1. Fear, Terror and Lynchings
Lesson starter:
Describe how Jim Crow Laws affected the lives of Black Americans (4 marks)
You need four separate sentences with four separate points for full marks here.

2. Marking Instructions Schools were separated.
Public transport was segregated.
Shops catered to white or black Americans only.
Restaurant seating areas were segregated.
Black Americans lived in fear of the KKK who promoted their prejudice through attacks on black Americans.
Cinemas/theatres were separated.
Toilets were separated.
Drinking fountains were separated.
Marriages between black and white Americans illegal.
Hospitals/medical services separated.
Barbers/hairdressers separated.

3. Today we will… Understand what is meant by lynching
Understand why it was difficult for Black Americans to find justice in the South

4. Lynching
This word describes a variety of murders, tortures and punishments given to Black Americans. Usually carried out by mob action.

5. ‘Lynch Law’ was when white people would decide that a Black person was guilty of a ‘crime’ and would then punish them
There was no trial to decide who would be lynched – it was completely illegal
Yet little was done to stop it

6. Characteristics of lynching
Black victim - man/woman/child
Public place
Slow death i.e. hanging
White crowd looking on (including women and children)
Seen as a social occasion
Case study: Emmett Till

7. Case study: Emmett Till
Lesson starter:
Describe the process of lynching in the southern states (4 marks)
You need four separate sentences with four separate points for full marks here.

8. Today we will… Understand what is meant by lynching
Understand why it was difficult for Black Americans to find justice in the South

9. Emmett Till 14 yr old boy visiting relatives in Mississippi
He flirted with a white shop assistant
Body found in Tallahatchie river with horrendous injuries
Mother could not identify body
All-White jury gave a non-guilty verdict

10. Why was there no justice for victims of lynching?
Witness statements would be ‘lost’ or ignored
Witnesses worried about reprisals
All-white police force
All-white juries in courts
Many top lawyers and police were involved in the KKK
Black people were almost always found guilty

11. The Scottsboro Boys An example of injustice
Nine young men arrested for raping two white women on a train
Eight of nine sentenced to death
Little evidence
Thousands of people went to protest at the trial
One woman eventually retracted her statement
Trials dragged on for years
The case highlighted injustice for Black Americans

12. Task
Write a short newspaper article describing the story of either Emmett Till or the Scottsboro Boys.
It should:
Be one paragraph long (at least)
Contain information on the events
Describe what happened in the end.