The role of Martin Luther King in 1960-1968

Question 1

Progress in the early 1960s

•Implication of Freedom rides

Answer 1

Direct action in North Carolina led activists to challenge the deep-rooted racism in the South even further.

Question 2

Progress in the early 1960s

• Example of Freedom rides

Answer 2

In 1960 students in North Carolina used a sit-in protest against an all-white café

Question 3

Supreme Court ruling in December 1960 after the ‘freedom rides’

Answer 3

All bus stations and terminals that served interstate travellers should be integrated.

Question 4

Describe King’s leadership

Answer 4

King wanted African Americans to help themselves through peaceful methods, such as marches and boycotts, to avoid the unnecessary alienation of white Americans

Question 5

Impact of the march from Selma to Birmingham in 1965

Answer 5

Marchers were attacked by police and state troopers, which encouraged President Johnson to introduce the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Question 6

Who were the freedom riders

Answer 6

The freedom riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the Southern states where segregation laws were still in operation.

Question 7

How long did the freedom rides last?

Answer 7

The freedom rides began in Washington DC in May 1961 and continued throughout the summer of 1961, with over 300 of the riders being imprisoned

Question 8

Achievement of the freedom riders

Answer 8

September 1961, the Interstate Commerce Commission issued a regulation that ended racial segregation in bus terminals

Question 9

Criticism of King’s leadership

Answer 9

His methods were not particularly original, being very similar to Gandhi’s in India and those advocated by pervious black leaders, such as Booker T Washington

Question 10

Example of peace marches

• Georgia

Answer 10

The Student Non-Violent Co-ordinating Committee mobilised students in Georgia, to protest against segregation. King was arrest.

Question 11

What did King use peace marches for the civil rights cause

Answer 11

King used marches to draw attention to segregation because arrests like this put a spotlight on the civil rights cause, providing national and international publicity.

Question 12

Birmingham Marches May 1963

• King’s plot

Answer 12

King led a march knowing that the racist police chief, Bull O’ Connor would act violently

Question 13

Birmingham Marches May 1963

• Connor’s action

Answer 13

Connor arrested 2,000 demonstrators and almost 1,300 children.

Question 14

Achievement in the Birmingham Marches May 1963

Answer 14

President Kennedy became involved and it was greed that desegregation would take place within 90 days.

Question 15

What was the Civil Rights Bill 1964

Answer 15

President Johnson pushed Kennedy’s Civil Rights Bill through Congress and it became law in 1964

Question 16

Achievement of the Washington march in August 1963

Answer 16

After the march, King and other leaders met to discuss civil rights legislation with President Kennedy, who confirmed his commitment to the cause

Question 17

King’s role in Montgomery bus boycott 1955

Answer 17

King was chosen as leader of the bus boycott because he was seen as cautious and a very good speaker.

Question 18

Achievement of King’s leadership

• The less educated

Answer 18

By articulating the feelings of the black community in a clear and persuasive way, King created a vital close link between the black civil rights leadership and the less educated AA that the NAACP failed to achieve.