50s Civil rights

Question 1

Before ww2 how many black soldiers served in the armed forces and what work did they do?

Answer 1

4000- supporting roles rather than combat roles - referred to as ‘mules’

Question 2

After 1941 how many black soldiers served in the armed forces?

Answer 2

1 million

Question 3

In which two battles did black units distinguish themselves?

Answer 3

Battle of the Bulge (1944)

Battle of Iwo Jima (1945)

Question 4

How many black Americans moved over to the USA’s industrial centres to help with the war effort?

Answer 4

Over 400,000

Question 5

By the end of the war how many black soldiers had risen to officer rank in the US Navy?

Answer 5

58

Question 6

By 1945, what was the membership like of the National Association of coloured people?

Answer 6

Risen to 45,000 members

Question 7

What laws were enforced in many southern and border states?

Answer 7

Jim Crow laws

Question 8

What were the Jim Crow laws ?

Answer 8

Laws that segregated everyday facilities such as schools buses ships cinemas and even public water fountains

Question 9

What was teachers pay like?

Answer 9

White teachers earned 30% more than black teachers

Question 10

Which black teacher famously applied to The University of Mississippi ? What happened to him?

Answer 10

Clemson King- he was committed to a mental asylum

Question 11

What is discouraged many blacks from voting?

Answer 11

Introduction of a literacy test

Threats of violence

Question 12

What percentage of black population are registered to vote in Mississippi?

Answer 12

Only 5%

Question 13

In the late 1945 how many black members of Congress were there?

Answer 13

Only two

Question 14

Name 4 things that President Truman did for the black Civil rights

Answer 14

1) in his re-election campaign in 1942 he made a very radical speech saying that the blacks should have equality before the law
2) he consistently supported legislation to abolish the poll-tax and stop lynching
3) in September 1946 he established a liberal civil rights committee to investigate increasing violence against blacks
4) on the steps of Washington DC’s Lincoln Memorial and before 10,000 people, he made the first presidential speech to the National Association for the advancement of coloured people saying all Americans are entitled to full civil rights and freedom

Question 15

Why was Trumans work often forgotten?

3 reasons

Answer 15

1) his main achievements were trying to raise awareness and change peoples attitudes rather than making national improvements or changing laws
2) he was privately racist and still made a lot of derogatory comments
3) he didn’t make that much of an influence-his own party turned against him

Question 16

What happened in the Board vs Topeka case?

Answer 16

Case involved Oliver Brown of Topeka, Kansas, who sued the city school board for forbidding his daughter Linda brown from attending a nearby white school. The case was brought to the Supreme Court by the NAACP and Thurmond Marshall presented the case and won

Question 17

What happened in May 1954 following the Brown vs board of Topeka case?

Answer 17

In may 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren ruled that all school segregation was unconstitutional. However opposition to the Supreme Court decision was evident- President Eisenhower refuswd to endorse the ruling fearing that school integration would cause civil unrest. Eisenhower’s stance encouraged the southern states to evade compliance.

Question 18

By 1956, how many school boards representing 9 southern states had desegregated ?

Answer 18

350

Question 19

How many black children had the desegregation at the start of 1956 allowed to attend formally all white schools ?

Answer 19

300,000

Question 20

In 1956 how many black children in the south was still taught in segregated schools?

Answer 20

2.4 million

Question 21

What happened at Little Rock, Arkansas?

Answer 21

In 1957, 9 Black pupils had been stopped from joining the all White school in Little Rock. Federal government ordered the state Governor Orval Faubus to let the children enrol. He refused, claiming he did not want them to be bullied. So Eisenhower sent in 10,000 Guardsmen and 1,000 paratroopers to make sure the 9 children joined.

Question 22

What was the importance of Little Rock in terms of Civil Rights?

Answer 22

It revealed the lengths that hostile whites would go to to prevent integration

Question 23

What was the situation of public transport for black Americans in the 1950s?

Answer 23

Blacks were prohibited from sitting with our in front of white passengers. They have to follow instructions of the white drivers. The front part of the bus was reserved for White at all times, black Americans had to fill the bus from the back. If a white person boarded the bus and all white seats were taken blacks have to give up their seats.

Question 24

What happened in March 1955 before the Rosa Parks incident?

Answer 24

Claudette Colvin, a young black girl had been arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white person

Question 25

Describe the event of the Rosa Parks incident

Answer 25

On 1 December 1955, parks refused to give up her seat to a white man. She was subsequently arrested and from this point the situation escalated into a crisis. She was the secretary of the local NAACP and knew many influential local activists.

Question 26

Describe the preparation for the boycott

Answer 26

Local civil rights activist such as Nixon, Abernathy and King began to plan a rally for the evening of the trial and local NAACP started preparing its legal challenge to the segregation laws

Question 27

How many people are involved in the Monday boycott?

Answer 27

20,000

Question 28

How many people attended the planned rally and had Martin Luther King make an inspirational speech on 5 December?

Answer 28

About 7000

Question 29

Percent of income did the bus companies lose?

Answer 29

65%

Question 30

How was the boycott supported?

Answer 30

Black taxi company is charged only $.10 per ride. Carpools were also organised.

Question 31

What was the importance of the bus boycott?

Answer 31

Following the boycott, King was instrumental in setting up the southern Christian leadership conference and became president in 1957-he was now one of the leading figures in the civil rights movement.
The boycott demonstrated the benefits of a peaceful approach and above all showed that black Americans were able to organise themselves.
DN a ACP was successful in making a legal case during the boycott and used the brown case.

Question 32

When did the Supreme Court the classic location on buses illegal?

Answer 32

November 1956

Question 33

What was SNCC?

Answer 33

It was a “student non-violent coordinating committee”

Question 34

Describe a triumph of the SNCC

Answer 34

Greensboro- acetone was held at the Greensborough branch of Woolworths- 4 Black students demanded to be served at whites only lunch counter and I’m being refuse to remain seated at the counter until the shop closed. By the fifth day of protesting there were 300 students. The students boycotted any shop in Greensborough that had segregated lunch counters-sales dropped and eventually segregation ended.

Question 35

How many public areas with desegregated by the end of 1961 as a result of the Greensboro sit-ins?

Answer 35

810

Question 36

What were the terms of the Civil Rights act of 1957?

Answer 36

Aims to ensure that all African Americans can exercise their right to vote-it establish the civil rights section of the Justice Department and introduced fines and imprisonment to those obstructing peoples rights to vote. However no person found guilty of obstructing someone’s right was barely faced with punishment (the court was only white members)

Question 37

What are the terms of the Civil Rights act of 1960?

Answer 37

It introduced penalties to be levied against anybody who obstructed someone’s attempt to register to vote-the commission was extended on the punishments for harsher.

Question 38

What percentage more of black voters were there as a result of the 1960s Civil rights act?

Answer 38

Only 3% !!