Teacher’s guide

Research question for DP-1: ‘To what extent did WWII affect the civil right movement in the USA?’

Research question for MYP: ‘What were the social and political consequences of the liberation of Europe?’

When we study History we need to get an understanding of time and place in which historical events happened.When studying the Second World War; the variety of books, documentaries, movies and video games, help to paint a picture about the people who lived through this challenging time. From the coming to power of Hitler, to his radical racial policies as well as the invasion of Poland, the Holocaust and the landing in Normandy in 1944. All these events have left a mark on future generations. But how do we know about these events? How is history ‘made’?

In the coming lessons, students will work with a variety of sources and learn to analyse a somewhat unfamiliar story about WWII and especially the liberation of the Netherlands; the story of the Black Liberators and the creation of the American Militairy cemetery of Margraten. With the help of Historical questions we will try to discover the story of these brave men who came from the United States with it’s segregated political South to fight for freedom in Europe.

These men were drawn to the army in the 1940’s in search of a better life or adventure, each with their own background and personal story. Many of them died for the freedom of Europe. Some of them had children with local girls; the liberation children. These children have their own story to tell. With the help of these worksheets, both the children as the liberators will have their place in history. By asking the right historical questions their stories become our sources, and we can begin to understand their story in place and time.

Often, individual stories will lead to bigger historical events. The black soldiers who came back from their European war, did not receive the same treatment as the white troops. They came back to a heavily segregated country where the Ku Klux clan and their lynching parties still caused terror in the Southern states.’ I came back to fight another war’, (rev. Matthew Brown sr.).

Towards the end we will come to answer our research question:

‘To what extent did WWII contribute to the civil rights movement in the USA?’ and/ or ‘What were the social and political consequences of the liberation of Europe?’