Civil rights protests: the later southern campaigns,1963-1965

Question 1

When was the Birmingham campaign?

Answer 1

1963

Question 2

why did King target Birmingham in the Birmingham campaign?

Answer 2

• The freedom rides showed that local police chief Eugene Connor would react violently to protest.
• Birminghamwas one of the worst examples of segregation in southern states.

Question 3

What were the goals for the Birmingham campaign?

Answer 3

The campaign focused on the desegregation of shopping centrers, administrative buildings, schools and public parks, as well as demanding an end to racial discrimination in employment.

Question 4

How did it seem at first that ‘Bull’ O’connor had changed his tactics in the Birmingham campaign?

Answer 4

• He used legal methods like obtaining a court injunctions against demonstrations in certain precincts, in order to weaken the protests.
• He released high-profile campaigners like jazz musician, Al Hibber, in order to prevent negative media headlines.

Question 5

Why was King arrested during the Birmingham campaign and what did he do in jail?

Answer 5

king was arrested for taking part in an illegal march. When in jail he wrote “his letter from Birmingham jail” defending civil disobedience against those who said that black campaigners should work through the courts. He argued that he had the right to protest on the streets because a purely legal battle would never secure the rights of black people in America.

Question 6

What did the SCLC do in May of the Birmingham campaign to change their tactics? And what was the response of the local police?

Answer 6

April was a relatively calm month so in May James Bevel a leading member of the SCLC recruited students to take part in the campaign. The students marchers taunted local police and as a result on the 3rd May the police attacked demonstrators with high pressure fire hoses and arrested and imprisoned 1300 black children.

Question 7

What was the national and international reaction from the police violence in the Birmingham Campaign?

Answer 7

• John F. Kennedy said that he was “sickened” by the images of police violence.
• The soviet media devoted 1/5 of their radio time to the Birmingham protest. To the soviets, this showed American corruption and Soviet superiority.
• Kennedy was forced to act and he announced his support for a bill that would end segregation once and for all.

Question 8

What was the significance of the Birmingham Campaign?

Answer 8

• Civil rights protestors were released from jail without charge.
• Large department stores were desegregated.
• Racial discrimination in employment was to be ended.
• President Kennedy publicly commited to support a civil rights bill.

Question 9

What did the KKK do four months after the Birmingham campaign?

Answer 9

the KKK bombed Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, killing four young girls, which sparked demonstrations across Brimingham.

Question 10

What were some criticisms of King and the SCLC after the Birmingham campaign?

Answer 10

• Some local black leaders felt that the SCLC had not worked with them and had ignored ongoing initiatives such as boycott of segregated stores.
• The SCLC was condemned for recruiting children and putting them in danger.

Question 11

when was the march on washington?

Answer 11

28th August 1963

Question 12

Which civil rights groups organised the march on washingrton?

Answer 12

SCLC, SNCC, CORE, NAACP organised a march on washington to commemorate the centenary of the Emancipation proclamation.

Question 13

What was the march on washington designed to do?

Answer 13

Put pressure on the President and Congress to pass a civil rights bill.

Question 14

What was Kings original slogan for the march on washington?

Answer 14

For Jobs and For Freedom

Question 15

Why was president Kennedy unsure about the march on Washington?

Answer 15

He feared that it would become violent and therefore jeopardize support for civil rights legislation.

Question 16

How did King reassure President Kennedy about the March On Washington?

Answer 16

King assured Kennedy that the march would be peaceful. Notably a significant minority of the marchers, about 20%, were white.

Question 17

What was the significance of the March on Washington?

Answer 17

• It presented the civil rights movement as a united front.
• The march remained peaceful, this further increased support for civil rights movement.
• The nature and scale of the march attracted favourable media attention internationally.
• The march solidified support for new civil rights legislation which would give the government the power to forth southern states to desegregate.

Question 18

When was the Mississippi Freedom summer?

Answer 18

1964

Question 19

What was the Mississippi freedom summer?

Answer 19

Activists from SNCC, CORE and the NAACP targeted Greenwood Mississippi for a voter registration campaign.

Question 20

Why did SNCC, CORE and NAACP target Mississippi in the Mississippi freedom summer?

Answer 20

Mississippi was targeted because it had the lowest black voter registration of any state.

Question 21

What was the percentage of adult black citizens who were registered to vote in Mississippi in 1962?

Answer 21

6.2%

Question 22

What happened during the Mississippi freedom summer?

Answer 22

Around 800 volunteers from the North attempted to increase voter registration by escorting black Americans to registration offices. Activists from SNCC and CORE established 30 freedom schools which aimed to educate black citizens about civil rights issues and black history, in order to encourage them to vote.

Question 23

What was the resistance to the Mississippi freedom summer?

Answer 23

The local KKK and police put up tremendous resistance to the campaign. The homes of 30 black people and 37 black churches were firebombed. There were 80 beatings, 35 shootings and thousands of arrests. In June the KKk abducted and killed three civil rights workers and the jury refused to convict these crimes.

Question 24

How many people tried to register to vote compared to how many managed to register to vote in the Mississippi freedom summer?

Answer 24

17000 black people tried to register to vote. However with so much resistance only 1600 succeeded.

Question 25

What does the term “lily-white” mean?

Answer 25

An informal term used to describe a group or process that excludes black people.

Question 26

What did the civil rights activists do after black people were turned away from polling station?

Answer 26

During the democratic primary for the presedential election of 1964, activists set up the Mississppi Freedom Democratic Party which held its own primary. Both of the primaries from the ‘lily-white’ and the Mississippi freedom summer democratic parties elected delegates to the forthcoming democratic party congress which elected the democratic presidential candidate for the 1964 presidential elections.

Question 27

What was president Johnson’s compromise during the Mississippi freedom summer?

Answer 27

The ‘lily-white’ democratic party would be the official delegates to the democratic party congress but the MFDP delegates would be honoured guests who could attend the congress but had no voting rights.

Question 28

What was the MFDP’s response to president Johnson’s compromise?

Answer 28

MFDP delegates rejected the compromise. Led by Fannie Lou Hamer, the MFDP arrived at the congress in Atlanta to be accepted as Mississippi’s official delegates.

Question 29

What was the significance over the controversy over the Mississippi freedom summer and the MFDP?

Answer 29

• It showed a breakdown in the relationship between civil rights campaigners and President Johnson.
• Many civil rights activists saw this as proof that the American Political system was fundamentally racist and that it was therefore necessary to use more militant methods and to stop compromising with white politicians.

Question 30

When was the Selma Campaign?

Answer 30

1965

Question 31

Why did the SCLC focus on Selma?

Answer 31

• Because only 1% of black adults were registered to vote.

- King believed that the local sheriff Jim Clark was likely to respond to civil rights campaigns with violence.

Question 32

What happened during the Selma campaign?

Answer 32

SCLC and SNCC activists held a series of demonstrations to raise publicity for the campaign. The climax of the campaign was a 50 mile march from selma to montgomery.

Question 33

What was the response from the police during the Selma Campaign?

Answer 33

The local police responded violently, they used electric cattle prods against the protestors.The police were also responsible for the murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson.

Question 34

What happened with the first attempt of the march from Selma to Montgomery?

Answer 34

It ended just outside Selma when the police, armed with bull whips and tear gas forced the protestors to turn back at the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Question 35

What happened with the second attempt of the march from Selma to Montgomery?

Answer 35

Under pressure from President Johnson, King took the decision to turn back again at the Edmund Pettus bride.

Question 36

What happened with the third attempt of the march from Selma to Montgomery?

Answer 36

The third attempt was finally successfull. 8000 people began the five-day march. By the time they arrived in Montgomery there were 25000 people marching.

Question 37

What was the significance of the campaigns for voting rights?

Answer 37

• They highlighted the problems faced by black people in asserting their right to vote. This led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965
• Media images increased support for movement.
• Initially showed a high degree of co-operation between SNCC and SCLC
• Led to criticism of King for co-orperating with President Johnson.
• Revealed the growing tensions in the civil rights movement over the extent to which black campaigners could trust and work with the federal governement.