Name
Date
REVIEW
CALIFORNIA CONTENT
STANDARD 11.10.5
The Spread of the
Civil Rights Movement
Specific Objective: Understand the diffusion of the civil rights movement of African
Americans from the churches of the rural South and the urban North, including the resistance to racial desegregation in Little Rock and Birmingham, and how the advances influenced the agendas, strategies, and effectiveness of the quests of the American Indians,
Asian Americans, and Hispanic Americans for civil rights and equal opportunities.
Read the summary to answer the questions on the next page.
Copyright © McDougal Littell/Houghton Mifflin Company
Civil Rights and African-American Churches
• Since the end of the Civil War, African-American churches had served as community
centers. Church leaders were community leaders as well. Martin Luther King, Jr. was
a Baptist minister who was chosen to lead the Montgomery bus boycott.
• After the boycott ended, King and other ministers and civil rights leaders formed the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The SCLC used churches as its
base to spread protests and demonstrations throughout the South. Opponents of civil
rights often targeted churches. Ella Baker of SCLC helped organize the nationwide
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
• Members of Northern churches provided moral support and fought discrimination.
Many in the North joined Black Muslim and Black Power movements.
Resistance to Desegregation in Little Rock and Birmingham
• The governor of Arkansas decided to resist school desegregation in 1957. He ordered
the National Guard to turn away high school students in Little Rock. A federal judge
ordered students admitted, and President Eisenhower ordered troops to help them
attend. Students were allowed in but were harassed in school by some whites. The
governor closed the school at the end of the year.
• In 1963, Birmingham, Alabama, was the most segregated city in the country.
Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth urged Martin Luther King, Jr. and the SCLC to
use nonviolence to integrate the city. Protests continued for more than a month.
Hundreds were jailed, including King and children. Nationwide television showed
police attacking protesters with dogs and fire hoses. Protests, economic boycotts, and
negative media coverage convinced leaders in Birmingham to accept changes.
Civil Rights Movement Spreads to Other Minorities
• César Chávez and others organized Hispanic farm workers in California and used a
nonviolent protest to get better pay and conditions. Several Latino political
organizations such as LULAC and La Raza Unida were formed.
• The American Indian Movement (AIM) formed in 1968 and confronted the
government over the rights of Native American tribes to control their affairs.
Legal victories for Native Americans included restoration of land in several states.
• Japanese Americans pushed for reparations from internment during World War II.
Congress provided payments in 1965 and 1990.
CSS Specific Objective 11.10.5: Review 145
Name
Date
PRACTICE
CALIFORNIA CONTENT
STANDARD 11.10.5
The Spread of the
Civil Rights Movement
Directions: Choose the letter of the best answer.
2
3
What role did African-American
churches in the North and South
play in the spread of the civil rights
movement?
A
They often opposed civil rights
marches because of their potential for
violence.
B
They preferred not to get involved
in political activities such as protest
marches.
C
They were centers for community
action and helped organize civil rights
protests.
D
They had too few members to make
much of an impact in civil rights
actions.
4
5
How did events in Birmingham,
Alabama, in 1963 relate to the SCLC?
Which of these groups grew out of
the SCLC?
A
AIM
B
LULAC
C
NAACP
D
SNCC
Legal victories by Native Americans
during the 1970s and 1980s gained
A
restoration of native land in several
states.
B
their right to vote in presidential
elections.
C
a constitutional amendment
guaranteeing payment of reparations.
D
special representatives for each tribe
in Congress.
A
Members of the SCLC used violent
tactics to resist the police brutality in
the city.
B
Protests and boycotts organized by the
SCLC ended segregation in the city.
A
C
The SCLC was organized to build
on the success of the protests in
Birmingham.
members of the American Indian
Movement
B
Latinos who started the brown power
movement
D
The SCLC had no role in the civil
rights movement in Birmingham.
C
Hispanic farm workers in California
D
victims of Japanese internment
The best-known resistance to school
desegregation in 1957 occurred in
A
Birmingham, Alabama.
B
Little Rock, Arkansas.
C
Montgomery, Alabama.
D
Oxford, Mississippi.
146 CSS Specific Objective 11.10.5: Practice
6
Which of the following groups was
most influenced by the ideas of Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.?
Copyright © McDougal Littell/Houghton Mifflin Company
1