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Declaration of Independence
Signed by the original 13 states.
- indicates that African American slaves in the US now had rights and freedoms
-The founding fathers- George Washington, Thomas Jefferson did not intend for this.
The "unreliable rights" and the "pursuit of happiness" to apply only to the wealthy, male, white, landowning, protestant minority
- woman, ethnic groups, Native Americans and African slaves were excluded from this declaration -
The Ku Klux Klan (The KKK)
- intimidating white supremacist organisation that was founded by soldiers after the American Civil War in 1865
- reborn in 1915 during WWI
- grew more powerful and influential after WWII
- aim was to stop African Americans from voting
- actions included public humiliation, beatings, kidnappings, killing livestock, burning houses and farms and murder.
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Jim Crow Laws
- Core issue was social discrimination in the mind of many people in southern states
- Discriminatory laws that divided society into "whites" and blacks"
- laws were created in every state (1887-1891)
- named after a travelling white musician and actor called Thomas Dartmouth who created a black character called Jim Crow in 1828
- His performances mocked African- American habits, looks
- his popularity indicated the depth of white prejudice in both northern and southern states.
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Examples of Jim Crow Laws
Alabama
- All passenger stations must have separate waiting rooms and separate ticket windows for the white and colored races Florida
- Any negro man and white woman/ any white man and negro woman who sleep in the same room at night without being married, shall be put in jail for 12 months Mississippi
- Any person who writes or speaks in favor of social equality shall be fined or jailed, maximum of six months -
Brown vs Board of Education
schooling system was most visible area of segregation
-Thurgood Marshall's goal was to desegregate all levels of education
- Oliver Brown and Marshall attacked the entire existence of segregated schooling, as not all children could get an equal education in segregated schools -
Rosa Parks
-Due to Jim Crow laws, buses were divided into different sections
- She became the "Mother of all Civil Rights Movement"
-travelling home one night on the bus she was sitting in the middle section, but the bus was getting full
- Driver James Blake told four blacks to give up their seats for one white passenger
- Rose Parks refused as she was tired from a full day at work
- She was arrested -
Montgomery Bus Bycott
-boycott of buses
-Alabama sparked the civil rights movement that eventually defeated the Jim Crow laws 10yrs later
-reaction to the cruelty and humiliation of the segregation laws -
A 13 Month Boycott
-Bus companies needed the fares from African American passengers to stay in business
-The leaders (Martin Luther King Jr.) requested that no one ride the buses for an entire day
-Leaflets were printed and distributed all weekend to promote the Monday Boycott
-The Boycott on 5th of December was nearly 100 per cent effective
-The Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) was formed that night
-King later becoming its president
-The Boycott continued day after day -
13 month Boycott- Victory
The boycotters went to the District Court and then successfully to the Supreme court to argue that segregated buses were illegal 21st December 1956- all the leaders of the boycott rode integrated buses for the first time After 381 days the Montgomery Bus Boycott had ended -
Little Rock Nine
-The Supreme Court ordered all schools to desegregate
-Many schools in the southern states, furious with the ruling, refused
-White Citizens councils were formed to oppose integration
-The KKK become more active
-Nine intelligent black students (known as the little rock nine) were placed in the circumstance of being enrolled in a white central High School
- Instead of the school protecting the students they used bayonets to physically stop them the black students from entering -
Martin Luther King Jr.
-Martin preached about about the need to fight against racism and discrimination
-Strong commitment to Gandhi's methods of non-violent protest and civil disobedience
-After the civil rights act of 1964, the movement began to change and his message of non-violence was outdated. There was a rise in more militant methods of opposing white rule.
-When he spoke about political issues rather than social ones, public opinion turned on him and he was often accused of being a communist -
Student sit-ins
5pm Feb 1st- students began their first sit in at the whites only counter at the big Woolworth's store
- the manager refused to serve them
-they stayed at the counter until the store closed
-within four days, more than 300 students had joined the protest
-Woolworth's eventually allowed African Americans to be served at any lunch counter
-key features of these sit ins were that protesters were totally peaceful
-7000 active protests occurred over the next year in 100 cities -
Freedom Rides
-interstate buses traveled through states with different racial laws
-In the North passengers could sit anywhere on the bus and use any facilities but when the bus traveled to the South these same passengers has to use separate facilities
-James Farmer Jr led a protest to challenge these laws
-The reaction to the Freedom rides was hostile
-protestors were savagely clubbed
-buses attacked with rocks, firebombs
-injured protestors were refused treatment
-local police made no arrests -
The Pivotal Year
-100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863
-The year for the time for equality and integration had finally arrived in America
- Major Marched that were supported by a range of protesters
-Cemented Martin Luther King as the face of the civil rights leadership -
The Birmingham Riots
-King arrived in Birmingham
-Was the most segregated city in America
-The point of the protests in Birmingham was to provoke a response, highlighting need for equality
-Bull Connor ordered two brutal attacks on marchers
-He first used high pressured hoses which blasted protesters
-Second, he ordered police dogs to attack protesters
- television cameras, photographers all captured these vivid images to broadcast
Mid May- city officials and businesses agreed to integrate Birmingham -
I Have a Dream Speech
-delivered my Martin Luther King Jr. on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC
-A. Phillip Randolph advocated a massive march to put pressure on politicians to pass the Civil Rights Bill
-The organizers accepted 100,000 protesters yet 250,000 black and white Americans turned out to show their support
-He discussed his dream for a more equal American society and to help convince people of the need for integration -
Civil Rights Act
-President Lyndon Johnson introduced the idea of a Voting Rights Act to congress
-dramatic in the long term
-far more African Americans were elected into public office
2008- the first African-American president, Barack Obama was elected
-Martin Luther King Jr. had correctly argued "demonstrations served a good purpose, but real change would only come through the power of the government"
