Exploros | Lyndon Johnson's Great Society

Lyndon Johnson's Great Society

Students create a flowchart to review the process by which a bill becomes a law. Then they learn about the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1964, as well as key legislation of LBJ’s Great Society program. Next they learn about the opposition of the southern Democrats and evaluate the role of filibuster in Congress. Finally they write an executive summary of an affirmative action plan for an imaginary company.

This learning experience is designed for device-enabled classrooms. The teacher guides the lesson, and students use embedded resources, social media skills, and critical thinking skills to actively participate. To get access to a free version of the complete lesson, sign up for an exploros account.

Overview

In this experience, students create a flowchart to review the process by which a bill becomes a law. Then they learn about the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1964, as well as key legislation of LBJ’s Great Society program. Next they learn about the opposition of the southern Democrats and evaluate the role of the filibuster in Congress. Finally they write an executive summary of an affirmative action plan for an imaginary company.

Objectives

Describe the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Explain Johnson's Great Society program.
Evaluate affirmative action.

Engage

As the civil rights movement spurred activism across the United States, Presidents Kennedy and Johnson together with a majority of the elected representatives in Congress finally listened to their constituents. In this experience you will learn about the legislation passed and the programs established during the 1960s.

Objectives

Describe the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Explain Johnson's Great Society program.
Evaluate affirmative action.

photograph of Eisenhower at his desk signing the text of the bill

President Dwight D. Eisenhower signing the Civil Rights Act of 1957 into law

Before looking at the passage of the civil rights legislation during the 1960s, review what you know about how a bill becomes a law in the U.S. Congress.

The Student Pack contains a few links to help students review the process.

Create a flowchart showing the process.

Review the process with students. There are different paths that a bill can take, depending on who introduced it. A high-level look at the steps in the process as provided by the usa.gov website:

A bill can be introduced in either chamber of Congress by a senator or representative who sponsors it.

Once a bill is introduced, it is assigned to a committee whose members will research, discuss, and make changes to the bill.

The bill is then put before that chamber to be voted on.

If the bill passes one body of Congress, it goes to the other body to go through a similar process of research, discussion, changes, and voting.

Once both bodies vote to accept a bill, they must work out any differences between the two versions. Then both chambers vote on the same exact bill and, if it passes, they present it to the president.

The president can approve the bill and sign it into law or not approve (veto) a bill.

If the president chooses to veto a bill, in most cases Congress can vote to override that veto and the bill becomes a law. If the president pocket vetoes a bill after Congress has adjourned, the veto cannot be overridden.

When everyone is ready to continue, unlock the next scene.