; the Black Power Narrative; the Martin Luther King Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail," 1963 Primary Source; the Martin Luther King Jr., "I Have a Dream," August 28, 1963 Primary Source; the Civil Disobedience across Time Lesson; and the Civil Rights DBQ Lesson to discuss the different aspects of the civil rights movement during the 1960s.

Crowd gathered at the Lincoln Memorial, listening to a speaker during a civil rights event.
LessonCivil Rights DBQ

Use this lesson with the Freedom Riders Narrative; The March on Birmingham Narrative; the Black Power Narrative; the Martin Luther King Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail," 1963 Primary Source; the Martin Luther King Jr., "I Have a Dream," August 28, 1963 Primary Source; the Civil Disobedience across Time Lesson; and The Music of the Civil Rights Movement Lesson to discuss the different aspects of the civil rights movement during the 1960s.