SSUSH22 A thru E
Civil Rights Movement
Civil Rights Movement
Early Developments
• 1896 – Landmark Court Case: Plessy vs Ferguson
 African American Homer Plessy challenged Louisiana’s
Separate Car Act.
 Louisiana Judge John Howard Ferguson found him
guilty of riding in a “white’s only” railroad car.
 Plessy appealed to the Supreme Court
 Supreme Court decision confirmed the “Separate but Equal” idea of law
• 1890’s – 1960’s – Segregation laws in America became known as Jim Crow Laws.
 Mostly common across the South.
 Local Communities usually given authority
 Areas without laws requiring segregation often
had de-facto segregation:
 Segregation by custom or tradition
Civil Rights Movement
Lynchings
Blacks: 14
Whites: 33
Mixed Marriages
Mixed Marriages
Anti-Miscegenation
Anti-Miscegenation
Riots
Transportation
0
Lynchings
1882 - 1968
No Segregation
Education
Riots
0
No Segregation
Lynchings
Blacks: 299
Whites: 48
Mixed Marriages
Anti-Miscegenation
Riots
Transportation
0
Separate but Equal
Blacks: 0
Whites: 0
Transportation
No Segregation
Education
School Segregation
Texas
Riots
Lynchings
0
Blacks: 352
Whites:141
Lynchings
Blacks: 86
Whites: 15
Mixed Marriages
Mixed Marriages
Anti-Miscegenation
Anti-Miscegenation
Transportation
Transportation
Separate but Equal
Separate but Equal
Riots
1
Education
Education
Education
School Segregation
School Segregation
School Segregation
Civil Rights Movement
Early Developments
• 1905: 32 African American leaders started meeting at Niagara Falls
 Discussed problems of Colored People and possible solutions
 Eventually became known as the Niagara Movement.
• 1909: Creation of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored people (NAACP)
 7 Members from the Niagara Movement became
organizing members
 Chartered to promote equal rights and eliminate
racial prejudice among American Citizens
 Promoted court cases designed to overturn
segregation laws
• 1935: Norris vs Alabama
 Alabama had excluded African American’s from juries
 Supreme Court declared that it violated equal protection under the law
Civil Rights Movement
Changes between two Wars
• WWI to WWII: The African American Great Migration to the North & West
 Many gained voting rights
that had been restricted in
the South
 Many still experienced racial
discrimination concerning
jobs, pay, and housing
• 1930’s: Many African Americans
benefited from FDR’s New
Deal Programs
World War II
• 1941 - A. Philip Randolph joined other African American
leaders to organize the March on Washington Movement.
 An effort to eliminate job discrimination in the Defense
Industries that were supporting the war
Civil Rights Movement
World War II
• 25 Jun 1941: FDR issued Executive Order 8802
 Prohibited Racial Discrimination in Defense Industry
• 1942: African American Leaders and Newspapers began
the Double V. Campaign
 Promoted African American military service in the war
 Dedicated to obtaining two victories:
 Against Fascism in Europe and Racism in America
• 1942: Congress of Racial Equality formed
 Founded by James Farmer and George
Houser
 Used “sit-ins” to desegregate public
facilities like restaurants and theaters
 Refusing to leave if service was denied
Civil Rights Movement
World War II
• 1942: U.S. Army Officer’s Candidate School (OCS) was the
first experiment of integration in the military
 Among its graduates was 2nd Lt Jackie Robinson
Post World War II
• 1947: Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier when he
started his first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers
• 1940’s - A. Philip Randolph joined other African American leaders to form
the Committee Against Jim Crow in Military Service and Training
 Their goal was to persuade President Harry S. Truman to
desegregate the military
• 26 Jul 1948: Executive Order 9981
 Abolished Racial Discrimination in the Armed Forces
 Led to the Desegregation of the U.S. Military
Civil Rights Movement
Post World War II
• 1951: An African American parent of a middle school student filed a suit to
allow his daughter attend an all white school closer to home
 The U.S. District Court decided against the suit citing
the Supreme Court precedence in Plessy vs Ferguson
• 1954: NAACP Chief Counsel, Thurgood Marshall, decided to
take on the suit and the issue of school desegregation
 The issue was taken to the Supreme Court, becoming
the landmark case of Brown vs Board of Education
 The Supreme Court ruled against the Board of Education, declaring
School Segregation to be Unconstitutional.
 A violation of Equal Protection under the Fourteenth Amendment
 Ending “Separate but Equal” as set forth in Plessy vs Ferguson
• Southerners leaders in Congress adopted “massive resistance” to school
desegregation by signing the Southern Manifesto
 Encouraging white southerners to defy the Supreme Court ruling
Civil Rights Movement
The Movement Begins
• 1 Dec 1955: African American female, Rosa Parks, was
arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to
white passengers in Montgomery, Alabama.
 Several African American leaders
form the Montgomery Improvement
Association to boycott city busses
 They chose 26 year old pastor,
Martin Luther King, Jr., to lead them
 The Montgomery Bus Boycott had
begun
• 13 Jun 1956: Browder vs Gaile
 The U.S. District Court in Alabama ruled that
Bus Segregation was Unconstitutional
according to the Fourteenth Amendment
 20 Dec 1956: The Supreme Court confirmed
the ruling and ending the bus boycott
Civil Rights Movement
• The Montgomery Bus Boycott proved that nonviolent
protests could be successful
• 1957: A group of African American ministers joined to
form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
 The SCLC set out to eliminate segregation and
encourage African American’s to vote
Civil Rights Actions under Eisenhower
• Sep 1957: Crisis in Little Rock, Arkansas
 Court order to admit 9 African American students
attend all white Central High School
 Governor Orval Faubus ordered the Arkansas
National Guard to prevent entry by the students
 Ordered to remove the troops by
the court, White mobs attacked
and beat the students
 President Eisenhower order the
U.S. Army in to end the violence
Civil Rights Movement
Civil Rights Actions under Eisenhower
• Civil Rights Act of 1957: Signed into law by President
Dwight D. Eisenhower
 Landmark Civil Rights legislation intended to protect
African American voting rights
• 1960: Woolworth Sit-In by the Greensboro Four
 African American college students chose to challenge
the All White policy at Woolworth diner
 Sit-ins spread to 54 cities in 9 states
 College students like Jesse Jackson proved that sit-ins were a
useful form of non-violent protest
• Apr 1960: Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee formed
 Established by Ella Baker, executive director of the SCLC
 Created to allow college students to coordinate their own
civil rights activities and make a difference
Civil Rights Movement
Civil Rights Actions under Eisenhower
• 1960: Boynton vs Virginia
 Supreme Court Case outlawing racial segregation in public
transportation facilities and on trains & buses
 Due to violation of the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887
• 1961: CORE Leader James Farmer organized both black and
white volunteers into teams called Freedom Riders
 To draw attention to the South’s refusal to
integrate bus terminals and transportation
 Resulted in attacks by white mobs, beating
with baseball bats, and burned buses
Civil Rights Actions under JFK
• Appointed about 40 African Americans to federal positions
• Appointed Thurgood Marshall as a Circuit Court Judge
• Created the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity
Civil Rights Movement
Civil Rights Actions under JFK
• President Kennedy’s hesitance to act and preoccupation with
the Cuban Missile Crisis caused concern among Civil Rights
leaders
• Spring 1963: The Birmingham Campaign Crisis
 Nonviolent demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama led by Reverend
Martin Luther King, Jr.
 Intended to provoke violence
and gain media attention
 Martin Luther King was arrested
 Police Brutality increased violence
 16th Street Baptist Church bombed
• June 1963: The Stand in the Schoolhouse Door
 Alabama Governor George Wallace opposed
desegregation of at University of Alabama
 JFK used the military to enforce the law.
Civil Rights Movement
Civil Rights Actions under JFK
• 28 Aug 1963: The March on Washington
 200,000 demonstrators of all races
 Motivational Speeches and Songs
 MLK Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” Speech
Civil Rights Actions under LBJ
• Civil Rights Act of 1964:
 Announced by President John F. Kennedy
 Signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson
 Outlawed discrimination based on Race,
Ethnicity, Nationality, Religion, & Gender
 Established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
• Jun – Oct 1964: African American Churches and Businesses across the
south are burned or bombed by the KKK
Civil Rights Movement
Civil Rights Actions under LBJ
• Jan 1965: Voting Rights in Selma, Alabama
 Sheriff Jim Clark prevented African
Americans from registering to vote
 Police brutality resulted in beatings,
arrests, and murder
 SCLC leader Hosea Williams organized
a march to focus on voting rights
• 7 Mar 1965: The March on Selma, Alabama
 500 protestors marched
 200 State Troopers and Deputies
 Attack by police on demonstrators
hospitalized 70
 Event became known as “Bloody Sunday”
 Infuriated the President into action
Civil Rights Movement
Civil Rights Actions under LBJ
• Civil Rights Act of 1965: known as the Voting Rights Act
 Prohibited discrimination in Voting and Voter Registration
• New Civil Rights legislation did not eliminate Racism in the United States
• 11 Aug 1965: The Watts Riot in Los Angeles
 Caused by allegations of Police Brutality
 Rioters burned and looted whole neighborhoods
 34 People killed and over 900 hospitalized
 14,000 National Guardsmen deployed
• 1965 - 1967: The Chicago Movement
 Civil Rights Activist Albert Raby invited
Martin Luther King, Jr., to Chicago, Illinois
 To cause change in deplorable housing
 Marches & Meetings caused little change
Civil Rights Movement
Civil Rights Actions under LBJ
• After 1965 many young African Americans began turning
away from Martin Luther King’s nonviolent movement
• By 1965: Malcolm X had become a symbol of Black Power.
• The Black Power movement promoted the idea that
African Americans should control their own direction and destiny
• 1966: A militant group known as the Black Panthers formed
 Considered themselves the heirs of Malcolm
 Promoted armed revolution by African Americans
 Ten Point Program promoted “Black Empowerment”
• 1967: President Johnson appointed the Kerner Commission
 Headed by Governor Otto Kerner of Illinois
 Tasked with studying Causes of Urban Riots
 Commissioned to make key recommendations
 More Inner City Jobs and better Housing
Civil Rights Movement
Civil Rights Actions under LBJ
• Civil Rights Act of 1968: also called the Fair Housing Act
 Provided for equal housing laws regardless of race, creed,
or national origin
• Mar 1968: SCLC planned a national Poor People’s Campaign
 Try and get the government to end poverty in U.S.
 4 Apr 1968: Martin Luther King, Jr. traveled to
Memphis Tennessee to make a speech
 He made his “I’ve been to the mountaintop”
speech at the local Church in God and Christ
 That evening he was assassinated while standing on
the balcony of his hotel room
 His assassin, James Earl Ray, confessed and was
sentenced to 99 years in prison (where he died)
 Ralph David Abernathy of Georgia took over the
leadership of the Poor People’s Campaign & SCLC
Civil Rights Movement
Comparing Key Civil Rights Legislation
CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957
First major civil rights legislation since
Reconstruction
Intended to protect African American
Voting Rights (clarify 15th Amendment)
Sen. Strom Thurmond of S.C. held a
Filibuster for 24hrs and 18min
9 Sep 1957: Signed by Dwight Eisenhower
CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964
Landmark legislation against discrimination
Outlawed discrimination based on Race,
Ethnicity, Nationality, Religion, & Gender
Group of Southern Senators conducted a
Filibuster for 54days
1963: Proposed by John F. Kennedy (died)
2 Jul 1964: Signed by Lyndon B. Johnson
VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965
Landmark legislation against discrimination
Prohibited discrimination from Voting and
Voter’s Registration Restrictions by States
Cloture Vote was used to prevent another
Filibuster by Southern Politicians
6 Aug 1965: Signed by Lyndon B. Johnson
FAIR HOUSING ACT OF 1968
Landmark legislation against discrimination
Outlawed discrimination against rental or
purchase due to Race, Creed, & Nationality
Re-enforced the Civil Rights Act of 1866
Re-enforced Executive Order 11063
(signed by President John F. Kennedy)
11 Apr 1968: Signed by Lyndon B. Johnson
Filibuster = extended speech or debate
used to delay a legislative vote
Cloture = a petition signed by at least 16
senators to end a filibuster and cause vote