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Period: to
Major civil right measures
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Truman's Execdutive Orders, 1948
On July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed this executive order establishing the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services, committing the government to integrating the segregated military. -
Civil Right Act of 1957
The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was introduced in Eisenhower’s presidency and was the act that kick-started the civil rights legislative programme that was to include the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Eisenhower had not been known for his support of the civil rights movement. Rather than lead the country on the issue, he had to respond to problems such as in Little Rock. He never publicly gave support to the civil rights movement believing that you could not force people to -
Civil Rights Act of 1960
The Civil Rights Act (1960) enabled federal judges to appoint referees to hear persons claiming that state election officials had denied them the right to register and vote. The act was ineffective and therefore it was necessary for President Lyndon B. Johnson to persuade Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act (1965). -
JFk's Executive Orders, 1962
Executive Order 10988 was issued by President John F. Kennedy in 1962 and recognizes the rights of federal employees to bargain with management. It established a broad government-wide labor relations policy for the first time. With respect to official time for union representatives, it required that, whenever practicable, union representatives be on official time when consulting or otherwise meeting with management representatives. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 2, 1964, prohibited discrimination in public places, provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities, and made employment discrimination illegal. This document was the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. -
Twenty-fourth Amendment, 1964
Forbids states and the federal government to deny or abridge the right of a citizen of the United States to vote in a federal election because of failure to pay a poll tax or other assessment. Passed by Congress on 27 August 1962 and ratified on 23 January 1964, its target was the poll tax, a per capita levy long employed by southern states to prevent African‐Americans from voting. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This act was signed into law on August 6, 1965, by President Lyndon Johnson. It outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting.
