The US civil rights movement
What are civil rights?
• Rights that are/ should be enjoyed by citizens of a country. They revolve
around basic freedoms should enjoy in their lives without interference
• These include: freedom of speech and freedom of press, freedom of worship,
freedom from want (people not in need of basics), freedom from fear (not
afraid of being under attack/ threatened), freedom of assembly (gather to
discuss an issue/ protest), freedom of vote
• People were subjected to racism, sexism, discrimination and denied many of
the above freedoms
• After WWII there was a large civil rights movement caused by the
discrimination against and the persecution of the US African American
population- weird because the US stood for freedom during WWII
• There was more human rights awareness after WWII, African Americans
served the US during the war and returned home to no changes, there was
lots of race prejudice against them especially in the South
• Their discontent led them to attempt to change their conditions to bring
about equality- civil rights movement was born
• Was a reaction against racist Jim Crow laws In South which humiliated black
citizens
• Was largely a middle class movement- aimed at ending segregation in
education and transport- important to black middle class. Made up of black
and white middle aged Christian churchgoers mainly who shared liberal values
• They focused on smaller towns and cities and rural areas in South, used
passive resistance and rejected violence
• Campaigners would break racist laws and go to jail rather than paying fines/
applying for bail
• According to American Declaration of Independence all Americans had civil
right to “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
School desegregation- Little Rock Arkansas
• White students went to better schools than black children which harmed their
development
• In Topeka vs. Brown in 1954 the Supreme Court agreed that segregation in
American public schools was unconstitutional
• 9 African American students wanted to enrol at Little Rock High but were
opposed by conservative white parents who were supported by their
governor- Orval Faubus
, • President Eisenhower sent in federal troops and the National guard to allow
and protect these students when entering the school
• Victory for the civil rights movement and led to desegregation of other
schools
• SNCC (Student Non-violent Co-ordinating Committee) provided blacks a place
in the civil rights movement, they had a more radical approach against
discrimination and advocated policy of “black power”
Role, impact and influence of MLK and his inspiration for passive
resistance (Gandhi)
• MLK advocated policy of non-violence so that protestors were not dragged
down to the level of the racist thugs
• MLK strongly influenced by Gandhi- felt that living with the enemy and
refusing to react would best express the idea of human equality, believed that
a spiritual transformation was needed and unjust laws needed to be broken in
peaceful manner
o Matched Christian belief of “love your enemies” and ”turn the other
cheek”
• MLK was assassinated by James Earl Gray in 1968
• He was a member of executive committee of the NAACP (National Association
for the Advancement of Coloured People)
• Involved in bus botcott, December 21 1956 the Supreme Court declared
segregation on buses was unconstitutional
• Elected President of the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) to
provide new leadership to the civil rights movement, the ideals were from
Christianity but the techniques were from Gandhi
• Protest in Birmingham Alabama caught entire worlds attention and inspired
his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, Planned drives in Alabama to register
blacks as voters, directed peaceful march on Washington DC and conferred
with president JFK and campaigned for president Lyndon B Johnson
• Gandhi introduced form of passive resistance- non-violent approach of
deliberate disobedience to shame the oppressors into scrapping these acts- a
form of moral pressure
• Strengthened the role of religion in movement- Christianity wasn’t central to
campaigns of NAACP and CORE
• Received his doctorate degree in theology in 1955- people took his religious
views more seriously
• Formed own Christian Organisation in 1957 after the Montgomery bus
boycott- SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference)
What are civil rights?
• Rights that are/ should be enjoyed by citizens of a country. They revolve
around basic freedoms should enjoy in their lives without interference
• These include: freedom of speech and freedom of press, freedom of worship,
freedom from want (people not in need of basics), freedom from fear (not
afraid of being under attack/ threatened), freedom of assembly (gather to
discuss an issue/ protest), freedom of vote
• People were subjected to racism, sexism, discrimination and denied many of
the above freedoms
• After WWII there was a large civil rights movement caused by the
discrimination against and the persecution of the US African American
population- weird because the US stood for freedom during WWII
• There was more human rights awareness after WWII, African Americans
served the US during the war and returned home to no changes, there was
lots of race prejudice against them especially in the South
• Their discontent led them to attempt to change their conditions to bring
about equality- civil rights movement was born
• Was a reaction against racist Jim Crow laws In South which humiliated black
citizens
• Was largely a middle class movement- aimed at ending segregation in
education and transport- important to black middle class. Made up of black
and white middle aged Christian churchgoers mainly who shared liberal values
• They focused on smaller towns and cities and rural areas in South, used
passive resistance and rejected violence
• Campaigners would break racist laws and go to jail rather than paying fines/
applying for bail
• According to American Declaration of Independence all Americans had civil
right to “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
School desegregation- Little Rock Arkansas
• White students went to better schools than black children which harmed their
development
• In Topeka vs. Brown in 1954 the Supreme Court agreed that segregation in
American public schools was unconstitutional
• 9 African American students wanted to enrol at Little Rock High but were
opposed by conservative white parents who were supported by their
governor- Orval Faubus
, • President Eisenhower sent in federal troops and the National guard to allow
and protect these students when entering the school
• Victory for the civil rights movement and led to desegregation of other
schools
• SNCC (Student Non-violent Co-ordinating Committee) provided blacks a place
in the civil rights movement, they had a more radical approach against
discrimination and advocated policy of “black power”
Role, impact and influence of MLK and his inspiration for passive
resistance (Gandhi)
• MLK advocated policy of non-violence so that protestors were not dragged
down to the level of the racist thugs
• MLK strongly influenced by Gandhi- felt that living with the enemy and
refusing to react would best express the idea of human equality, believed that
a spiritual transformation was needed and unjust laws needed to be broken in
peaceful manner
o Matched Christian belief of “love your enemies” and ”turn the other
cheek”
• MLK was assassinated by James Earl Gray in 1968
• He was a member of executive committee of the NAACP (National Association
for the Advancement of Coloured People)
• Involved in bus botcott, December 21 1956 the Supreme Court declared
segregation on buses was unconstitutional
• Elected President of the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) to
provide new leadership to the civil rights movement, the ideals were from
Christianity but the techniques were from Gandhi
• Protest in Birmingham Alabama caught entire worlds attention and inspired
his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, Planned drives in Alabama to register
blacks as voters, directed peaceful march on Washington DC and conferred
with president JFK and campaigned for president Lyndon B Johnson
• Gandhi introduced form of passive resistance- non-violent approach of
deliberate disobedience to shame the oppressors into scrapping these acts- a
form of moral pressure
• Strengthened the role of religion in movement- Christianity wasn’t central to
campaigns of NAACP and CORE
• Received his doctorate degree in theology in 1955- people took his religious
views more seriously
• Formed own Christian Organisation in 1957 after the Montgomery bus
boycott- SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference)
