Name: _____________________________________________ Period: _______________

American Studies II

Ch 14: The Civil Rights Movement

1945-1975
Pgs. 466-501
 Ch 14: The Civil Rights Movement, 1945-1975

Term Definition (5-10 words)

De jure segregation Legal segregation enforced by law.

De facto segregation
Segregation by tradition or social custom.

CORE Congress of Racial Equality; organized protests.

Brown v. Board of
Education
Ended segregation in public schools.

Civil Rights Act of 1957 First federal civil rights law since 1875.

Montgomery bus
boycott Protest against bus segregation.

Sit-in Nonviolent protest by occupying space.

SNCC Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; youth-led activism.

Freedom ride Bus trips to protest segregation in interstate travel.

March on Washington 1963 rally for civil rights and jobs.

Filibuster Senate tactic to delay legislative action.

Civil Rights Act of 1964 Outlawed discrimination in public and workplace.

Freedom Summer Campaign to register Black voters in the South.

Voting Rights Act Banned literacy tests; ensured Black voting rights.

24th Amendment Banned poll taxes in federal elections.

 Kerner Commission Investigated urban riots; blamed white racism.

Nation of Islam Black nationalist religious group.

Black Power Movement encouraging Black pride and control.

Black Panthers Militant group for self-defense and civil rights.

Person Significance/Achievements

Thurgood Marshall NAACP lawyer; first Black Supreme Court Justice.

Earl Warren Chief Justice during Brown v. Board decision.

Rosa Parks Sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott by refusing to give up

her seat.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Civil rights leader; led nonviolent protests; gave “I Have a Dream”
Jr. speech.

James Meredith Integrated the University of Mississippi.

Medgar Evers NAACP leader murdered for his activism.

Fannie Lou Hamer Spoke out for voting rights during Freedom Summer.

Malcolm X Spokesman for Nation of Islam; later advocated Black

empowerment.

Stokely Carmichael SNCC leader; popularized “Black Power.”

March on Washington
 The Civil Rights Movement
Guided Notes: Take notes about important names, dates, and events of the Civil Rights Movement

Post WWII

Video: Blacks in the Military

1948: President Harry S. Truman signs Executive Order

9981, desegregating the U.S. Armed Forces.

Segregation Segregation in the South

Divides
Jim Crow laws-enforced strict separation of the races in the South
America
-Schools, hospitals, transportation, restaurants, bedrooms

De jure segregation

1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson - ”Separate but equal”

Segregation in the North

Blacks Americans were denied housing in many neighborhoods and

faced discrimination in employment

De facto segregation

segregated by unwritten custom or tradition, fact of life

Redlining

marking a red line on a map to identify areas where banks would not
make loans, predominately black inner-city neighborhoods
 The impact of segregation

-African Americans received low-paying jobs

-Higher rates of poverty and illiteracy
-Lower rates of homeownership and life expectancy
-Couldn’t vote in the south

The Civil 1942 – CORE

Rights
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE): became convinced to use
Movement
non-violent methods to gain civil rights
Grows -Influenced by Thoreau (civil disobedience) & Gandhi (nonviolence)
-Organized Protests in northern cities

1947

Jackie Robinson integrates baseball

1948

President Truman used his executive power to order the

desegregation of the military

NAACP became the largest and most powerful civil rights organization
Challenges -Challenged segregation through the legal system
Segregation

Thurgood Marshall
headed the team of lawyers that challenged the legality of segregation
-Becomes the first African American to be appointed to the Supreme
Court (1967, LBJ)

Brown vs.
Board of -NAACP challenged the “separate but equal” ruling
Education -The Supreme Court agreed with NAACP argument that segregated public
education violated the U.S. Constitution
Effects:
Great impact since it touched so many Americans
Opposition to the ruling declared that the South would not be integrated
(White Citizens Council)
 Video: Separate but Not Equal

1896: Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision upholds racial

segregation under the "separate but equal" doctrine.

1954: Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision declares

segregation in public schools unconstitutional, overturning Plessy v.
Ferguson.

Murder of
Emmett Till
-14 years old from Chicago visiting family in Mississippi
-Murdered by two white men for allegedly flirting with one of their
wives.
-Murderers were found not guilty – later did a magazine interview and
admitted they killed Emmett.
-Emmett’s mother decided to have an open-casket funeral so all could
see what they had done to her son
-The outrage at this event became a major catalyst for the push for civil
rights.
Video: Emmett Till - Crash Course Black American History

August 1955: 14-year-old Emmett Till is brutally murdered in

Mississippi after allegedly offending a white woman. His killers are
acquitted, but the case galvanizes the Civil Rights Movement.

Montgomery Rosa Parks

Bus Boycott refused to give up her seat to a white man and is arrested

Boycott
organized refusal to buy goods or services from a company or
country as a protest

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Elected by local civil rights leaders to be the public face of the

movement
 Effects of the Boycott

Public transportation integrated

Revealed the power African Americans could have if they joined together
King established the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
Advocated nonviolent resistance to fight injustice

Little Rock
Nine
-9 Black students attempt to integrate Little Rock’s Central HS
-They are taunted & harassed
-Arkansas’ Governor Faubus ordered the National Guard to block
them from entering the school

President Eisenhower

sent federal troops (101st Airborne Division) to protect the African

American students and to enforce Brown vs. Board

Video: Little Rock Nine

Effects of the Little Rock Nine

-It demonstrated that the President would not tolerate open defiance
of the law
-However, most southern states found ways to resist desegregation,
called massive resistance
-It would take years before black and white children went to school
together
The Sit-In
Movement -Four black students at North Carolina sat down in a whites-only
diner and were told that they would not be served
-Sit ins became a new way to protest segregation of public facilities
-SNCC – Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (Snick) –
formed by leaders of sit-in movement a couple of months later
 Video: Reflections on the Greensboro Lunch Counter

February 1, 1960: Four African American college students initiate a

sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro,
North Carolina, sparking a wave of nonviolent protests across the
South.

Freedom
Rides -Black & White students road busses from the North through southern
states
-Testing the federal government’s willingness to enforce that
segregation on interstate buses was illegal (Boynton v. Virginia 1960)

Video: The Freedom Riders History

May 4, 1961: Integrated groups of civil rights activists, known as

Freedom Riders, begin bus trips through the American South to
Freedom challenge segregation in interstate bus terminals.
Rides

Effects
-Kennedy takes action
-Federal Transportation Commission issued an order mandating the
desegregation of interstate transportation
-Civil rights activists achieved their goal and made it known that
intimidation would not defeat them
Meredith
Integrates -The Mississippi governor refused to allow him to attend Ole Miss &
University of death threats were made against Meredith
Mississippi -When he showed up to register there were riots by the white students
who did not want him to attend
Medgar Evers
-NAACP field secretary in Mississippi
-June 12, 1963 - he was assassinated in his driveway after returning home from a
rally.
-His killer stood trial twice, but both times the all-white juries could not reach a verdict
(hung jury)
-convicted in 1994 – 31 yrs. after the murder
Focus on
Birmingham -Birmingham was infamous for being the most segregated city in
the country
-Nicknamed “Bombingham” due to numerous bombings to
intimidate civil rights activists
-Freedom marches: schoolchildren joined the demonstrations
-Fire hosed, attacked by dogs, beaten, arrested under the
orders of -Eugene “Bull” Connor, Police Safety Commissioner

Video: Birmingham 1963

April–May 1963: A strategic movement led by Martin Luther King Jr.

and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in
Birmingham, Alabama, aims to bring attention to the integration efforts
of African Americans.

March on
Washington -To put pressure on Congress to pass the new civil rights bill
-Drew more than 200,000
-MLK gives his most famous speech -”I have a dream”
-One of the largest political demonstrations
-A model for peaceful protest
-Worries of violence never materialized

Videos: March on Washington

March on
Washington August 28, 1963: Approximately 250,000 people gather in
Washington, D.C., for the March on Washington for Jobs and
Freedom, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his iconic "I Have a
Dream" speech.
Civil Rights
Act of 1964
Banned segregation in public accommodations
Gave the federal government the ability to desegregate schools
Prosecute individuals who violated people’s civil rights
Outlawed discrimination in employment
Established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

The Long Battle Towards the Civil Rights Act of 1964

The Push for Barriers to the African American Vote

Voting Rights
Literacy tests
Poll taxes
Intimidation

Literacy Tests

one type of poll test that was given in some locations. Voters
were tested on their reading skills.

Grandfather Clause

stated that you only had the right to vote if your grandfather also
had the right to vote.

Poll Tax

required voters to pay for the ability to [Link] voters to

 24th Amendment
Banned poll taxes as a voting requirement

Freedom -1964 – SNCC organized 1,000 volunteers (black & white students) to flood Miss
Summer -Focus on Black voter registration
-Voter outreach & education
-Murder of 3 volunteers – Chaney, Goodman, & Schwerner
Fannie Lou Hamer

Video: Freedom Summer 1964

Summer 1964: Civil rights organizations launch a campaign to register

African American voters in Mississippi, facing violent resistance.

March on
Selma, -Origin – march w/ coffin of a Civil Rights protestor that was killed
Alabama by police to the state capital
-MLK & SCLC organized a major campaign in Selma to pressure
the federal government to enact voting rights legislation.
-Protests climaxed in a series of confrontations on the Edmund
Pettus Bridge
Video: Bloody Sunday

Heavily armed state troopers & other authorities attack the

marchers

Voting Rights
-Spurred by actions of protesters and the President, Congress
Act of 1965
passed the act
-It banned literacy tests and empowered the federal gov to
oversee voting registration
-By 1975, Congress extended to Latino voters
Black participation jumped from 7% in 1964 to 70% in 1986
 Videos: Voting Rights Act – 1965

August 6, 1965: President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights

Act into law, prohibiting racial discrimination in voting.

The Riots –
The Long, Hot
-Frustration over racism, discrimination, poverty
-Worst in Newark, New Jersey and Detroit, Michigan in the summer of
Summer of
1967
1967
-Black citizens using violence against police and white business owners
in black neighborhoods
-Shootouts between black residents and white police
Video: Detroit 1967 - When a City Went Up in Flames

July 23–27, 1967: A violent confrontation between residents and

police in Detroit, Michigan, results in 43 deaths and extensive property
damage, highlighting racial tensions in urban areas.

The Kerner Commission

“our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white–separate and
unequal”
-to investigate the causes of the increase of “race riots”
-It concluded racial discrimination as the cause of the violence
-They recommended extending federal programs to Urban black neighborhoods
-Johnson & Congress did not follow up and implement any of the
recommendations
Malcolm X -Due to his fantastic public speaking skills, he became the Nation of Islam’
s most prominent minister
-However, he broke away and formed his own group
-After his pilgrimage to Mecca, Malcolm was more willing to consider
limited acceptance of whites
-February 21, 1965 – assassinated in NYC while giving a speech, 39 yrs.
old
-Three members of NOI were later convicted of assassinating Malcolm
Black Separatism
 Video: Malcolm X - Civil Rights Activist Mini Bio

Black Power -Move away from nonviolence to more militant approach to gaining
Movement civil rights
-Stokley Carmichael’s definition: it meant African Americans should
collectively use their economic and political muscle to gain equality

Video: The Revolutionary Stokely Carmichael

1966: Stokely Carmichael becomes chairman of the Student

Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and popularizes the
term "Black Power," advocating for racial pride and
self-determination.

The Black Panther Party

October 1966: Huey Newton and Bobby Seale found the Black
Panther Party for Self-Defense in Oakland, California, to monitor
police brutality and advocate for African American rights.

Black Power
Movement
Video: Sound Smart – The Black Panther Party
 Video: 5 Things to Know About the Black Panthers

MLK’s Final
Days -Understood the anger and frustration of many urban African Americans
-Disagreed with the call for “black power” and continued to urge
nonviolence to combat injustice
-Began to speak not only against racial injustice, but against economic
injustice & against Vietnam War

Video: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Biography

January 15, 1929: Martin Luther King Jr. is born in Atlanta, Georgia.

1955–1968: King leads numerous civil rights actions, including the

Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Birmingham Campaign, and delivers
the "I Have a Dream" speech during the March on Washington.

MLK Assassination
April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated in Memphis,
Tennessee, leading to an outpouring of national grief and unrest.

Video: A Look at the Riots Following MLK’s Assassination

MLK’s Final April 1968: King's assassination sparks riots in over 100 U.S. cities,
Days resulting in widespread damage and highlighting ongoing racial
tensions.
 Significant -Eliminated legal (de jure) segregation
Gains of the -Knocked down barriers of voting and political participation for
Civil Rights African Americans
Movement -Poverty rates fell
-Increase in the number of African American high school graduates
-Appointment of Thurgood Marshall as the first African American
Supreme Court Justice in 1967
-Fair Housing Act

Controversial Issues
-Affirmative Action: increase African American representation in
schools and the workforce
-Racism
-Social and Economic gap
-Continued disparities in criminal justice system

Take a stand: What was the most significant event of the Civil Rights movement? Why is this event
important?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
The most significant event of the Civil Rights Movement was the March on
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Washington in 1963. This was the peak of peaceful, mass mobilization, showing
_____________________________________________________________________________________
the power of unified voices calling for change. It led directly to the passage of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 and marked the turning point where civil rights gained
_____________________________________________________________________________________
undeniable national attention. This event connected the struggles of local
_____________________________________________________________________________________
grassroots campaigns to a broader national agenda and revealed that change was
not only necessary—but inevitable.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
 Crash Course Ep #39: “Civil Rights and the 1950’s”

1. What was the rule throughout the country in the 1950s?

Segregation was widespread and accepted.

2. In the South, segregation was enforced by law. In the North, how did the segregation take place?
Enforced by custom, not law.

3. In the 1950s, how many black families lived in poverty?

50% lived in poverty.

4. When and where did de-segregation in schools begin?

1950 in Kansas.

5. Explain the Supreme Court ruling in Plessy v Ferguson.

Allowed “separate but equal.”

6. Explain the Supreme Court ruling in Brown v Board of Education.

Ruled segregation in schools unconstitutional.

7. How did some counties respond to the order to de-segregate their schools?

Many Southern counties resisted or shut schools down.

8. How long did the Montgomery Bus Boycott last?

Lasted over a year.

9. How old was Martin Luther King Jr. when he helped to organize the Montgomery Bus Boycott?

26 years old.

10. What did the Southern Christian Leadership Conference do?

Coordinated nonviolent protest.

11. What % of black students attended integrated schools in the South?

Only about 2%.

 Civil Rights Movement – Timeline Project

For this project, you will create a poster of an important event in the struggle for Civil Rights. Your poster will be
included in an illustrated timeline that examines the evolution of the Civil Rights movement from 1954-1968. You
may work alone or as a pair. Rather than each individual researching the many events, you will research one event
and create a poster about the it (if you are working as a pair you have to do two consecutive events). When the
posters are finished, they will be placed on a visual timeline and you will have the opportunity to view the other
posters and complete a chart to learn about the events. It is expected that you are accurate and thorough in the
completion of your poster.

Requirements:
1. For each event on the timeline there should be:
a. a bold title
b. a description of the event (typed)
o Certain information MUST be included. Please see me to ensure you have all required
information.
o This must be in paragraph form.
c. an explanation of the role the event played in the Civil Rights Movement (typed)
o Must answer the questions in paragraph form:
 Why was this event important to the Civil Rights Movement?
 How does it relate to other Civil Rights events? (Was it the result of an earlier event or did it
cause another event to happen)
d. at least three illustrations of the event (including color)

2. The timeline will include the following events:

• NAACP – 1909
• CORE (Congress of Racial Equality - 1942
• Brown vs. Board of Education – 1954
• Emmett Till – 1955
• Montgomery Bus Boycott – 1955-56 Civil Rights Poster Evaluation
• Central High School Integration – 1957
• Southern Christian Leadership Conference – 1957 Description of event 25 pts
• Greensboro Sit-In & Sit-In Movement–1960 *Includes an accurate description
• Malcolm X – Black Separatism – 1960 including the who, what,
• Students Nonviolent Coordinating Committee – 1960 when and where
• Freedom Rides – 1961 Significance of event 25 pts
• Integration of University of Mississippi - 1962 *Event is explained thoroughly and
includes how it played an important role
• Birmingham – 1963 in the Civil Rights movement
• 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing - 1963 Pictures 20 pts
• Assassination of Medgar Evers - 1963 *Visuals selected appropriately convey
• March on Washington – 1963 the theme of project
• Freedom Summer – 1964 Overall appearance 20 pts
• Murder of Chaney, Schwerner, & Goodman - 1964 *Overall appearance is appealing and
• Civil Rights Act of 1964 appropriate
• 24th Amendment - 1964 _____Use of Class time 10 pts
*Class time was used appropriately,
• Selma, Alabama & “Bloody Sunday”– 1965 students were on-task
• The Voting Rights Act of 1965 ______ Total (out of 100 pts)
• Assassination of Malcolm X –1965
• Watts Riots – 1965
• Black Panther Party – 1966
• Black Power Movement Begins – 1966
• Thurgood Marshall Appointed to Supreme Court – 1967
• Long, Hot Summer - 1967
• Kerner Report – 1968
• Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. – 1968
 Civil Rights Mixtape

The Civil Rights Movement was a long and tenuous struggle We Shall
to overcome racial inequality. Its non-violent message and
the music of this social movement gave activists the will to Overcome:
persevere. The power of music cannot be underestimated
in the overall strength of this movement. Songs were sung
Music from the
in church and in jail, on marches and at sit-ins. It was the Civil Rights
lyrics of these songs, along with the melodies, that helped Movement
strengthen the activists during this struggle.

Through our readings and discussions, you will gain an

understanding of the key issues driving the movement, but
more importantly, of the emotions that surrounded this
highly charged and pivotal time in our history. Keeping the
key events and emotions in mind, your assignment is to
create a Civil Rights Mixtape. This mixtape will tap into the
power of music to convey the emotions and sentiments
surrounding the important aspects of the movement.

Your mixtape should include songs that you feel represent

the struggles, success, and failures of the Civil Rights
Movement. The songs do not have to actually be about
these events; you just need to be able to make a connection between the song and the topic. Your
mixtape needs to have at least five songs (no more than 1 song per topic). For each song, you
must:
• Provide the lyrics
• Write a brief summary of the song and a brief summary of the topic
• Explain how the song applies to the topic you chose

You will also create an album cover for your mixtape:

• Create an interesting title that is appropriate to the assignment
• Include creative visuals that relate to the Civil Rights Movement and the songs you chose

Grading Rubric: 100 points Topics:

• Emmett Till
• Little Rock
• Each song is worth 15 points. To get the full points, you
• Montgomery bus boycott
must have lyrics and a summary that explains what the
• The Sit-in movement
song is about and why you chose it. The longer and
clearer your explanation is, the more points you will get. • Birmingham
SONG TOTAL: 75 points • Freedom Riders
• Your album cover is also worth 10 points. Your cover • March on Washington
should represent both the songs you chose and the topics • Freedom Summer
you are connecting them too. It should be neat and • Black Militancy
creative. • Malcolm X
• The remaining 15 points are for the overall appearance • Medgar Evers
of your project, song choice, and effort. Things like an • MLK (assassination)
introduction and conclusion, printed photos, etc., will • Civil Rights Movement in
only help your grade! general
 This outline will
help you with
your project!

Song 1: Song 2:

Topic 1: Topic 2:

Connection between song and topic: Connection between song and topic:

Song 3: Song 4:

Topic 3: Topic 4:

Connection between song and topic: Connection between song and topic:

Song 5:

Topic 5:

Connection between song and topic: