A Raisin in the Sun - Eng. 8: Research Questions

Write as Frederick Douglass arguing for the importance of abolition. 

Write as a supporter (or a critic) after hearing Douglass speak somewhere. 

Frederick Douglass, born a slave on the Eastern shore of Maryland in 1818, became the most prominent and revered Black American leader of his century.  He was renowned as an orator, the publisher of an abolitionist newspaper, a presidential advisor, and a crusader for women's suffrage.  He remained active in these causes until his death at his home in Washington, D.C., in 1895. Investigate some of the following ideas and questions:  Douglas’ childhood and experience as a slave, how he escaped, what Douglass accomplished as an important abolitionist, how he became a leader in the movement, his legacy today. Consider how events in his life and his personal gifts made him an effective leader of the abolitionist cause. 

Write as Harriet Tubman or someone else involved in the Underground Railroad to an abolitionist newspaper, trying to garner support (financial or political) for the Underground Railroad. 

Write in support or opposition to the Fugitive Slave Acts. 

Research the workings of the “underground railroad.” Where did the name, terminology and the original location of the Underground Railroad come from? How were people disguised for travel on the railroad? What were the most common modes of travel?  Who were the conductors? What were Vigilance Committees?  When did slaves tend to travel on the Underground Railroad? What were the penalties for harboring an escaped slave? What were the Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850 and how did these laws affect the Underground Railroad and its participants?  

Write as yourself today, advocating for or against Harriet Tubman to be on the $20 bill. 

Harriet Tubman was one of the most well-known conductors on the Underground Railroad.  What significant events in her early life and young adulthood seemed to have shaped Harriet? When and how did she liberate herself from enslavement? Why did she become a conductor on the Underground Railroad? Why was Harriet such a successful conductor?  Did she have specific methods or routes? Harriet Tubman remained a committed activist her entire life.  Consider her work advocating for women's suffrage, the elderly, and Black Americans.  What is the connection between the various causes she worked on? Why do you think Harriet Tubman was recently chosen to appear on a new $20.00 bill

Write as a White slave owner, trying to garner support for tougher practices in order to quell insurrections. 

Write as Nat Turner or another leader of a slave rebellion, trying to muster support and courage to stand up against their masters. 

During the 1800s there were several slave insurrections. Investigate, compare and contrast the slave rebellions of Nat Turner and Denmark Vesey. What events and situations in Turner and Vesey’s lives may have motivated them to organize their rebellions? What were the specific goals of their rebellions? Describe the nature of each rebellion, highlighting the most relevant details.  What were consequences faced by each slave after the rebellion? 

Write as a Black man/woman living in South during Reconstruction, about Freedman's Bureau or other policies. Are they effective? Are they doing enough?

Following the Civil War, the United States entered into a period historians call Reconstruction. The federal government, headed first by President Lincoln and then President Johnson, had to decide under what conditions to allow the southern states of the Confederacy back into the Union.  The government also had to decide what the abolition of slavery through the Emancipation Proclamation actually meant for newly freed slaves and Black Americans in general. What were the Thirteenth Amendment, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and Fourteenth Amendment?  Investigate the founding and goals of the Freedman's Bureau.  Keeping these acts in mind, what were the government's initial goals in Reconstruction?  How did the change in leadership from Lincoln to Johnson affect the implementation of these goals?  What impediments did proponents of such goals face? Was Reconstruction successful in achieving its initial goals? 

Write in support or opposition to the results of Plessy v. Ferguson. 

Following the Civil War, the federal government passed laws and amendments to the Constitution to re-unify the nation and decide what the abolition of slavery really meant for newly freed slaves and Black Americans in general.  However, within a few decades, Black Americans were still not treated as full citizens, despite these federal laws. What was the Civil Rights Act of 1875 and what happened when the Supreme Court heard a case against it in 1883?  What were Jim Crow laws?  How did Jim Crow laws affect the daily lives of people of color in the states where they were enacted?  Think about specific examples. What was Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and how was this court case connected to the growth of Jim Crow laws?  What legal precedent did it establish for laws about access and use of public spaces and institutions?  

Write as Garvey or a support of Garvey in support of his major ideas. 

Write as another black leader, opposed to specific aspects of Garvey's leadership or ideas. 

 During the 20th century, Black Americans advocated for their rights as humans and citizens through several different organizations and movements, each with distinct philosophies and preferred plans of action.  Marcus Garvey and the group he led, the United Negro Improvement Association, promoted the idea of 'race pride' and worked from a pan-African philosophy.  Research Marcus Garvey's life and work, highlighting key events and explaining his particular views and his methods of activism.  What are the concepts of 'race pride' and pan-Africanism and how do they connect to Garvey and the UNIA's particular initiatives. What was his relationship with other major black leaders of the time such as W.E.B. Dubois?  What aspects of his beliefs and the UNIA's work brought him into conflict with other leaders in the black community? What was his overall legacy? 

Write as Du Bois or Washington, in opposition to the other's ideas. 

Write about an internal conflict in early NAACP, taking on a real historical person's identity and opinions or invent a historical character with a stake in the issue. 

W.E.B. Du Bois was one of the most prominent and influential Black American intellectuals and activists of the early 20th century.  Research Du Bois' life and legacy, especially his role in founding NAACP.  What were his major beliefs and goals?  How did his beliefs and methods differ from those promoted by another major Black leader,  Booker T. Washington? What were some of the major events that spurred leaders (including Du Bois) to form the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People? What movements or organizations acted as predecessors to the NAACP?  In addition to Du Bois, who were some of the other major leaders in founding the NAACP?  What kind of internal conflicts did the NAACP face in its early years and how do these issues reflect similar conflicts within the larger movement for racial equality in the U.S. at the time? What tactics did the NAACP adopt as its primary methods of advocating for change? 

Write as a Black person who has moved to Chicago (or other major northern city), arguing for others doing the same (or not). 

From 1900 to 1960, approximately five million Black Americans migrated from the southern United States to the northern cities including Chicago. The major movement of black Americans to the north from 1916-1930 is called the Great Migration and the similar population shift from 1940-1970, the Second Great Migration.  What were some of the reasons for each of these major migrations? What national and international events affected each? Once the migrants arrived in new cities, what kinds of jobs did they find?  What obstacles did they face in finding work and finding places to live?  Investigate the communities that grew as a result of these population changes, focusing on Chicago and the development of the South Side's Black Belt community.  

Write as a leader/supporter on why Black citizens in Montgomery should participate/why all should support the boycott. 

Write as a supporter/participant in the boycott on why it was successful and should be replicated. 

By the 1950s, legally and culturally enforced racial segregation had permeated nearly every aspect of life in the southern United States.  For example, Black and White passengers rode on city buses together and paid the same fare but Black passengers were then required to move to the back of the bus or give up their seats to accommodate White passengers as needed.  In 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, the segregated buses became a key point in civil rights activists fight to end segregation.  Who were Jo Ann Robinson, Claudette Colvin, and Rosa Parks?  What kinds of myths have grown up around Rosa Parks and her role in beginning the Montgomery  Bus Boycott of 1955?  Why do you think she is better known than Claudette Colvin? What organizations headed the planning and implementation of the bus boycott? What were their goals? What were the main strategies employed by the boycott's organizers? Who participated in the boycott? What risks did different participants face and how did the leaders deal with these various dangers and obstacles? Was the boycott successful? Why or why not?   

Write a supporter/participant in sit-ins or Freedom Rides on why others should join. 

Write as a Black civil rights leader in opposition to the Freedom Rides as a tactic. 

 Students, especially at colleges and universities, plays a large role in the Civil Rights movement.  What was the Fellowship of Reconciliation and what was their role in bringing student activists into the movement?  Research the Greensboro Sit-In and its influence on other student activists.  Who were Diane Nash and John Lewis? What were their roles in the growth of sit-ins as a protest tool and the formation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee? What were the 1961 Freedom Rides? Who organized them and who participated in them? What were the reactions and results to the Freedom Rides in terms of the media, the larger civil rights movement, and the federal government? 

Write as a voting rights activist in 1960s on why more legislation is necessary (and 15th Amendment is not enough/not enforced). 

Explain the Fifteenth Amendment (1869) and describe its intended role in Reconstruction and the reunification of the nation after the Civil War.  Investigate the major events that prevented the Fifteenth Amendment from being enforced and protected throughout the country. What specific types of state laws were most often enacted that impeded the enforcement of the Fifteenth Amendment? Why was the Voting Rights Act of 1965 still necessary even after the Civil Rights Acts of 1960 and 1964?  Research some of the events that led up to the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.  Did the Voting Rights Act accomplish what its supported hoped that it would? Why is this law still relevant today? 

Write as an organizer (such as Bayard Rustin) about why the March matters and/or why others should join the March. 

Research the major events of 1963 that inspired leaders of the Civil Rights Movement (especially the Southern Christian Leadership Conference) to plan a mass action that year. What were their primary goals in planning the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom?  What were the roles of Bayard Rustin and A. Philip Randolph in organizing and implementing the March? Investigate their past work as activists and identify the organizations or interest groups they had led and represented.  How did goals of the March effect the planned program and speakers? What were the particular challenges that faced the organizers in planning such a large event that brought together many different groups?  Did the organizers achieve any of their goals? If so, which ones? If the March was successful, what factors contributed most significantly to its success? 

Write as someone in support of or someone opposed to school integration (perhaps specifically in Little Rock). 

In 1896, Plessy v. Ferguson affirmed the "separate but equal" doctrine, allowing Jim Crow states to continue creating and enforcing racial segregation in public spaces, including schools.  When groups like the NAACP looked for ways to fight segregation using the legal system, they began to focus on cases involving school segregation.  Find a brief summary of the background of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. What were a couple of the other school desegregation cases that preceded Brown v. Board?  Who were the individuals involved in constructing and arguing Brown in front of the Supreme Court and what were their arguments? Why were these arguments effective in this case at this particular moment in history? What were the results of the Brown ruling?  Why has the case of the Little Rock Nine become one of the most well-known school desegregation stories? What does that situation illustrate about the process of school desegregation in the U.S.?  

Write as Lorraine Hansberry on a topic/issue important to her. 

Write as someone reflecting on her legacy after her early death. 

. What experiences in Lorraine Hansberry's life appear to have shaped her—as an individual and a writer?  What was her relationship to the larger Civil Rights Movement? When and where did she focus her work as an activist?  How was her writing and activist work intertwined? What common themes run through her writing? What has been her legacy? 

Write as Hughes about being a 'social poet.' 

Write as Lorraine Hansberry about her connections to Hughes, etc. 

 Research Langston Hughes' life and career, choosing several main events or experiences as focus points.  What experiences in Hughes' life appear to have shaped him – as an individual and a writer? Research the literary and social significance of the Harlem Renaissance and describe Hughes' role in this movement.  Explain his concept of being a 'social poet' and decide if Hughes was in fact a 'social poet.'  Why do you think Lorraine Hansberry chose to use a phrase from Hughes' poem "Harlem" as the title of her play?  Why did she chose that particular poem? What has been Hughes' larger legacy?