Civil Rights In The USA, 1945-74 (IGCSE EDEXCEL) Flashcards
1
Q
Cold War context
A
- distrust between US and Soviet Union led to the Cold War, Capitalist VS Communist ideals
- Communist governments installed in Eastern Europe, US government thought Russia was trying to take over Europe
2
Q
Hiss and Rosenberg cases
A
- Alger Hiss was an important government official who was suspected of being a communist, convicted for lying in court, sentenced to 5 years in prison from January 1950
- Rosenberg’s were found guilty of being communist spies, executed on 19th June 1953
3
Q
HUAC
A
- House Committee on Un-American Activities
- set up by US government to monitor extremist groups
- held public hearings that started in 1947 on the threat presented by the communist party on America
- FBI secretly passed intelligence to HUAC
4
Q
FBI
A
- Directed by J. Edgar Hoover, very strong anti-communist views
- Set up the Federal Loyalty Boards in March 1947, to investigate government employees to find out if they were communists or had links to communism
- Between 1947-51, 3 million investigated, and 3,000 fired or forced to resign
- Passed intelligence to HUAC
5
Q
Hollywood Ten
A
-10 Hollywood filmmakers that were suspected of spreading communist propaganda in films
-Were imprisoned for 1 year, most never worked in Hollywood again
- Brought huge publicity to HUAC’s work and increased anti-communist hysteria
6
Q
Methods of McCarthy
A
- Held private and public hearings, would aggressively question and bully suspected communists, often attacking high profile figures to gain more publicity
- Fabricated evidence, would accuse anyone who spoke bad of him of being a communist
7
Q
Downfall of McCarthy
A
- Cold War Tensions had Eased after the Korean War, however McCarthy’s accusation grew more extreme
- Media produced more and more articles and programmes about McCarthy’s corruption and bullying
- Televised army - McCarthy hearing meant that public observed his bullying tactics
- No one was every convicted of spying based from McCarthy’s work
8
Q
Impact of McCarthy
A
- Caused many people to lose their jobs and damaged many people’s lives due to his unfounded accusations
- Affected the US government, caused many intelligent and talented employees to be fired
- added to the nation wide communist hysteria
9
Q
Context of Segregation and Discrimination
A
- Many states had segregation laws (1950) which meant that white and black people had to use different facilities, these laws were strictly enforced in the south
- black American’s wages were generally half a white American’s wages for the same job, high rates of unemployment amongst black Americans
- very few black Americans were able to vote in the south
- black Americans lived in poorer areas
10
Q
Brown VS Topeka causes and events
A
- case involving a black girl being rejected from an all white school in Topeka because she was black
- Brown VS Topeka was taken to the Supreme Court, who ruled that school segregation was unconstitutional (17 May 1954)
- Ordered for prompt desegregation to occur in schools
11
Q
Brown VS Topeka impact and significance
A
- limited immediate impact, schools in towns and cities outside the Deep South began to desegregate
- many African Americans suffered
- great victory for the NAACP, brought increased awareness to African American civil rights
12
Q
Murder of Emmett Till events
A
- 14 year old Northerner Emmet Till was murdered for allegedly flirting with a white woman in Mississippi
- He was taken from his house, beaten, shot and dumped in a river by her husband and his half-brother (Bryant and Milam)
- Body was found on 31st August 1955.
- Murderers found not guilty
13
Q
Murder of Emmett Till impact and significance
A
- His mother had his body brought back to Chicago for an open casket funeral, which received massive publicity
- Brought awareness to the extreme racism that occurred in the south, motivated many African Americans to take a more active role to bring about change
14
Q
Montgomery Bus Boycott causes and events
A
- Rosa Parks refused to stand up for a white man to sit down on a bus in Montgomery on 1 December 1955
- she was arrested, and on the day of her trial (5 December) , all African Americans were told to boycott the buses
- Boycott lasted for over a year, African Americans returned to the buses on the 20th December 1956, and were allowed to sit where they wanted to.
15
Q
Montgomery Bus Boycott impact and significance
A
-Regarded as very successful, as it provided a form of protest that worked
- brought public attention the to work of Martin Luther King
- Only led to change in one area, other facilities in Montgomery remained segregated for many years afterwards
- caused intense violent backlash from racists
16
Q
Little Rock causes and events
A
- 9 students enrolled in an all white high school in Little Rock, Arkansas
- Students were met by a violent mob of white people and state troops forbidding them entry into the school.
- Situation gained mass media attention and the president ordered 1,200 state troops to Little Rock to protect the students
- They were finally allowed to attend classes 3 weeks into the start of the year
September 1957
17
Q
Little Rock impact and significance
A
- international level of publicity which damaged US’ reputation
- millions of US citizens saw another instance of extreme racism in the south
18
Q
Civil Rights Act 1957 causes and clauses
A
- extreme violence in reaction to African American protest movements caused the govt. to feel the need to implement a civil rights bill
- signed by Eisenhower on 9th September 1957, focused on investigating how African Americans were prevented from voting, and allowing federal courts to prosecute states who tried to prevent people from voting
19
Q
Civil Rights Act 1957 impact and significance
A
- little immediate impact, however it was a hugely important first step which showed that congress was willing to do something
- civil rights activists were disappointed by how little the act did and became even more determined to press for further reform
- allowed congress to pass another civil rights act in 1960
20
Q
Revival of the KKK
A
- didn’t reach level of membership in 1920s
- targeted civil rights protestors, black or white
- grew more extreme as civil rights protests grew, methods include beating, shooting, lynching and bombing
21
Q
Sit-ins events
A
- organised by college students, first sit in took place on 1 February 1960 in North Carolina
- students would sit at the whites-only lunch counter at stores like Woolworths and wait to be served.
- Sit-ins spread to other towns in NC and even other parts of the south, over 70,000 people took part in the sit-ins
- received support from civil rights groups like CORE and the NAACP
22
Q
Sit-ins impact and significance
A
- caused many business to desegregate their stores, by end of 1960, over 120 towns had some desegregated lunch counters due to sit-ins
- sit-ins were a very visible form of protest, which generated huge publicity
- start of many student led protests to come
23
Q
Freedom Riders causes and events
A
- planned journeys to show that interstate desegregation laws were not always being followed
- aimed to cause a violent reaction, and gain lots of publicity
- Anniston Fire bombing, 14th May 1961, caused riders to be attacked by an angry racist mob when they arrived at Anniston Station.
24
Q
Freedom riders impact and significance
A
- achieved its aim by working up huge media attention
- embarrassed the US on an international scale
- caused states to begin to integrate interstate transport
25
Q
James Meredith causes and events
A
- James Meredith was rejected from Ole Miss University on the basis of race. (May 1961)
- president Kennedy intervened and sent federal officials to escort Meredith to school.
- riots ensued, and more troops were sent
Meredith was guarded for a year by 300 federal troops until he graduated - 2 civilians dead and 300 injured (civilians and Marshalls)
26
Q
James Meredith impact and significance
A
- showed that the president would take direct action to enforce Supreme Court rulings if he had to
- African American students were rarely prevented from attending school after this
27
Q
MLK’s Background and views
A
-Middle class family, studied at Boston University
-Christian values and teaching, baptist minister
-non-violence at the heart of his methods and views
