SUBJECTS

U.S. History, U.S. Government, Civics

 GRADE LEVEL

9-12

How a Bill Becomes a Law: The Case of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a student guide through the legislative process. The general purpose of this unit is to demonstrate to students the step-by-step procedure of a bill becoming a law using the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as a case study. Students will understand how Congress makes laws and the role of congressional committees in this process. This will help them understand key concepts associated with the legislative process such as filibuster, cloture, bipartisan, petition, and lobbying. Additionally, they will also see how controversial social issues, such as civil rights, greatly affect the process. More specific instructional objectives to follow.

 LESSON PLAN

Step 1. State the steps a bill takes in becoming a law. List the primary political leaders involved in the debate over the Civil Rights Act of 1964. What political party did they belong to? What area of the country were they from? Name key civil rights leaders of the 1960s. Define such terms as bipartisan, cloture, lobby, filibuster, petition, committee, mark-up, quorum, draft, sponsor, ordering a bill reported.

Create a chart detailing the people and categories specified. Listing activity. Matching activity

Step 2. Diagram the process of a bill becoming a law. Categorize the responsibilities of the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the President in the process of a bill becoming a law. Compare the different steps the Civil Rights Act of 1964 took between the House of Representatives and Senate. Summarize the positions of the groups involved in the development of the bill and relate these positions to the major politicians involved. Relate the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to any applicable constitutional amendments.

Create a flow chart showing the process of a bill becoming a law. Create a table placing responsibilities in table cells. Create a separate chart for each house of Congress. Divide students into groups and assign each group a different political position. The students must find politicians associated with their position and report back to the class. Find any Constitutional amendments that could be related to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and explain why they are related.

Step 3. Students will recognize the importance of Everett Dirksen’s An Idea Whose Time Has Come speech. Students will examine Dirksen’s speech and determine what elements of time, circumstance, and content made this a key speech using the document analysis worksheet.

Step 4. Determine what events influenced John F. Kennedy to introduce this bill to Congress. Examine how Representative Howard Smith influenced the fate of the civil rights bill.

Have students investigate the Civil Rights Timeline and discuss which events they consider most important and why. Students should refer to the civil rights narrative.

Step 5. Students will apply the dynamics of the legislative process of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to a contemporary scenario. Formulate an opinion about why southern Democrats opposed the bill's passage. Using the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as a model, draft a civil rights bill for gay & lesbian (or reasonable facsimile) rights. Hypothesize its progress through today’s Congress. Which parties would tend to support/oppose it? What social groups or organizations would lobby for or against it?

Students will prepare a speech against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 based on the position of a southern Democrat.

Step 6. Students will select the one member of Congress they think was the most influential in getting the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed and justify their answer. Students will select one governmental organization, individual, or event they believe was the most critical in the drafting and passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed and justify their answer. Student discussion and debate.

Students will prepare a stand-up display project, performance, or multi-media presentation showing the importance of individual organization in the turning points of history. Students will write a research paper using primary sources.

 RESOURCES

 The CongressLink online narrative of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the related historical documents.

 Students require access to the Internet to do research, primarily on CongressLink.

 U.S. Constitution.

 How Our Laws Are Made (Long or short version)

 Civil Rights Chronology

 Civil Rights Timeline

 National Civil Rights Museum

 Document Analysis Worksheet

 CREDIT

David Rider
Bellows Free Academy
71 S. Main Street
St. Albans, VT 05478

Dennis Simonson
Christ’s Household of Faith School
355 Marshall Avenue, #301
St. Paul, MN 55102

Marie Mitchell
Jones High School
801 South Rio Grande Avenue
Orlando, FL 32801