civil rights

Question 1

Describe discrimination and violence in the southern states during the 1950s (4)

Answer 1

Majority of white people viewed black people as racially inferior
Racist white officials including police and judges were often part of the kkk
Murders and assaults of black people were not properly investigated
Black people could not be juries in the court of law

Question 2

Describe voting rights for black people in the 1950s (4)

Answer 2

Sometimes white employers fired their black workers if they voted or registered to vote

White gangs physically stopped black Americans from voting

Some southern states such as Georgia and Virginia passed laws making it harder for black people to vote, for example literacy tests.

Some southern states introduced the “grandfather clause”, where voters had to prove their forefathers had voted- impossible for the descendants of slaves

Question 3

Describe the NAACP (4)
(national association for the advancement of coloured people)

Answer 3

Set up in 1909
Fought for civil rights using the legal system
Defended black people who have been unfairly convicted
Focused on overturning the “separate but equal” ruling

Question 4

Describe CORE (5)
(congress of racial equality)

Answer 4

set up in 1942
smaller membership than NAACP
members used non-violent direct action
Operated mostly in northern states
In early years, majority of member were white and middle class.

Question 5

When was brown vs. Topeka?

Answer 5

1952

Question 6

What are some short term significances of brown vs topeka? (5)

Answer 6

Brown rulings overturned the 1897 Plessy v Ferguson decision, which allowed public facilities, including schools, to be segregated.
There was white backlash and the membership of the KKK increased
Black students and teachers faced hospitality in desegrated schools
Some really good black-American schools were shut down.
Many southern states found ways to avoid complying with court rulings.

Question 7

What was brown vs. topeka?

Answer 7

In 1952, the NAACP put five desecration cases together and took them to the Supreme Court as Brown versus the Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas- aka. brown vs. topeka

Question 8

Long-term significance of brown vs topeka? (3)

Answer 8

Awareness of civil rights issues increased
Rulings were an inspiration for other desegregation campaigns
White Americans moved out of areas where black Americans lived to avoid forced desegregation.

Question 9

What were the little rock nine? (2)

Answer 9

In 1957, at the Little Rock High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, nine black students- known as the “Little Rock Nine”- attended the newly desegregation high school.

They were treated very badly by white Americans who wanted the segregation of schools to continue in the south

Question 10

What was/ what caused the presidential intervention at Little Rock? (2)

Answer 10

Worldwide media coverage of the events at Little Rock High School forced president Eisenhower to get involved as the USA’s image was being damaged abroad.

Rioting outside Little Rock led to 1000 federal troops sent by Eisenhower.

Question 11

Give the significance of the events at Little Rock (4)

Answer 11

-Hundreds of reporters from local and international news stations reported the events. People were shocked at the children being racially abused

-There was continued resistance to school integration after 1957. In the south, many schools just shut down rather than desegregate.

-The first black student graduated from Little Rock in 1958, but fellow white students refused to sit with him at the ceremony

-Even 10 years later, black students attending newly integrated white southern schools faced discrimination by teachers and peers

Question 12

What sparked the montgomery bus boycott?

Answer 12

On December 1, 1955 a black woman called Rosa Parks broke segregation laws in Montgomery Alabama by refusing to give up her seat to a white person.

Question 13

What kind of protest was the boycott?

Answer 13

Peaceful

Question 14

Long-term causes of the Montgomery boycott (3)

Answer 14

The women’s political council in Montgomery had focused on the bus discrimination since 1950
The Montgomery bus company discriminated against black passengers forcing them to sit at the back and vacate seats for the whites
Requests to change their policy were not listened to.

Question 15

Short-term causes of the Montgomery boycott (2)

Answer 15

On December 1 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a white man who had no seat
police arrested and charged parks under Montgomery segregation laws.

Question 16

Reasons for the Montgomery Boycott’s success (4)

Answer 16

1) Well organised- preexisting civil rights groups mean the structure was already in place to get the campaign up and running
2) Committed to success- the boycott continues despite threats the boycotters received- such as threatening them with being fired or assault
3) Well-publicised- the campaign was publicised through church meetings and the local newspaper. This helped get supporters organised and communicate with each other.
4) The bus company was hurt financially- as the majority of their customers were black.

Question 17

What was the Civil Rights Act (3)

Answer 17

1957
The brown and bus boycott led to increased public support for civil rights and the Civil Rights Act being passed in Congress.

The act aimed to increase black voter registration and allow federal courts to prosecute states that did not guarantee citizens voting rights.

Question 18

What was the SCLC (4)

Answer 18

Southern Christian Leadership Conference
It was set up in January 1957 to coordinate church-based protests across the south
Led by MLK and Ralph Abernathy
Members campaigned against segregation

Question 19

Describe the KKK (4)

Answer 19

Set up in 1865 after black slaves won their freedom, the KKK wanted to stop black Americans from gaining their equality
Operated mostly in southern states
Terrorised black Americans often with lynching (illegal executions)
Also attacked Jews, Catholics and liberals.

Question 20

Describe briefly the murder of emmet till

Answer 20

Murder of a 14-year-old boy from Chicago was murdered for “making sexual advances to a white woman”. Got no justice, and killers got off scot-free.

Question 21

Describe the dixie-crats (3)

Answer 21

The Dixiecrats had strong views on keeping segregation and had formerly broken away from Democrats due to opposing views on civil rights.
Presidents need the support of the democrates so they had to take their views on board. Hindered the cause for civil rights laws.
By 1954, they had rejoined the Democrats, however, maintained their positions on keeping segregation and upholding white supremacy.

Question 22

Describe the White Citizens Council (2)

Answer 22

Set up in 1954, was against desegregation. Had 60K members in the mid-1950s. Protested and used violence sometimes sacked workers.

Question 23

How did some people resist segregation in the South? (3)

Answer 23

Shutting down schools to avoid desegregation
Making admissions tests harder for black students
Refusal to end literacy tests for voting