• Login
  • Register
  • FAQ
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • Documents
  • Activities
  • Activity Tools
    • All Tools
    • Analyzing Documents
    • Discussion Topic
    • Compare and Contrast
    • Zoom/Crop
    • White Out / Black Out
    • Spotlight
    • Finding a Sequence
    • Making Connections
    • Mapping History
    • Seeing the Big Picture
    • Weighing the Evidence
    • Interpreting Data
  • Popular Topics
    • See All
    • National History Day
    • The Constitution
    • Sports: All-American
    • Rights in America
    • American Indians
    • Women's Rights
    • American Revolution
    • The Civil War
    • World War I
    • World War II
    • The Vietnam War
    • 1970s America
    • Congress
    • Amending America
    • Elections
    • What Americans Eat
    • Signatures
    • Nixon and Ford Years
  • Resources
    • Getting Started
    • Document Analysis
    • Activity-Creation Guide
    • Manage Assignments
    • iPad App
    • Presentation Materials
    • Webinars
      • Recorded Webinars
      • Live Webinars
MENU
DocsTeachThe online tool for teaching with documents, from the National Archives National Archives Foundation National Archives

African American Soldiers and Civil Rights During WWI

Seeing the Big Picture

Print
Created by the National Archives
Bookmark this Activity in My Activities:
Copy this Activity to My Activities for editing:
African American Soldiers and Civil Rights During WWI

About this Activity

  • Created by:National Archives Education Team
  • Historical Era:The Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930)
  • Thinking Skill:Historical Analysis & Interpretation
  • Bloom's Taxonomy:Analyzing
  • Grade Level:High School
Start Activity
Please use a tablet or desktop computer to use this activity.
In this activity, students will analyze documents and match them to their descriptions to learn about struggles for civil rights for African Americans during World War I. They will reflect on arguments made in favor of stronger protections for civil rights, as well as what types of rights were denied to African Americans in the period following the war.
https://www.docsteach.org/activities/student/african-american-soldiers-and-civil-rights-during-wwi

Suggested Teaching Instructions

Use this activity while teaching about World War I or the history of civil rights in the United States. After completion, students should be able to discuss civil rights during WWI through historical examples as illustrated by the different primary sources included in the activity.

Students can complete the activity individually, in small groups or pairs, or in a full-class setting. For grades 7-12. Approximate time needed is 30 minutes.

Prior to beginning the activity, ask students how they would define "civil rights." Their explanations may vary, so after some discussion, define the term: personal rights guaranteed and protected by the Constitution and Federal law, including protection from unlawful discrimination.

Next, introduce the activity by explaining to students that they will be analyzing documents from American history that illustrate the experiences of African American servicemembers during World War I. (Please discuss with students that these historical sources use the terms "negro" and "colored" to refer to Black people, which were commonly accepted in that era, but are outdated and inappropriate today.)

Open the activity and model document analysis with one of the documents. Ask students to analyze the remaining documents and match each document to its appropriate description. As they work, they should make a list of how African Americans were being denied their civil rights, and think about how to put this treatment into categories.

Students may identify the following categories for the treatment/experiences they see depicted in the primary sources:

The military was segregated.
  • The photograph of Buffalo Soldiers at West Point shows how Black soldiers were placed in separate "colored" units.
  • The photograph of African-American infantrymen in France shows a segregated unit.
  • The photograph of the American Red Cross Rest Room for African American Soldiers and Sailors shows segregated facilities.

American society was segregated.

  • The 369th Infantry (seen arriving home) was prohibited from participating in the farewell parade when they deployed in 1917.
  • The letter from Ida B. Wells-Barnett to President Woodrow Wilson discusses an order that soldiers of color not go into public places where their color would be "resented."

There was racial violence and lynching.
  • The letter to President Woodrow Wilson describes a lynching in North Carolina.

After students have finished making all of the matches, they will see a letter written by an African American veteran, discussing his experience after World War I.

Students should click on "When You're Done" and answer the questions provided in preparation for a class discussion:

1) What kinds of arguments do the letters make? What references to the war do they use? Why do you think the authors felt this reasoning would be effective?

Students may note that the letters reference Germany, comparing the treatment of African Americans at home to injustices done during the war. They may also note the use of the term democracy and that the authors were appealing to the country to live up to its fundamental ideals.

2) The final letter states that the writer is still fighting for Constitutional rights. What civil rights were denied to African Americans in the period following World War I? How were African Americans discriminated against?

Share the following background information with students:
By the end of World War I, nearly 370,000 African Americans had served in the war effort in some capacity. Discriminatory practices such as segregation affected what branches of the military and services were open to enrolled African Americans. After their valorous actions at home and abroad, and in support of American victory in the war, African Americans were still denied rights and protections after the war. "Jim Crow" laws and election laws and procedures were implemented to block Black communities from voting, despite the 14th and 15th Amendments.

However, the World War I experiences of African American soldiers set the stage for the continued fight for civil rights, led by activists, African American veterans, and Black leaders.

Documents in this activity

  • African-American Infantrymen at Roll Call in France
  • American Red Cross Rest Room for African-American Soldiers and Sailors
  • Buffalo Soldiers Doing Equestrian Training in the Riding Hall at West Point
  • The 369th Infantry Arriving Home on the France
  • Letter to President Woodrow Wilson Regarding Lynching
  • Letter from Ida B. Wells-Barnett to President Woodrow Wilson
  • Letter from Timothy Percy Patterson to President Coolidge

CC0
To the extent possible under law, National Archives Education Team has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to "African American Soldiers and Civil Rights During WWI".

  • Explore Primary Source Documents
  •  
  • Discover Activities You Can Teach With
  •  
  • Create Fun & Engaging Activities
Follow us on Twitter:twitter
Follow us on Facebook:facebook
Please enter a valid email address

View our webinars:youtube

Get our iPad app:apple
New Documentsshare
New Activitiesshare

The National Archives

DocsTeach is a product of the National Archives education division. Our mission is to engage, educate, and inspire all learners to discover and explore the records of the American people preserved by the National Archives.

The National Archives and Records Administration is the nation's record keeper. We save documents and other materials created in the course of business conducted by the U.S. Federal government that are judged to have continuing value. We hold in trust for the public the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights — but also the records of ordinary citizens — at our locations around the country.
  • All Education Programs
  • Student Visits
  • Distance Learning
  • Professional Development
  • National Archives Museum
  • Presidential Libraries
  • Archives.gov
  • National Archives Foundation




Creative Commons License

Except where otherwise noted, DocsTeach is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Primary source documents included on this site generally come from the holdings of the National Archives and are in the public domain, except as noted. Teaching activities on this site have received the CC0 Public Domain Dedication; authors have waived all copyright and related rights to the extent possible under the law. See our legal and privacy page for full terms and conditions.