Civil rights protests: the early southern campaign 1955-1962

Question 1

When was the Montgomery bus boycott?

Answer 1

1955-1956

Question 2

Who was Claudette Colvin and what did she do?

Answer 2

Nine months before the Montgomery bus boycott, Colvin, then aged 15 refused to give up her seat to a white man.

Question 3

Who was Rosa Parks and what did she do?

Answer 3

Rosa parks joined the montgomery NAACP in 1943. She was also part of the women’s political council. On 1st december 1955 Parks refused to leaver her seat and allow a white man to take her place. She was fined $14.

Question 4

What did Rosa Parks bus boycott lead to?

Answer 4

It lead to a two-pronged attack on segregation laws in Alabama. First the NAACP mounted a legal case to challenge the segregation laws in Alabama. Second, the black people of Montgomery began a campaign if direct action targeting local bus companies.

Question 5

Who was E.D Nixon and what did he do following Rosa Park’s bus boycott?

Answer 5

E.D Nixon was a long-standing civil rights activist and union organiser based in Montgomery, Alabama. He was the local NAACP leader at the time. He quickly called a meeting of Montgomerys black leaders in order to oppose segregation. As a result the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) was made under the leadership of Martin Luther King.

Question 6

How did the bus boycott progress?

Answer 6

Nixon made swift action and started the boycott the day after Parks was fined. The boycott lasted for over a year, during which 85 percent of Montgomery’s black population boycotted the buses. Initiatives like car pooling helped to sustain the boycott.

Question 7

How did the Montgomery bus boycott affect the bus companies?

Answer 7

The boycott hit the bus companies hard. The majority of their customers were black so many companies lost 65 percent of their revenue.

Question 8

What did the authorities do following the boycott?

Answer 8

The Montgomery authorities soon realised the significance of the boycott. They arrested Martin Luther King along with 156 other prominent black protesters.

Question 9

When was Browder Vs Gayle?

Answer 9

1956

Question 10

Describe the events which led to Browder Vs Gayle (1956)?

Answer 10

The case started in 1955 when Aurelia Browder was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white person.

Question 11

What was the supreme court ruling to Browder Vs Gayle (1956)

Answer 11

With the support of the NAACP, the case went all the way up to the supreme court. On 20th December 1956 the supreme court outlawed segregation of buses.

Question 12

How was the Montgomery bus boycott significant?

Answer 12

• It showed the economic power of black people as the had financially crippled the bus companies
• It demonstrated power of uniting popular direct action with NAACP legal action.
• It highlighted importance of media involvement as television reports had portrayed the injustice to an international audience.
• It showed King’s leadership qualities.
• It showed the lengths the white authority would go to defend segregation.
• It showed the supreme court was willing to overturn Plessy Vs Fergurson.
• The boycott led to establishment of Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).

Question 13

When was the litttle rock campaign?

Answer 13

1957

Question 14

What led to the little rock campaign?

Answer 14

By 1957 there was little de facto progress in the desegregation of education in the southern states.

Question 15

What were the aims of the little rock campaign?

Answer 15

To speed up desegregation of education.

Question 16

What happened in the little rock campaign?

Answer 16

It attempted to speed up desegregation by enrolling nine black students into little rock’s all white central high school. However the local governor, Orval Faubus, opposed the enrolment and ordered the National Guard to prevent the nine black students entering the school. On 3 september 1957, the national guard backed by a white mob refused to let the students enter the school.

Question 17

What was the importance of President Eisenhower in the little rock campaign?

Answer 17

President Eisenhower ordered Governor Faubus to withdraw the national guard. At the same time the US department of Justice gained a court injunction forcing the Governor to withdraw the national guard. Faubus complied however the students were still prevented entry into the school, due to presence of white racists. This prompted Eisenhower to take the National Guard under presedential control, ordering them to protect the black students. As a result on 25th september the students, escorted by the national guard enrolled at Little Rock high school.

Question 18

What did Governor Faubus do after the presedential action in the little rock campaign?

Answer 18

Faubus did not admit defeat. He passed a law giving him power to close local schools in order to avoid desegregation. Faubus used this power to close the schools in little rock. As a result 4000 black and white students were forced to seek a new school.

Question 19

What was the roll of the NAACP in the little rock campaign?

Answer 19

After Faubus closed the little rock schools, the NAACP went to court in Cooper Vs Aaron. As a result the Supreme Court ruled it was illegal to prevent desegregation for any reason. Consequently, in june 1959 the schools in little rock re-opened and had to accept black and white students.

Question 20

When was Cooper Vs Aaron?

Answer 20

1958

Question 21

What was the significance of the little rock campaign?

Answer 21

• It demoncstrated the effectiveness of testing Supreme Court rulings, ensuring that de jure led to de facto.
• The campaign forced Eisenhower to intervene to support desegregation, in this way the campaign gained the support of the president.
• The opposition of the State Governor, the Arkansas legislature and the protestors showed the extent to which white southerners opposed integration.

Question 22

When were the Greensboro sit-ins?

Answer 22

1960

Question 23

Describe the events of the Greensboro sit-ins?

Answer 23

In February 1960, four local students entered a Woolworths store in Greensbro, North Carolina and sat on “Whites- only” seats, refusing to leave. On the second day 27 students came, 300 by the fourth day and by the end of the week the store closed temporarily.

Question 24

how influential were the Greensboro sit-ins?

Answer 24

They were hugely influential. Within a week similar protests had occurred in six towns in North Carolina, and within a month sit-ins were taking place in six more states. Activists targeted segregated Swimming pools, libraries, cinemas, churches etc.

Question 25

What was the significance of the Greensboro sit-ins?

Answer 25

• They increased the number of civil rights organisations and showed they could work effectivly
• They showed that civil rights campaigns could spread quickly and affect whole of south.
• Media coverage allowed the whole of America to witness the level of persecution faced by protestors.
• The sit-ins targeted all aspects of segregation, not just education.
• The sit-ins showed the economic power of black people in the south as Woolworths profits decreased by a third during the campaign.

Question 26

What was the outcome of the Greensboro sit-ins?

Answer 26

‘By the end of 1961 810 towns had desegregated their public places.

Question 27

When were the freedom rides?

Answer 27

1961

Question 28

What was the overall aim of the freedom rides (1961)?

Answer 28

To turn the de jure victories of Morgan vs Virginia and Boyton vs Virginia into de facto desegregation of interstate transport facilities.

Question 29

Describe the events of the freedom rides?

Answer 29

The freedom riders were a group of seven black and six white activists from CORE and SNCC. They sought to test the court rulings by traveling from Washington DC to New Orleans in interstate transport. The freedom riders expected to meet violent opposition and planned to use this to gain media attention.

Question 30

What was some of the violence that the freedom riders experienced?

Answer 30

• In Anniston, local police officers, working hand in hand with the KKK, refused to intervene when a white mob fire-bombed the freedom riders.
• In Birmingham, the police chief refused to protect the riders. He granted most police the day off work, giving a green light to local racists.
• In Montgomery, the police and medics refused to intervene even after a crowd beat the riders with baseball bats.

Question 31

What was the outcome of the freedom rides?

Answer 31

it forces Attorney General Robert Kennedy to enforce desegregation of interstate buses.

Question 32

What was the significance of the freedom rides?

Answer 32

• They marked a new high point of co-operation within the civil rights movement as it involved CORE, SNCC and SCLC.
• They showed the new Kennedy administration was sympathetic towards civil rights.

Question 33

When was the Albany Movement?

Answer 33

1961-1962

Question 34

What was the Albany movement?

Answer 34

The SNCC targeted Albany, Georgia, and organised protests to end segregation.

Question 35

What was Local police chief laurie pritchett’s new tactic in the albany movement?

Answer 35

He had studied other protests and adopted a new approach designed to deny them media attention.

• He ordered police to treat protesters with respect in public to prevent racist violence.
• He made general promises that conditions would improve.

Question 36

What was the significance of the Albany Movement?

Answer 36

• It showed that peaceful protest did not always bring about change.
• It led to diversions within the civil rights movement. Radicals in SNCC began to talk about using violence to challenge segregation.
• King realised that his tactics had not worked and stated that future campaigns had to target specific areas, and target police chiefs who are more likely to resort to violence.

Question 37

When was James Meredith and the university of Mississippi?

Answer 37

(1962)

Question 38

What did James Meredith want?

Answer 38

he wanted to enroll as the first black student in the University of Mississippi.

Question 39

What were the events of the James Meredith case?

Answer 39

Ross Barnett, the Governor of Mississippi refused to allow meredith to enroll. The supreme court backed Meredith and president Kennedy urged Barnett to back down. However when he arrived on the first day he was confronted with a mob of white racists. Kennedy sent federal toops to defend Meredith. However in the end Meredith enrolled.