How World War I impacted African Americans:
Upon reading the excerpts from The Crisis (Du Bois) and The Vanguard of the New Negro (Williams), one can see the intense motivation to fight for democracy and equality in the United States rather than just fighting for democracy abroad.
African Americans were not going to just stand idly by and allow unfair treatment to continue back home in the United States; especially not after many gave their lives for the freedom of others.
African Americans volunteered and were drafted to fight during WWI and they fought just as valiantly as other soldiers. Despite this, African American soldiers were treated as inferior by not only American military personnel, but the personnel from other nations as well. I was appalled by reading the excerpts from the French memo that was included in Du Bois’s compilation.
It amazed me that the French military would encourage their personnel to treat African Americans as inferior, simply because it might make white Americans upset if African Americans were treated fairly.
French personnel were also encouraged not to challenge the treatment of African Americans by white American military personnel, as Americans had made up their mind on the matter and it did “not admit of any discussion.” (“We must not eat with them, must not shake hands or seek to talk or meet with them outside of the requirements of military service…”) Another document mentions that African American military officers were to eat in the mess hall, but white officers had an option to have a meal brought to their quarters.
In addition, the French memo warned French officers to be careful of commending African American troops too highly. (“We must not commend too highly the black American troops…”) Despite this, some African American soldiers (like those of the 93rd, mentioned in Williams’s Vanguard of the New Negro) were commended for their work by the French during WWI.
Unfair treatment such as this was prevalent during WWI and only served to convince African Americans that something had to change upon completion of the war. African Americans that risked their lives to fight for democracy abroad were certainly not going to let unfair treatment (and violent treatment such as lynching) continue back in the United States. As was written in The Crisis (Du Bois), “We return. We return from fighting. We return fighting.”
Class Activity:
I would begin the class by introducing the thesis statement that we would be focusing on for the day:
“The modern civil rights movement began after World War I.”
Task: Students analyze sources to find relevant historical evidence to support AND refute the given thesis. A T-chart might help them organize their findings.
While analyzing, students will also practice the HIPP strategy.
HIPP Strategy:
- Historical Context
- Intended Audience
- Purpose
- Point of View
Documents will include sources that discuss African American involvement in…
- The American Revolution (and civil rights movements following)
- The Civil War (and civil rights movements following)
- WWI (and civil rights movements following)
- The 1960s Civil Rights Movement
Students will compile evidence and synthesize their argument using information from various points in American history.
Assessment - Evaluate: To what extent is this thesis statement true? “The modern civil rights movement began after World War I.” Use specific historical evidence to support your argument.
Discussion Response to Another Participant
Purpose: Pose a Question / Share an activity[Written to another participant who shared her activity: WWI Ends... Now What?]
Your response is very thought-provoking. I really like the idea of focusing on the experiences that various individuals encountered upon the end of WWI.
My question is this: Is the provided question "Now what?" or do you provide other questions for students to answer?
Also, can you share the primary source by W.E.B. Du Bois that you use? I am curious to read how various perspectives are presented by him. I think it could be beneficial as well to provide some other primary sources to help students who might struggle to produce a narrative from each particular perspective. I find that sometimes students have difficulty imagining themselves in a historical time period, especially because many younger students imagine historical events as "inevitable" and historical people as just "going with the flow" rather than as actors who made conscious decisions to influence the events unfolding around them. (This makes sense in my head, but I'm having difficulty writing out exactly what I mean... Let me know if I'm not making sense!)
I also have a go-to activity in which I group students and give each group a piece of poster paper with a primary source taped in the middle. This source can be an image or can be a written source. I have students annotate the document right on the poster paper. Each student is required to write something. Students can write what has surprised them, what their emotions/reactions are, and how they might have felt if they were in the position of the person writing the document (or the person in the photo). They are also encouraged to HIPP the document (explain the historical context, intended audience, purpose, and point of view). Once all students have annotated one source, each group of students moves to the next table and they annotate the next source. This seems very similar to the paper plate idea of yours that I really like. The paper plate activity requires students to use their own emotions to put themselves into the shoes of a historical person and the annotation activity provides primary sources to do something a bit similar.
In general, I think both activities allow students to think deeply and imagine what it would have been like to have experienced the end of WWI.
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