Chronology Activity
In this assignment, your task will be to use the archival evidence from the 1960s to 2000s to chronologically order at least 8 milestone events and connect them to political, economic, cultural, and social strides or setbacks made. A template will be provided to help trend, spot, and visualize the connections.
For the chronology, identify your chosen 8 critical events or milestones based on the sources you have found, for example, the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the Bakke Decision and Affirmative Action, Chisolm’s bid for President, Jesse Jackson’s galvanization of Black voters, the LA riots, etc.
Step 1: Assess the Archives to Identify 8 Milestone Events
To develop the chronology, work with archival documents from the National Archives African American Heritage Collection website (https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/black-power) and The Digital Public Library of America website (https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-black-power-movement#tabs). The images, audio, photographs, data, and other records contain information on the Black Power Movement of the 1960s and 1970s and more specifically:
The Nation of Islam (NOI),
Deacons for Defense and Justice
Black Panther Party for Self-Defense (BPP)
Congressional Black Caucus
Women in Black Power
The Black Arts Movement
Also included are records of several individuals:
Malcolm X
Stokely Carmichael
Elaine Brown
Angela Davis
Fred Hampton
Amiri Baraka
Shirley Chisholm
Step 2: Develop a Chronology
It is useful to organize and sort dates, events, and larger time periods into meaningful categories based on time. Identify eight milestone events for the chronology.
Step 3 Conduct Historical Detective Work
Complete the Chronology Worksheet (attached to order). What were the causes and implications of the specific archives? Sort at least 8 specific primary source documents from the two archival collections (documents, images, texts) into one or more of the decades listed in the chronology. Identify if the document’s milestone event demonstrated a political, economic, cultural, or social impact. Remember that milestones could happen during a specific year but have broad impacts beyond that year or decade and could have impacted multiple aspects of life. It will be important that you can explain why there was or is causality.
Step 4 Prepare the Analysis
After carefully reviewing and critically analyzing each primary source and completing the Chronology Worksheet, working with 8 different archives, develop a 750–1000-word (3-4 page) summary analysis essay addressing each of the following questions:
Proponents of the Black Power Movement were often viewed as being violent and racist. How do the resources you utilized in this primary source activity challenge that image?
In what specific ways did the events of the late 1960s and 1970s set the stage for the contemporary era of the 1980s through the present?
Multiple sources in the set are from FBI investigations of the Black Panther Party and activism of the post-Civil Rights era. What does this reveal about the magnitude and impact of the Black Power Movement in the United States?
It is necessary to cite sources to support your perspective for this paper.
Include at least 4 of the primary sources you investigated in this activity and any other readings from the course that support your points.
Cite all sources in APA format.
Submit the annotations and the essay in the same document, using the Worksheet above. The final submission must include (in one document):
The completed chronology worksheet with at least 8 milestones, with supporting sources for each one
A 3–4-page analysis essay addressing the questions above and supporting your arguments with at least 4 cited primary sources
Please and thank you 🙂
I thank whoever takes up this task.
