America+Rocked

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1. **BLUES BIOGRAPHY** (Individual or group project): Choose one of the following artists and research his or her life and times: __//** Sam Cooke **//__, B.B. King, W.C. Handy, the Drifters, Thelonious Monk, Muddy Waters, Leadbelly, Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith, Robert Johnson. Display your findings in a scrap book or on a poster board. Indicate important civil rights dates and other national events along with personal achievements and chronological milestones of your chosen artist. Providing a sampling of his or her music would be a nice addition. Present your report to your class.

// __**Key Terms:**__ //

Brown V. Board of Education - a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students, denying black children equal educational opportunities unconstitutional.

 Cold Wa r - a state of political hostility existing between countries, characterized bythreats, violent propaganda, subversive activities, and other measures short of open warfare

Gospel music - a fervent style of black American evangelical religious singing, developed from spirituals sung in Southern Baptist and Pentecostal churches

Homogeneous - of the same kind; alike

Ideology - system of ideas and ideals, esp. one that forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy

Integration - the action or process of integrating

 Juvenile - of, for, or relating to young people

Delinquency - minor crime, esp. that committed by young people

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Segregation - the action or state of setting someone or something apart from other people or things or being set apart

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;"><span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Taboo - a social or religious custom prohibiting or restricting a particular practice or forbidding association with a particular person, place, or thing.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;"><span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Tipping Point - the point at which a series of small ineffective changes acquires enoughpressure or importance to cause a larger, more significant change

//__ **DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:** __//

1. Where is Memphis located? In the 1950’s, what social and cultural factors existed in Memphis that did not exist in, for example, Omaha, Nebraska? Memphis is located in Tennessee. Elvis Presley contributed to the social and cultural factors in Memphis. There was both Blacks and Whites.

2. According to one historian, the “official ideology” of the United States was that it was a “happy, homogeneous nation” in 1954. What does that statement mean? What visuals are used in the documentary to support that interpretation? The statement basically means everyone was happy, and just wanted to have fun. There wasnt any worries that were crossing their minds.

3. What was happening in the United States and the world during the 1950’s to create an “age of anxiety”? Teens in the US during the 1950's were considered "rebels" to their parents. They listened to music created by black people. If you were to wear a leather jacket, It supposedly meant that you were going to get into a knife fight after school, even though they just wore them to try to look like Elvis Presley.

4. Why did young white people often attend Black churches in Memphis? What is gospel music? How is it related to the “Blues” and “Rhythm and Blues” music? White People started attending Black churches in Memphis because they thought the way that the Blacks music, and Elvis Presley sounded was very similar. Gospel music is a type of Christian music. Gospel is related to the Blues, and Rhythm and Blues, because they both have the same type of beats.

5. How were issues of race and music woven together in America in the 1950’s? Why were so many white adults worried about their children listening to Black artists like Chuck Berry and B.B. King? Issues were woven together because everyone started to like Black artists almost too much. Adults started to worry about their children because they would start to act, and dress like the blacks. They could see their children changing.

6. Who was Sam Phillips? Why was Phillips important in the history of civil rights? Sam Phillips is the founder of Sun Records. Phillips was important in the history of civil rights because all the children became very similar, if not the same, because of the Black music that he created.

7. The Supreme Court decision known as Brown versus Board of Education, which banned legal segregation of schools, occurred more or less simultaneously as the appearance of Elvis Presley as a rock’n’roll star. How did Presley’s dress, performing style, and music upset the status quo? How was he linked to integration by his critics? The way the Presley dressed upset the status quo because he dressed like Black people, and other nationalities as well.

8. In your opinion, do you think most of Presley’s fans saw him as a symbol of integration and social change? Why or why not? Yes I do, I believe that he wanted to let people know that everyone was equal, black or white. And I think he got his message across clearly.

9. What is juvenile delinquency? Were critics of rock ‘n’roll concerned about delinquency of African American youths or just white youths? Why? Juvenile delinquency is illegal behavior by children or adolescents.

10. Why were some adults convinced that rock’n’roll would lead to the decline of America’s youth? What did they try to do to control rock music? Do you think people can be successful in censoring music? In your answer, consider long and short term success possibilities. Parent's taught their children that Blacks weren't equal to whites when they were young, because thats how it used to be once upon a time. When the children started listening to Black music, the parents tried to ban it. I think people can be successful in censoring if they try hard enough. But if they just say, "don't listen to black music", you would have to expect that some children won't listen.

11 . How and why did teenagers become an important consumer group in the 1950’s? Are they still an important consumer group? Teenagers became an important consumer group in the 1950's because they realized what they wanted, and they got it. They purchased a bunch of different things, including cars. From what I know, they still are an important consumer group.

12. Describe the response to Presley on television. Who was Ed Sullivan? Why is his television program important in this documentary? When people saw Elvis Presley on television, their response was that they really liked him, and mostly everyone listened to him. Ed Sullivan <span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 15px;">was an American entertainment writer and television host. His television program is important in this documentary because Elvis Presley appears in it.

13. Until September, 1956, when Presley appeared on the Ed Sullivan show, television was a conservative cultural force. What type of cultural force is television today? Explain your answer. The type of cultural force on television today is mostly theft and drug related crimes.

14. Would you consider Elvis’ appearance on the Ed Sullivan show to be a “turning point” in American history? Why or why not? I do believe that Elvis' appearance on the Ed Sullivan show a turning point... Mostly because everyone watched the Ed Sullivan show, and that allowed everyone to see Elvis when he had his episode. Everyone seemed to like him as well.

The following is an excerpt from Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren’s opinion in the <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding-right: 10px;">Brown v. the Board of Education decision, in which he outlined the findings of the court on the issue of racial segregation. After reading this excerpt, ask students to consider the questions below. <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding-right: 10px;">Brown v. Board of Education, Excerpt (1954)
 * Primary Source Exploration:**

“Today, education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments. Compulsory school attendance laws and the great expenditures for education both demonstrate our recognition of the importance of education to our democratic society. It is required in the performance of our most basic public responsibilities, even service in the armed forces. It is the very foundation of good citizenship. Today it is a principal instrument in awakening the child to cultural values, in preparing him for later professional training, and in helping him to adjust normally to his environment. In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.”

1. What is the basic argument Judge Warren makes in the paragraph above? Do you agree with his views on education? How does his statement pertain to racial segregation? Judge Warren's argument is basically saying that <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">since education is important to all Americans, all races should be able to be taught together without a conflict. I agree with his view on how he believes everyone should be taught together. I think your race shouldn't deny you education. White and African American children were segregated from each other in schools.

2. How do you think American race relations and rock ‘n’ roll music were intertwined? What influence do you think the Brown v. Board of Education decision had on the United States more broadly? I believe that they were intertwined because people listened to African American music for the sound. They didn't care about the race of the artists. Brown pointed out that seperate was not equal, and it opened the gate for more places to break down the barriers.