The Civil Rights Movement: Strategies for Change

CASE BRIEF: By the 1950s and 60s, activists pursued civil rights through more than one strategy — courtrooms, streets, and legislatures all became battlegrounds.

TASK: Compare nonviolent direct action and legal strategy using speeches, court rulings, and photographs to evaluate which approach drove the most change.

EVIDENCE: Excerpt from Letter from Birmingham Jail (King) - Brown v. Board of Education ruling excerpt - Photograph description of the Selma march

ANALYZE: What does each strategy assume about how change happens? Which strategy produced faster results? Which produced deeper results? How did the strategies reinforce each other?

BUILD A CLAIM: Argue which strategy — direct action or legal action — was more essential to civil rights progress, while acknowledging the other's role.

RUBRIC: Uses specific language from King and the Court - Addresses both short-term and long-term change - Avoids treating the movement as one unified strategy