Civil Rights Activism 1955-1965 Flashcards
What sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, when did it begin, and for how long?
The arrest of Rosa Parks sparked the boycott, which started in December 1955 and ran for 381 days
What group organised the Montgomery Bus Boycott?
MIA or the Montgomery Improvement Association
Why was the Montgomery Bus Boycott a turning point?
- Showed non-violent protest as an effective alternative to the NAACP method of litigation
- Effectively was the start of the Civil Rights Activism that emerged in the 1960s
- Brought Martin Luther King to the front of the movement
What group did Martin Luther King form as an offshoot of the MIA?
The SCLC
How many southern cities held similar boycotts inspired by the one in Montgomery?
20
How much did businesses lose as a result of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and what impact did this have?
Businessmen lost $1 million and, as a result, some businesses in Montgomery started working against segregation.
When was the SCLC founded and what made it different to previous civil rights groups?
January 1957
It was more focused on the moral and religious element of segregation
Write everything you know about the start of the SNCC
- Organisation made up of students who were impatient with the slow rate of change
- Used sit-ins to achieve real desegregation
- Began with a sit-in of four students in at an all-white Woolworths counter in Greensboro; the protest attracted over 300 students within just a few days.
- 70,000 participants in sit-ins by August 1961, and 3,000 arrests
When did the Freedom Rides take place and who organised them?
They were organised by CORE in 1961
What ruling sparked the Freedom Riders movement?
Boynton v Virginia (1960) which ruled that segregation in public transport was illegal
What did the Freedom Riders hope to achieve and were they successful?
They hoped to force government intervention, expecting to be met with violence. This did happen, with Kennedy being forced to act to protect them.
Why can King’s protests in Albany (1961-62) be considered unsuccessful?
The police were strictly controlled and told not to overreact, so he did not get any real media coverage, or generate much momentum
When was the Birmingham March held?
April 1963
Why did King and the SCLC pick Birmingham, Albany for their protest?
The police chief, Bull Connor, was a notorious racist so they knew he would overreact to the protest.
What did King say was the key to everything?
Federal commitment
What was the response to the Birmingham March and how many protestors and children were arrested?
Water jets and dogs were used on the protestors, many of whom were also beaten by police.
2000 protestors and 1300 children were arrested.
What was the response of the Kennedy administration to the Birmingham March?
- They sent delegates to mediate between King and the local authority, reaching the agreement that desegregation would happen within 90 days (though it didn’t really until July)
- Kennedy made an impassioned speech on civil rights in June 1963, and asked congress to pass a civil rights act.
Write everything you know about the Washington March
- Organised by A P Randolph. King and the SCLC decide to join the march.
- Took place in August 1963
- 250,000 people went
- The site of King’s famous “I have a dream” speech
- Grudgingly supported by Kennedy, though he was worried congress, who were currently debating his civil rights act, would react negatively
- Covered by over 3,000 members of the press
When was the Selma March held and why?
March 1965
Johnson did not want to keep pushing Civil Rights so King wanted to force his hand.
The march was a protest about disenfranchisement
How many African Americans were registered to vote in Selma?
353 out of 15,000 African Americans living there.
What was the end result of the Selma march?
Johnson responded by getting the Voting Rights Act bill passed soon afterwards.
Who was the governor of Alabama in 1965, and what did he do?
George Wallace
He tried to ban the Selma march
How can the Selma march be seen as evidence of divisions in the Civil Rights movement?
King and the SNCC disagreed on whether to go ahead with the march before or after the federal court ruling on whether Wallace’s decision to ban it was constitutional or not. The SNCC marched on March 7th and were met with fierce resistance, whilst King marched on March 21st, after the federal court ruled in favour of the march.
How many people took part in the rally at the end of the Selma march?
25,000
