Civil Rights History (Section 5) Flashcards
What was the “Seneca Falls Convention”?
…a meeting of women’s rights activists, quite possibly the first nation-wide meeting of its kind in Seneca Falls, NY. It produced a document called the Declaration of Sentiments, modeled after the U.S. Declaration of Independence, calling for equal treatment of women (especially with respect to property rights, since at that time women who married legally gave up all property to their husbands) and for women’s right to vote.
Whose right to vote was defined first in the U.S, Constitution–white women, all women, African-American males, or all African-Americans?
…African American males (1870). [Women’s right to vote was not defined until 1919.]
What were “Jim Crow” laws?
…a set of laws in southern states (and some states outside the South) requiring separate facilities for white and black Americans, including schools, hospitals, libraries, public restrooms and drinking fountains, parks, etc. and requiring separate entrances and seating on public transportation and in theaters, stadiums, concert halls, restaurants, etc. Owners of private businesses could also legally refuse service to African-Americans. Most Jim Crow laws were passed in the last decade of the 19th century and the first few decades of the 20th century.
What did the Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education do?
…held that segregation of schools by race was inherently unequal and that having separate schools for white and black children was unconstitutional.
Why was there a “Montgomery Bus Boycott”, when did it occur (approximately), whose actions precipitated it, and who eventually became the leader of the effort?
…to protest “Jim Crow” law requiring African Americans to sit in rear of buses (and to give up seats to whites if not enough). In 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat. Joanne Robinson, a local civil rights activist organized a one-day boycott by 40,000 African-Americans. It was continued because it was so successful. Martin Luther King, a young, recently-arrived minister, became the public face of the year-long boycott.
What was a principal difference between Martin Luther King and Malcolm X in terms of their approach to civil rights?
King stressed the importance of non-violence and the inclusion of white support in the civil rights movement, while Malcolm X believed in self-defense and felt African-Americans needed to create their own institutions.
In the U.S. Constitution is there a constitutional amendment that explicitly declares the equality of men and women?
No. An “Equal Rights Amendment” was passed by Congress in 1972 but failed to be ratified by the required number of states and was therefore not added to the Constitution.
How recently did the Supreme Court declare that indivuals have the constitutional right to marry someone of a different race?
1967 [“late sixties” is an acceptable answer.]
How recently did the Supreme Court declare that indivuals have the constitutional right to marry someone of the same sex as well as someone of the opposite sex?
2015 [“within the past ten years” is an acceptable answer.]
