Worksheets and No Prep Teaching Resources
Worksheets and No Prep Teaching Resources
Reading Comprehension Worksheets
Black History and Blacks in U.S. History
Jim Crow Laws

Black History and Blacks in U.S. History
Black History and Blacks in U.S. History

Jim Crow Laws
Print Jim Crow Laws Reading Comprehension with Fourth Grade Work

Print Jim Crow Laws Reading Comprehension with Fifth Grade Work

Print Jim Crow Laws Reading Comprehension with Sixth Grade Work

Print Jim Crow Laws Reading Comprehension

Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 4 to 6
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   6.89

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    blacken, equality, jurisdiction, literacy, louisiana, lynchings, minstrel, separately, unconstitutional, vigilante, enforcement, majority, slavery, education, infamous, segregation
     content words:    Civil War, United States, Black Codes, Jim Crow, Fourteenth Amendment, Ku Klux Klan, Homer Plessey, Supreme Court, United States Congress, Fifteenth Amendment

Other Languages
     Spanish: Las leyes de Jim Crow

Jim Crow Laws
By Jane Runyon 		  
1     Many people believed that the end of the Civil War would bring great changes to the lives of slaves in the South. They were given freedom from slavery by the President of the United States. They were declared to be citizens of the United States. As citizens, they were guaranteed certain rights by the Constitution. All should have been well. But it wasn't.
 
2     To be honest, it wasn't just the southern states that had problems with equality. Many northern states also had a tradition of segregation. Blacks and whites lived separately, worked separately, and ate separately. It was just their habit and no one thought much about it.
 
3     The southern states believed in segregation and slavery. Blacks often worked closely with whites, but they were the property of the whites. They could be bought and sold. They had no say in who governed them.
 
4     After the Civil War, many whites intended to retain their hold on blacks through the use of laws that became known as Black Codes. These were special rules that blacks were held to. White people didn't have to follow these same rules. Eventually, these Black Codes became known as Jim Crow laws.
 
5     Jim Crow was the name of a clown character found in minstrel shows. A white actor would blacken his face and perform like a fool. He would sing a song with the words "Wheel about, turn about, dance jest so- Every time I wheel about I shout Jim Crow." Jim Crow came to represent the African-Americans who laughed on the outside, accepting their lot in life. Yet, these same people were hurting on the inside because of the treatment they received.

Paragraphs 6 to 11:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable
Weekly Reading Books

          Create Weekly Reading Books

Prepare for an entire week at once!

Feedback on Jim Crow Laws
Leave your feedback on Jim Crow Laws   (use this link if you found an error in the story)

Black History and Blacks in U.S. History
             Black History and Blacks in U.S. History

United States
             United States


    American Government  
 
    Black History and Blacks in U.S. History  
 
    Children in History  
 
    Government Careers  
 
    Hispanic Heritage  
 
    How Can I Help?  
 
 
    Immigration  
 
    National Parks and Monuments  
 
    Native Americans  
 
    Presidents of the United States  
 
    Women's History  
 

United States History
    A Nation Divided
(1840-1861) 		 
 
    A New Nation
(1776-1830) 		 
 
    After the Civil War
(1865-1870) 		 
 
    American Revolution  
 
    Cold War
(1947-1991) 		 
 
    Colonial America (1492-1776)  
 
    Lewis and Clark
(1804-1806) 		 
 
    Pearl Harbor  
 
    Spanish American War (1898)  
 
    The 1890's  
 
    The 1900's  
 
    The 1910's  
 
    The 1920's  
 
    The 1930's  
 
 
    The 1940's  
 
    The 1950's  
 
    The 1960's  
 
    The 1970's  
 
    The 1980's  
 
    The 1990's  
 
    The 2000's  
 
    The Civil War
(1861-1865) 		 
 
    The Great Depression
(1929-1945) 		 
 
    The United States Grows
(1865-1900) 		 
 
    The War of 1812  
 
    Wild, Wild West  
 
    World War I
(1914-1918) 		 
 
    World War II  
 

50 States

             Fifty States Theme Unit

Document Based Activities
      Document Based Activities



Copyright © 2018 edHelper