Civil Rights Movement Flashcards
What treatment did black
Americans face?
Across the USA, black Americans faced negative
treatment such as racial segregation and
discrimination. Jim Crow laws enforced segregation
in public parks, cinemas, restaurants, schools,
universities and on public transport.
What were attitudes like in the
‘Deep South’?
The Deep South is those states in the USA’s south-east
with a history of slavery and who formed the
Confederacy during the US Civil War. Many people
in these states held very traditional and conservative
views.
Why do many laws vary between
states?
The US has a federal system of government. This
means while the constitution gives federal
government (President, Houses of Congress and the
Supreme Court) some powers, it also gives states the
right to pass many of their own laws.
What was the civil rights
movement?
The civil rights movement refers to the campaigns for
equal rights. A civil rights activist was someone who
tried to persuade others to do the same.
Why was it so difficult for black
people to receive fair treatment
and justice?
Institutions including the police and law courts in the
South were full of racist white officials who did not
support complaints by black people. Police often
beat up black people and crimes against black
people were rarely investigated. There was also no black juries therefore it was inevitable they were guilty
What was the Ku Klux Klan?
A group who persecuted Jews, Catholics,
communists, and anyone who was not white,
especially African Americans.
How did the Second World War
affect campaigns for civil rights?
Over a million black Americans fought in the Second
World War, in segregated units, or supported the war
effort through work at home. After the war some
white people were more sympathetic to civil rights.
How many black Americans
could vote in the South?
Before the war around 3% could vote, while in 1956
about 20% were registered to vote.
Why were so few black
Americans registered to vote?
Employers threatening to sack black
employees
White gangs gathered outside registration
and voting places
Black campaigners and the lawyers and
activists who went to court to defend the right
to vote frequently faced beatings or murder
States set their own rules for holding elections
Unfair voting registration tests, including
literacy tests, that would be biased towards
white people
What was integration?
When black and white people share all facilities and
public services.
What factors contributed to the
growth of the civil rights
movement in the 1950s?
Better education for black people, especially
in the North, led to more black professionals
Migration meant that many poor black
people moved north and liberal whites
moved south
Southern towns grew, giving black people
new job opportunities in industry
The Cold War made the US government
sensitive to international criticism
New ideas disproved the idea that some
races were genetically inferior – inequality was
down to education and other social
circumstances
In the Second World War many white people
worked with black people and black
Americans saw integration abroad
Television brought events into the living room –
racism could not ignored across the USA
What nationwide civil rights
organisations were there in the
1950s?
National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP, established 1909)
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE, established
1942)
These groups had more members in the North, partly
because they had more white support there.
What groups campaigned for
rights in the South?
Local groups were often church-based. These often
had more success in the South. Some local groups
did not oppose segregation but wanted equal
standards. These groups were important in helping
develop tactics of non-violent direct action.
How did the NAACP campaign
for civil rights?
Focussed on campaigning through the courts.
What was Plessy v. Ferguson?
A decision by the US Supreme Court in 1896 that
declared segregation was allowed under the constitution, as it was ‘separate but equal’. This
allowed for Jim Crow laws.
