# data[].attributes.body
Lesson Resources for you to review

# data[].attributes.body
Lesson resources - you can view these and review the information

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Grade 8 Q4 - Methods that can Achieve Change

# data[].attributes.body
Flashcards

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What Is Passive Resistance? - Your Civil Rights Guide

# data[].attributes.body
Read this to see how keywords are embedded into the paragraphs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Decolonization and Nationalism Triumphant: Crash Course World History #40

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Decolonization: Crash Course European History #43

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
How to Write a Five-Paragraph Essay, With Examples | Grammarly

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A five-paragraph essay is a simple format for writing a complete essay, fitting the minimal components of an essay into just five paragraphs. Although it doesn't have much breadth for complexity, the five-paragraph essay format is useful for helping students and academics structure basic papers.

If you're having trouble writing, you can use the five-paragraph essay format as a guide or template. Below we discuss the fundamentals of the five-paragraph essay, explaining how to write one and what to include.

Write with Grammarly

What is a five-paragraph essay?

The five-paragraph essay format is a guide that helps writers structure an essay. It consists of one introductory paragraph, three body paragraphs for support, and one concluding paragraph. Because of this structure, it has been nicknamed the "hamburger essay," the "one-three-one essay," and the "three-tier essay."

You won't find too many five-paragraph essay examples in literature, simply because the format is too short. The five-paragraph essay format is more popular for educational assignments, such as school papers or quick writing exercises. Think of it as a writing tool to guide structure rather than an independent genre of essay.

Part of the appeal of the five-paragraph essay format is that it can accommodate all , you can apply the structure of a five-paragraph essay to communicate clearly and logically, as long as your topic is simple enough to be covered in types of essays . No matter your assignment, whether an argumentative essay or a compare-and-contrast essay just five paragraphs.

How to start a five-paragraph essay

As with all essays, before you begin writing a five-paragraph essay, you first need to know your thesis, or main topic. Your thesis is the idea you will defend or expand upon, and ultimately what your entire essay is about, and the three paragraphs in the middle will support, prove, or elaborate on your thesis.

Naturally, you can't begin writing until you know what you're writing about. If your thesis is not provided in the assignment, choose one that has sufficient content for discussion, or at least enough to fill five paragraphs.

Writing a five-paragraph essay outline shouldn't take long, especially if you use our format below as a template.

How to transition between paragraphs

The best way to move logically from one point to another is to create transition sentences using words or phrases like "however," "similarly," or "on the other hand." Sometimes adding a single word to the beginning of a paragraph is enough to connect it to the preceding paragraph and keep the reader on track. You can find a full list of transition words and phrases here .

Five-paragraph essay format

In five-paragraph essays, each paragraph has a unique role to play. Below we explain the goals for each specific paragraph and what to include in them.

Introductory paragraph

First and foremost, your introductory paragraph should contain your thesis statement. This single sentence clearly communicates what the entire essay is about, including your opinion or argument, if it's warranted.

The thesis statement is often the first sentence, but feel free to move it back if you want to open with something more attention-grabbing, like a hook. In writing, a is something that attracts the reader's interest, such as mystery, urgency, or good old-fashioned drama.

Your introductory paragraph is also a good spot to include any background context for your topic. You should save the most significant information for the body paragraphs, but you can use the introduction to give basic information that your readers might not know.

Finally, your introductory paragraph should touch on the individual points made in the subsequent paragraphs, similar to an outline. You don't want to give too much away in the first paragraph, just a brief mention of what you'll discuss. Save the details for the following paragraphs, where you'll have room to elaborate.

Body paragraphs

The three body paragraphs are the "meat" of your essay, where you describe details, share evidence, explain your reasoning, and otherwise advance your thesis. Each paragraph should be a separate and independent topic that supports your thesis.

After the topic sentence, fill in the rest of the paragraph with the details. These could be persuasive arguments, empirical data, quotes from authoritative sources, or just logical reasoning. Be sure to avoid any sentences that are off-topic or tangential; five-paragraph essays are supposed to be concise, so include only the relevant details.

Concluding paragraph

The final paragraph concludes the essay. You don't want to add any new evidence or support in the last paragraph; instead, summarize the points from the previous paragraphs and tie them together. Here, the writer restates the thesis and reminds the reader of the points made in the three body paragraphs.

If the goal of your essay is to convince the reader to do something, like donate to a cause or change their behavior, the concluding paragraph can also include a call to action. A call to action is a statement or request that explains clearly what the writer wants the reader to do. For example, if your topic is preventing forest fires, your call to action might be: "Remember to obey safety laws when camping."

Five-paragraph essay example

Here's a five-paragraph essay example, so you can better understand how they work.
Capybaras make great pets, and the laws against owning them should be reconsidered. Capybaras are a dog-sized animal with coarse fur, native to eastern South America. They're known across the internet as the friendliest animal on the planet, but there's a lot of misinformation about them as pets. They're considered an exotic animal, so a lot of legal restrictions prevent people from owning them as pets, but it's time to reevaluate these laws. For one thing, capybaras are rodents-the largest rodents in the world, actually-and plenty of rodents are already normalized as pets. Capybaras are closely related to guinea pigs and chinchillas, both of which are popular pets, and more distantly related to mice and rats, another common type of pet. In nature, most rodents (including capybaras) are social animals and live in groups, which makes them accustomed to life as a pet. There are a lot of prevalent myths about capybaras that dissuade people from owning them, but most of these are unfounded. For example, people assume capybaras smell bad, but this is not true; their special fur actually resists odor. Another myth is that they're messy, but in reality, capybaras don't shed often and can even be litter-trained! One rumor based in truth is that they can be destructive and chew on their owners' things, but so can dogs, and dogs are one of the most common pets we have. The one reasonable criticism for keeping capybaras as pets is that they are high-maintenance. Capybaras require lots of space to run around and are prone to separation anxiety if owners are gone most of the day. Moreover, capybaras are semi-aquatic, so it's best for them to have a pool to swim in. However difficult these special conditions are to meet, they're all still doable; as with all pets, the owners should simply commit to these prerequisites before getting one. All in all, the advantages of capybaras as pets outweigh the cons. As rodents, they're social and trainable, and many of the deterrent myths about them are untrue. Even the extra maintenance they require is still manageable. If capybaras are illegal to own where you live, contact your local lawmakers and petition them to reconsider these laws. You'll see first-hand just why the internet has fallen in love with this "friend-shaped" animal!
In this example, you'll notice a lot of the points we discussed earlier.

The first sentence in the first paragraph is our thesis statement, which explains what this essay is about and the writer's stance on the subject. Also in the first paragraph is the necessary background information for context, in this case a description of capybaras for readers who aren't familiar with them.

Notice how each of the three body paragraphs focuses on its own particular topic. The first discusses how rodents in general make good pets, and the second dispels some common rumors about capybaras as pets. The third paragraph directly addresses criticism of the writer's point of view, a common tactic used in argumentative and persuasive essays to strengthen the writer's argument.

Last, the concluding paragraph reiterates the previous points and ties them together. Because the topic involves laws about keeping capybaras as pets, there's a call to action about contacting lawmakers. The final sentence is written as a friendly send-off, leaving the reader at a high point.

Five-paragraph essay FAQ

What is a five-paragraph essay?

A five-paragraph essay is a basic form of essay that acts as a writing tool to teach structure. It's common in schools for short assignments and writing practice.

How is it structured?

The five-paragraph essay structure consists of, in order: one introductory paragraph that introduces the main topic and states a thesis, three body paragraphs to support the thesis, and one concluding paragraph to wrap up the points made in the essay.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to Write a Five-Paragraph Essay, With Outlines and an Example

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A five-paragraph essay is a simple format for writing a complete essay, fitting the minimal components of an essay into just five paragraphs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In 10 episodes, Thomas Frank teaches you study skills! Based on introductory college-level material and scientific studies, this course takes you through the tools and skills you need to get better at studying and finishing assignments in school and beyond.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Attending classes, studying for exams, making friends, and taking time to relax and decompress can quickly fill up your schedule. If you often find yourself wishing there were more hours in the day, this guide will offer time management tips for students so you can accomplish what you need to get done, have fun with your friends, and gain back some valuable time for yourself.

1. Create a Calendar

Don't be caught by surprise by an important paper due two days from now or a dinner with your family the same night you planned for a group study session. Create a calendar for yourself with all your upcoming deadlines, exams, social events, and other time commitments well in advance so you can see what's coming up.

Keep your calendar in a place where you can see it every day, such as in your planner or on your wall above your desk. If you prefer a digital calendar, check it first thing every day to keep those important events fresh and top-of-mind. For greater efficiency, make sure you can integrate it with your other tools, such as your email.

Digital calendar options include:

2. Set Reminders

After you've created your calendar, give yourself periodic reminders to stay on track such as to complete a study guide in advance or schedule a meeting for a group project. Knowing deadlines is important; however, staying on top of the micro tasks involved in meeting those deadlines is just as important. You can set an alarm on your phone, write it down in a physical planner, or add an alert to your digital calendar. The reminders will help to prevent things from slipping through the cracks during particularly hectic days.

Make sure you've allotted enough time to study for that big test or write that final paper. Time management is all about setting yourself up for success in advance and giving yourself the tools to accomplish tasks with confidence.

Read our blogs, Your Guide to Conquering College Coursework and Top 10 Study Tips to Study Like a Harvard Student, for more suggestions.

3. Build a Personalized Schedule

Each person's day-to-day is different and unique to them, so make sure your schedule works for you. Once you've accounted for consistent commitments such as classes or your shifts at work, add in study sessions, extracurriculars, chores and errands, and social engagements.

Consider your personal rhythm. If you typically start your day energized, plan to study or accomplish chores then. If you fall into an afternoon slump, give yourself that time to take a guilt-free TV break or see friends.

Having a schedule that works for you will help maximize your time. Plus, knowing exactly when your laundry day is or when your intramural volleyball practice is every week will help you avoid trying to cram everything in one day (or running out of clean socks!)

4. Use Tools That Work For You

Just like your calendar and schedule, the tools you use to keep you organized should be the right fit for you. Some students prefer physical planners and paper, while some prefer going totally digital. Your calendar can help you with long-term planning, but most of these tools are best for prioritizing from day to day.

Explore what best suits your needs with some of the following suggestions:

Planners

Planners can help you keep track of long-term deadlines, such as important essay deadlines, upcoming exams, and appointments and meetings. They often provide a monthly overview each month, as well as day-to-day planning sections, so you can stay ahead.

Scheduling

If your schedule is jam-packed and you have trouble figuring out what to do and when, scheduling day by day-and sometimes even hour by hour-can help you slot in everything you need to do with less stress.

Note Taking

From class to study sessions to errands, keeping track of everything can feel overwhelming. Keeping everything in one place, whether on the go or at your desk, can help keep you organized.

5. Prioritize

Sometimes there really is too much to do with too little time. In these instances, take just a few minutes to evaluate your priorities. Consider which deadlines are most urgent, as well as how much energy you have.

If you are able to complete simple tasks first, try getting them out of the way before moving on to tasks that require a lot of focus. This can help to alleviate some of the pressure by checking a couple things off your to-do list without getting bogged down too early.

If you are struggling to fit everything in your schedule, consider what you can postpone or what you can simply say no to. Your friends will likely understand if you have to meet them for coffee another time in order to get in a final library session before a challenging exam.

6. Make Time to Have Fun - And For Yourself

Time management isn't just about getting work done. It's also about ensuring that you can put yourself and your mental wellbeing first. Consistently including time for yourself in your schedule helps to keep your mental health and your life in balance. It can also be helpful to have things to look forward to when going through stressful periods.

Whether it's going for a bike ride along the river, spending time with your friends and family, or simply sleeping in on a Sunday, knowing you have space to relax and do things you enjoy can provide better peace of mind.

7. Find Support

Preparation and organization can sometimes only get you so far. Luckily, you have plenty of people rooting for your success. Keep yourself and your classmates on task by finding an accountability partner or study buddies. Remind your roommates when you need extra space to work on a paper.

Your school's academic resource center is also there to support you and point you in the right direction if you need additional help. Getting-and staying-organized is a collaborative effort and no one can do it on their own.

8. Be Realistic and Flexible

Sometimes unforeseen circumstances will come up or you simply may not be able to get to everything you set out to do in a given day. Be patient with yourself when things don't go exactly to plan. When building your calendar, schedule, and priorities list, be realistic about what you can accomplish and include buffer time if you're unsure. This can help to reduce obstacles and potential friction.

Time management isn't just about sticking to a rigid schedule-it's also about giving yourself space for change.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
8 Time Management Tips for Students - Harvard Summer School

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
If you often find yourself wishing there were more hours in the day, this guide will offer time management tips for students.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Timeboxing: Elon Musk's Time Management Method

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
5-Minute Meditation You Can Do Anywhere | Goodful

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
3 minute Mindful Breathing Meditation Relieve Stress

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Yoga for the Classroom | Chair Yoga - Yoga with Rachel

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
4-Minute Fat Burning Workout | Tabata for Beginners

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to write Excellent Expository Essays

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A complete guide on writing excellent expository essays, including expository prompts and the expository essay outline for teachers and students.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Argumentative Essay and Discussion Writing Explained

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A complete guide to writing argumentative essays and discussion texts for teachers and students. Includes essay topics, templates, tips, tutorials andargumentative essay samples.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This guide will help you connect ideas in your writing, making it more cohesive and communicating your message more effectively.

What is cohesion?

Cohesion refers to the way we use vocabulary and grammatical structures to make connections between the ideas within a text. It provides flow and sequence to your work and helps make your paragraphs clear for the reader.

Cohesive devices are words and expressions that show relationships between parts of text and ideas, such as cause and effect, time, addition, or comparison and contrast.

Watch the video to learn how to make your ideas link together and your narrative flow.

How can I create cohesion?

Let's look at types of cohesive devices.

Linking words

Academic writing usually deals with complex ideas. To enable the reader to follow your thoughts, they need to be clearly and smoothly linked. To join ideas and sentences, we use a number of connecting words and phrases. For example:

Addition To add an idea

Additionally, and, also, apart from this, as well (as), in addition, moreover, further, furthermore.

Condition to provide a condition

If, in that case, provided that, unless.

For comparison To show how things are similar

Correspondingly, equally, for the same reason, in a similar manner, in comparison, in the same way, on the one hand, similarly.

For contrast To show how things are different

Alternatively, although, but, conversely, despite, even so, even though, however, in contrast, in spite of, instead, on the contrary, contrary to, nevertheless, nonetheless, notwithstanding, on the other hand, rather, still, though, yet, whereas, while.

For emphasis To put forward an idea more forcefully

Again, in fact, interestingly, indeed, it should be noted (that), more important(ly), most importantly, to repeat, (un)fortunately, unquestionably.

For illustration To provide examples

A further instance of this is..., an example of this is..., for example, for instance, such as, thus, as follows.

For restatement For rephrasing statements

In other words, more simply, namely, simply put, to put it differently / another way, such as, that is.

The cause of things To attribute the reasons for something occurring

A / the consequence of, because, due to, for, the effect of ..., since, the result of ...

The effect of things To show the effect of something

Accordingly, as a result/consequence, consequently, for this reason, hence, so, therefore, thus.

For concession / qualification Conceding something

Admittedly, although, clearly though, even though, however, indeed, obviously.

Generalisation Making a general statement

As a rule, for the most part, generally, in general, in most cases, normally, on the whole, usually.

Time order To indicate a chronological sequence

First, second, third (etc), next, before, earlier, finally, following, given the above, later, meanwhile, subsequently, then, to conclude, while.

A note about presentation and style

Check a usage guide for exact rules for punctuation. Many introductory phrases have a comma after them. For example, 'therefore,' and 'in addition,'.

Referring backwards

To avoid repeating words and phrases many times, we use cohesive devices to make references to other parts of a text, such as:

Pronouns: it, he, she, his, her, they, their

Demonstratives: this, that, these, those

Articles: a, the

Adverbs: previously, subsequently

The Australian prime minister has called an early election. The date was selected to coincide with the start of the Olympic Games. This decision was based on the views of his ministerial advisors, who predicted that voter confidence in the government's policies would be strong at this time. As previously mentioned, decisions on the timing of elections are based on predictions of voter confidence in the existing government.
In the example above:

The date - refers back to the election date

This decision - refers to the prime minister calling an early election

His - refers to the Australian prime minister

this time - refers to the start of the Olympic Games

As previously mentioned - refers to all of the earlier information about the selection of election dates

Looking forward

We often use words and phrases to highlight new information for the reader. This helps make a smooth transition from one point to another. Such phrases include: the following, as follows, below, next, subsequently.
The following dates have been proposed for the forthcoming election: September 8, September 15 and 3 October. The next issue to be discussed is the influence of the media on voter confidence in the government.
Connecting paragraphs

Apart from using the linking words / phrases above, showing the link between paragraphs could involve writing 'hand-holding' sentences. These are sentences that link back to the ideas of the previous paragraph. For instance, when outlining the positive and negative issues about a topic you could use the following:

Example (from beginning of previous paragraph):

One of the main advantages of X is...

When you are ready to move your discussion to the negative issues, you could write one of the following as a paragraph opener:

Example

Having considered the positive effects of X, negative issues may now need to be taken into account...

Despite the positive effects outlined above, negative issues also need to be considered...

It is always important to make paragraphs part of a coherent whole text; they must not remain isolated units.

Checking for paragraph links in your own work

When you are editing your next written assignment, ask yourself the following questions as you read through your work (Gillett, Hammond, & Martala, 2009):

Does the start of my paragraph give my reader enough information about what the paragraph will be about?

Does my paragraph add to or elaborate on a point made previously and, if so, have I made this explicit with an appropriate linking word / phrase?

Does my paragraph introduce a completely new point or a different viewpoint to before and, if so, have I explicitly shown this with a suitable connective?

Have I used similar connectives repeatedly? If yes, try to vary them using the above list.

Strategies to improve cohesion

1. Select a piece of writing, preferably from a textbook or journal article, from your area of study.

2. Choose a paragraph and underline or highlight all the different forms of cohesion used, such as using linking words, referring backwards, looking forwards or adding synonyms.

3. Which forms are the most common?

4. Choose a couple that you think are effective and practice using them in your own writing.

5. Try to use a variety of ways to show the relationship between your ideas.

Get one-on-one advice

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Suggestions for connecting ideas at the sentence and paragraph level in academic writing.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Indian nationalism and the life of Mahatma Gandhi - How Britain lost an empire - ideas, race and culture - GCSE History Revision - AQA - BBC Bitesize

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learn about and revise how Britain lost an empire (ideas, race & culture) with this BBC Bitesize History (AQA) study guide.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Grade 8 Semester 1 Summative Oral Debate version

# data[].attributes.body
A collection of resources and videos including Ted Ed Channel on protest.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
G8 Q2- Choice of methods used to resolve conflict is crucial to the outcome.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The choice of methods for conflict resolution may determine the fairness and development of a new system.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Check out this Presentation designed by Hanna Ucko.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Student Civil Rights Activism: Crash Course Black American History #37

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Under the leadership of Martin Luther King, the civil rights movement adopted tactics of non-violence, peaceful protest and civil disobedience.

The video below looks at Martin Luther King's opinion on non-violent protest.

King had been impressed by the tactics of Mahatma Gandhi who had used non-violent protest in India in the 1940s against the British rulers.

He said, in our protest there will be no cross burnings. No white person will be taken from his house by a hooded Negro mob and brutally murdered. There will be no threats or bullying .

King thought that civil disobedience was necessary to increase civil rights and believed that if a law was wrong then the citizens of the country had the right to protest against that law.

He was not worried about the high number of arrests that might occur. Instead, he saw it as an opportunity to gain even more publicity.

The March on Washington

The March on Washington was organised to try and force the Government into improving Civil Rights.The purpose of the March was to gain publicity for the new Civil Rights Bill.

On August 28, 1963, 250,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial, and Martin Luther King made his famous I have a dream speech to a worldwide audience.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The role of Martin Luther King - Civil rights campaigns 1945-1965 - National 5 History Revision - BBC Bitesize

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Under the leadership of Martin Luther King, the civil rights movement adopted tactics of non-violence, peaceful protest and civil disobedience. King had been impressed by the tactics of Mahatma Gandhi who had used non-violent protest in India in the 1940s against the British rulers. He said, in our protest there will be no cross burnings.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Civil Rights Movement Timeline - Timeline & Events | HISTORY

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The civil rights movement was an organized effort by black Americans to end racial discrimination and gain equal rights under the law. It began in the late 1940s and ended in the late 1960s.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In the 19th and 20th centuries, the resistance of African Americans to their oppression was expressed in three general approaches, as illustrated by prominent leaders. Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) stressed industrial schooling for African Americans and gradual social adjustment rather than political and civil rights. Marcus Garvey (1887-1940) called for racial separatism and a "Back-to-Africa" colonization program. W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) argued that African Americans were in the United States to stay and should fight for their freedom and political equality; it was this approach that laid the foundation for the American civil rights movement.

1944 April 3
In Smith v. Allwright, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the "White primary," which excluded black people from voting, was unconstitutional.

1947 April 10
Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers, thereby breaking the modern color line in major league baseball.

1948 May 3
In Shelley v. Kraemer, the United States Supreme Court ruled that lower courts could not enforce restrictive housing covenants.

1948 July 26
President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9981, which stated, "It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin."

In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal" and that "the plaintiffs and others similarly situated... are ... deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment." The decision outlawed segregation in all public schools in the United States.

1955 August
Emmett Till, a fourteen year-old black youth, was brutally murdered for allegedly flirting with a white woman in Mississippi. Two white men charged with the crime were acquitted by an all-white jury. They later boasted about committing the murder. The public outrage generated by the case helped spur the civil rights movement.

1955 December 1
Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, for violating a Jim Crow ordinance. Her arrest led to a successful citywide bus boycott, which brought Martin Luther King, Jr. to national prominence.

1957
Congress passed, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed, the Civil Rights Act of 1957. This law was largely ineffective.

1957 January
A group of 60 African American ministers formed the Southern Leadership Conference on Transportation and Nonviolent Integration, which was renamed The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) later that year. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the organization's first president. The SCLC, an organization founded on the principles of nonviolence and civil disobedience, became a major force in organizing the civil rights movement.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered federal troops into Little Rock, Arkansas, after unsuccessfully trying to persuade Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus to give up his efforts to block desegregation at Central High. Faubus and a mob of white people were forced to allow nine African American children to attend school on this day.

1960 February 1
Four black students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College staged a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. Although they were refused service, they were allowed to stay at the counter. The event triggered many similar nonviolent protests throughout the South, and also inspired the founding of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which gave young black people a more vital role in the fledgling civil rights movement.

1960 May 6
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1960, which prohibited intimidation of black voters and gave judges power to appoint referees to oversee voter registration.

1961 March 6
President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 10925, which created the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity and mandated that projects financed with federal funds "take affirmative action" to ensure that hiring and employment practices are free of racial bias.

1961 May 4
The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) sent student volunteers on bus trips to test the implementation of new laws prohibiting segregation in interstate travel facilities. One of the first groups of "freedom riders" encountered its first problem two weeks later, when a mob in Alabama set the riders' bus on fire. The program continued, and by the end of the summer 1,000 volunteers-black and white-had participated.

1963 Spring
Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested in Birmingham and wrote his seminal Letter From Birmingham Jail, arguing that individuals have the moral duty to disobey unjust laws.

1963 June 12
Medgar W. Evers, NAACP field secretary in Mississippi and a World War II veteran, was shot and killed by a sniper in Jackson. The alleged assailant, a white segregationist, was acquitted by a hung jury. In 1994, Byron De La Beckwith was convicted of killing Evers.

Civil rights demonstrations, protests, and boycotts occurred in every major urban area in the country.

1963 August 28
The civil rights movement reached its peak when 250,000 black people and white people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which included the demand for passage of meaningful civil rights laws. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous I Have a Dream speech.

1963 September 15
Four young girls (Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Addie Mae Collins) attending Sunday school were killed when Robert Chambliss and other members of a white supremacist group ignited a dynamite bomb at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, a popular location for civil rights meetings in Birmingham. Riots erupted, leading to the deaths of two more black youths.

1963 November 22
President John F. Kennedy, a supporter of civil rights for African Americans, was assassinated.

1964 January 23
The 24th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States abolished the poll tax, which had been instituted in southern states after Reconstruction to make it difficult for poor black people to vote.

1964 July 2
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, making segregation in public facilities and discrimination in employment illegal.

1964 July 3
Lester Maddox and a throng of supporters wielding axe handles forcibly turned away three black activists who tried to eat at Maddox's restaurant, the Pickrick. Maddox was elected Governor of Georgia in 1966.

1964 August 4
The bodies of three civil rights workers, two white and one black-Andrew Goodman, 20; Michael Schwerner, 24; and James E. Chaney, 21- were discovered buried near Philadelphia, Mississippi. They had been registering black voters in Mississippi, and, on June 21, had gone to investigate the burning of a black church. The FBI accused nearly two-dozen white segregationists of complicity in the murders, including law enforcement officers.

A Voter Registration Drive, led by Martin Luther King, Jr., was launched in Selma, Alabama and throughout the state. On March 7, black voting-rights activists began the fifty-mile march from Selma to Montgomery. They were viciously attacked by police. The national response to violence against the marchers contributed to the passing of the Voting Rights Act.

1965 February 21
el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz, previously known as Malcolm X, was assassinated while speaking to the Organization of Afro-American Unity in New York City.

1965 June 4
In a speech to the graduating class at Howard University, President Lyndon B. Johnson framed the philosophy underlying affirmative action, asserting that civil rights laws alone were not enough to remedy the effects of past discrimination.

1965 August 11
The Watts area of Los Angeles exploded in violence following the arrest of a young black motorist. After 6 days of unrest, 34 people had been killed, more than 1,000 were injured, and 3952 were arrested. The National Guard assisted in quelling the disorder.

1966 October
The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense was founded in Oakland, California, by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale.

1967
Thurgood Marshall became the first African American to serve as Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

1967 May 1-October 1
The worst summer of racial disturbances in United States history occurred. More than forty outbreaks were recorded; the most serious were in Newark, New Jersey (July 12-17) and Detroit (July 23-30).

1967 June 12
In Loving v. Virginia, the United States Supreme Court ruled that prohibiting interracial marriages was unconstitutional. Sixteen states that banned interracial marriage at the time were forced to revise their laws.

1968 April 4
Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, where King was speaking in support of striking sanitation workers. The assassination was followed by a week of violent disturbances in at least 125 cities across the nation, including Washington, D.C.

1968 April 11
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act, prohibiting racial discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of most housing units in the country.

Shirley Chisholm, the first black congresswoman, was elected by New York's Twelfth Congressional District.

1970 May 14
Mississippi law enforcement officers killed two young black Americans at Jackson State College, a historically black institution.

1970 October 5-November 8

Violent racial clashes connected with school desegregation occurred in northern and southern cities. In Pontiac, Michigan, tensions were high after a court decision ordered desegregation of the public schools. A car near Pontiac Central High School struck down a black student on October 7, as white and black students continued a two-day battle with rocks and bottles.

1971 April 20
The United States Supreme Court, in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, upheld busing as a legitimate means for achieving the integration of public schools. Although largely unwelcome (and sometimes violently opposed) in local school districts, court-ordered busing plans in cities such as Charlotte, Boston, and Denver continued until the late 1990s.

1972
The "Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male" ended. Begun in 1932, the United States Public Health Service's 40-year experiment on 399 black men with syphilis was described by news anchor Harry Reasoner as an experiment that "used human beings as laboratory animals in a long and inefficient study of how long it takes syphilis to kill someone."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In the 19th and 20th centuries, the resistance of African Americans to their oppression was expressed in three general approaches, as illustrated by prominent leaders. Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) stressed industrial schooling for African Americans and gradual social adjustment rather than political and civil rights.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner - Wikipedia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
On June 21, 1964, three Civil Rights Movement activists, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, were murdered by local members of the Ku Klux Klan. They had been arrested earlier in the day for speeding, and after being released were followed by local law enforcement and others, all affiliated with the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.[1] After being followed for some time, they were abducted by the group, brought to a secluded location, and shot. They were then buried in an earthen dam. All three were associated with the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) and its member organization, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). They had been working with the Freedom Summer campaign by attempting to register African Americans in Mississippi to vote. Since 1890 and through the turn of the century, Southern states had systematically disenfranchised most black voters by discrimination in voter registration and voting.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X are frequently seen as opposing forces in the struggle for civil rights and against white supremacy; King is often portrayed as a nonviolent insider, while Malcolm X is characterized as a by-any-means-necessary political renegade. But author and Black Power scholar Peniel Joseph says the truth is more nuanced.

"I've always been fascinated by Malcolm X and Dr. King ... and dissatisfied in how they're usually portrayed - both in books and in popular culture," Joseph says.

In his book, The Sword and the Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., Joseph braids together the lives of the two civil rights leaders. He says that King and Malcolm X had "convergent visions" for Black America - but their strategies for how to reach the goal was informed by their different upbringings.

"Malcolm X is really scarred by racial trauma at a very early age," Joseph says. "King, in contrast, has a very gilded childhood, and he's the son of an upper-middle-class, African-American family, prosperous family that runs one of the most important churches in Black Atlanta."

What's really extraordinary is that the Black Lives Matter protesters really are protesting for radical Black dignity and citizenship and see that you need both. So Malcolm and Martin are the revolutionary sides of the same coin, and really the BLM movement has amplified that.

Joseph says that, over time, each man became the other's "alter ego." Malcolm X, he says, "injects a political radicalism on the national scene that absolutely makes Dr. King and his movement much more palatable to mainstream Americans."

Now, with the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, Joseph says that King and Malcolm X's visions have converged: "What's really extraordinary is that the Black Lives Matter protesters really are protesting for radical Black dignity and citizenship and see that you need both. So Malcolm and Martin are the revolutionary sides of the same coin, and really the BLM movement has amplified that."

Interview highlights
On what Malcolm X meant by racial separatism
This idea of separatism is really interesting. The deeper I investigated Malcolm X, the more I understood what he meant and what the Nation of Islam meant by racial separatism. It wasn't segregation. It was separatism, they argued, and Malcolm does this in a series of debates against Bayard Rustin, against Jim Farmer, against James Baldwin, Louis Lomax. He says that racial separatism is required because white people do not want Black people to be citizens and have dignity. And if they did, you wouldn't have to protest and experience police violence and police brutality: small children trying to integrate Little Rock High School, young people trying to integrate lunch counters, and they're arrested and brutalized, sometimes people were killed, of course. So what's interesting about this idea of separatism, Malcolm argues separatism is Black people having enough self-love and enough confidence in themselves to organize and build parallel institutions. Because America was so infected with the disease of racism, they could never racially integrate into American democracy.
On Malcolm X's vision of "by any means necessary" protest
Malcolm is making the argument that, one, Black people have the right to self-defense and to defend themselves against police brutality. It's really striking when you follow Malcolm X in the 1950s and '60s, the number of court appearances he's making, whether it's in Buffalo, N.Y., or Los Angeles or Rochester, N.Y., where members of the Nation of Islam have been brutalized [and], at times, killed by police violence. So Malcolm is arguing that, one, Black people have a right to defend themselves. Second part of Malcolm's argument - because he travels to the Middle East by 1959, travels for 25 weeks overseas in 1964 - is that because there [are] anti-colonial revolutions raging across Africa and the Third World in the context of the 1950s and '60s, he makes the argument that the Black revolution in the United States is only going to be a true revolution once Black people start utilizing self-defense to end the racial terror they're experiencing both in the 1950s and '60s, but historically. And one of the reasons Malcolm makes that argument, obviously, is because his father and his family had experienced that racial terror.
On King's policy of non-violent protest v. self defense
One thing that's important to know is that when we think about nonviolence versus self-defense, it's very, very complex, because even though Martin Luther King Jr.is America's apostle and a follower of Gandhi and believes in nonviolence, there are always people around King who are trying to protect him and in demonstrations, who actually are armed, they're not armed in the same way that, say, the Black Panthers would arm themselves later, but they're armed to actually protect and defend peaceful civil rights activists from racial terror. And of course, King famously had had armed guards around him in Montgomery, Ala., after his home was firebombed during the bus boycott of 1955 to '56. And it's Bayard Rustin who famously told him he couldn't have those armed guards if he wanted to live out the practice of nonviolence.

So King usually does not have his own people being armed. But when he's in the Deep South, there are civil rights activists who actually are armed and at times protecting him. They're not necessarily connected to his Southern Christian Leadership Conference, but the movement always had people who were trying to protect peaceful demonstrators against racial terror.
On King's response to Malcolm X's argument against non-violent civil disobedience

King has several responses: One is that nonviolence is both a moral and political strategy. So the morality and the religious argument is that Black people could not succumb to enemy politics. And this idea that when we think about white racism, we would become as bad as the people who are oppressing us. So he pushes back against that. Politically, he says, well, then there aren't enough Black people, even if they arm themselves to win some kind of armed conflict and struggle. And then finally, he says and there's a great speech in 1963 in Los Angeles where he doesn't mention Malcolm X, but he's speaking out against Malcolm X in terms of what's happening in Birmingham. And Malcolm has called him an Uncle Tom and all kinds of names. He says that non-violence is the weapon of strength. It's the weapon of people who are powerful and courageous and brave and heroic and disciplined. It's not the weapon of the weak, because we're going to use this non-violent strategy to actually transform the United States of America against its own will. ...

I say Malcolm is Black America's prosecuting attorney. He's prosecuting white America for a series of crimes against Black humanity that date back to racial slavery. Dr. King is Black America's defense attorney - but he's very interesting: He defends both sides of the color line. He defends Black people to white people and tells white people that Black people don't want Black supremacy. They don't want reverse racism. They don't want revenge for racial slavery and Jim Crow segregation. They just want to be included in the body politic and have citizenship. But he also defends white people to Black people. He's constantly telling - especially as the movement gets further radicalized - Black people that white people are good people, that white people, we can redeem the souls of the nation. And we have white allies who have fought and struggled and died with us to achieve Black citizenship. So it's very interesting, the roles they both play. But over time, after Malcolm's assassination, one of the biggest ironies and transformations is that King becomes Black America's prosecuting attorney.
On how Malcolm X and King's visions merged
They start to merge, especially in the aftermath of Malcolm's assassination on Feb. 21, 1965. And in a way, when we think about King, right after Malcolm's assassination, King has what he later calls one of those "mountaintop moments." And he always says there are these mountaintop moments, but then you have to go back to the valley. And that mountaintop moment is going to be the Selma to Montgomery march, even though initially, when we think about March 7, 1965 - Bloody Sunday - demonstrators, including the late Congressman John Lewis, are battered by Alabama state troopers, non-violent demonstrators, peaceful demonstrators on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

But by March 15, LBJ, the president, is going to say these protesters are right and they are part of a long pantheon of American heroes dating back to the revolution. And then March 21 to the 25, the Selma to Montgomery demonstration is going to attract 30,000 Americans - including white allies, Jewish allies like Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel - to King and the movement. So King is going to make his last, fully nationally televised speech on March 25, 1965, where he talks about American democracy, racial justice, but the long road ahead. By that August, Aug. 6, 1965, the Voting Rights Act has passed. So these are real high points.

But then five days after the Voting Rights Act is passed, Watts, Los Angeles explodesin really the largest civil disturbance in American history up until that point. And when we think about after Watts, that's where King and Malcolm start to converge, because Malcolm had criticized the March on Washington as the "farce on Washington," because he said that King and the movement should have paralyzed Washington, D.C., and forced a reckoning about race in America. And they didn't do that. By 1965, King says that in this essay, "Beyond the Los Angeles Riots," that what he's going to start doing is use non-violent civil disobedience as a peaceful sword that paralyzes cities to produce justice that goes beyond civil rights and voting rights acts.
Sam Briger and Thea Chaloner produced and edited the audio of this interview. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Meghan Sullivan adapted it for the Web.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Black Power Scholar Illustrates How MLK And Malcolm X Influenced Each Other

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X are frequently seen as opposing forces in the struggle for civil rights but Peniel Joseph, author of The Sword and the Shield, says the truth is more nuanced.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Malcolm X (1992) Official Trailer - Denzel Washington Movie HD

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Selma Official Trailer #1 (2015) - Oprah Winfrey, Cuba Gooding Jr. Movie HD

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Freedom Riders | Civil Rights Movement | PBS LearningMedia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Discover how in response to the South’s continued practice of segregation, a group of activists from all backgrounds and races rode interstate buses into the deep South. Met by violence and opposition, the Freedom Riders displayed true acts of courage as they peacefully sought to end segregation in the South and achieve civil rights for all people.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Grade 8 - Semester Two - Sources Booklet 2025