Montgomery Bus Boycoot 1955 Flashcards
Long term causes of the boycott ( bus company)
The Montgomery bus company dicrminate against black passengers, forcing them to sit at the back of the bus and vacate their seats for white people
Long term fauses of the boycott ( council)
The Women’s Political Council in Montgomeryhad focused on bus discrimnation since 1950
Long term causes of the boycott ( requests)
Requests to change the bus companies rules were not listened to
Short term causes of the boycott
On 1 December 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a white man
The police arrested and charge Rosa Parks under Montgomery’s segregation laws
Events of the boycott 5 Decemeber 1955
Civil rights activists in Montgomery met to discuss a boycott of the buses.They formed the MIA ( Montgomery Improvement Association) and made Martin Luther King the chairman
Events of the boycott ( 8 December 1955)
The MIA met with the bus company officials, who refused to change the segregation on the buses.The MIA decided that no Black American would use the bus service until the rules had been changed.
The MIA then met with church groups and other organisations to plan car sharing.
They also negotiated with black taxi drivers to reduce cab fares to the price of a bus ticket to enable boycotters to travel.
Events of the boycott ( 12 December 1955)
The first car pools began on 12 December and grew to involve over 300 cars.
Events of the boycott ( 30 January 1956)
Martin Luther King’s home was bombed.King responded by calling for peaceful protests and no retalliation.
The violence in response to the peaceful protests
Increased media covergae and made media reporters largely sympathetic for the civil rights campaigners
Significance of Rosa Parks
She was middle aged married woman.Which made it difficult for people to critise her for bad behaviour.She was the secretary for the NAACP in Montgomery.She had already been involved in campaigns for black voter registration
