1.0 Overall: 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.
Bloom's Taxonomy: CongressLink lesson plans are built
around Bloom's
taxonomy. The purpose of the taxonomy is to provide a coherent
format for lessons and to make it easier for teachers to design
them according to CongressLink's standards.
2.0 Knowledge: 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
3.0 Understanding: 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.
4.0 Application: 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.
5.0 Analysis:
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.
6.0 Synthesis: 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.
7.0 Evaluation:
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.
See http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20021216monday.html for “Whitewashing” History
Exploring Topics of Civil Rights from 1948-1964, a related
lesson plan.
