Topic 3: Civil Rights 1939-1962

Question 1

How many times more did South Carolina spend on white schools than black schools?

Answer 1

3x

Question 2

Who represented Linda Brown in the Brown v Topeka case?

Answer 2

Thurgood Marshall from the NAACP

Question 3

What did Marshall argue during the Brown v Topeka case?

Answer 3

Educational achievement was restricted and self esteem damaged by the separate but equal ‘Jim Crow laws’

Question 4

When was segregation ruled unconstitutional?

Answer 4

1954

Question 5

How many black children were still educated in Jim Crow schools in 1957?

Answer 5

2.4 million

Question 6

When were the events of the Little Rock 9?

Answer 6

1957

Question 7

What did the state governor do to stop the entry of Elizabeth Eckford and 8 other students?

Answer 7

Faubus ordered guardsmen to block the entry

Question 8

What was the result of the media coverage of the vicious white crowd?

Answer 8

Embarrassed a nation that championed freedom and equality

Question 9

How many federal troops did Eisenhower send to Little Rock?

Answer 9

1000

Question 10

What was the result of Eisenhower sending federal troops to Little Rock?

Answer 10

Faubus closed all Arkansas schools to prevent integration until 1959

Question 11

How many federal marshals did JFK send to escort James Meredith into the University of Mississippi?

Answer 11

320

Question 12

How many troops did JFK send after riots at the University of Mississippi?

Answer 12

2000

Question 13

What units did Black Americans have to serve in?

Answer 13

Segregated units

Question 14

How many black Americans were there in the US army by 1945?

Answer 14

• 750,000
• Hundreds of officers

Question 15

What was medical care like for black soldiers?

Answer 15

• Black nurses could only treat black soldiers
• Only blood from black soldiers could be used to treat injured black soldiers

Question 16

What tasks were black soldiers made to do during WWII?

Answer 16

• Menial tasks
• Or the most dangerous jobs

Question 17

When did integration start and how?

Answer 17

• US Supreme Commander, Eisenhower supported integrated units
• By 1944, there were hundreds of black officers in the army and marines

Question 18

How many black pilots were there by 1945?

Answer 18

600

Question 19

How many black sailors had risen to the rank of officer in 1945?

Answer 19

58

Question 20

What was the Double V Campaign?

Answer 20

Started at home to gain improved civil rights as well as victory in war

Question 21

What happened to black Americans in government jobs?

Answer 21

• Roosevelt issued an executive order to stop discrimination
• The amount of Americans in gov jobs trebled to 200,000 by the end of WWII

Question 22

What were racial tensions like after WWII?

Answer 22

• Still existed
• Led to race riots in 47 cities

Question 23

What happened at the Detroit race riot in 1943?

Answer 23

• 25 black and 9 white killed
• 700+ injuries

Question 24

What did Eisenhower do to encourage integration?

Answer 24

Very little until he was forced to

Question 25

When was Rosa Parks arrested and why?

Answer 25

- 1955 - Refused to give up her seat on a bus

Question 26

What happened as a result of Rosa Parks being arrested?

Answer 26

- Jo Ann Robinson held a one day boycott - They printed thousands of leaflets to encourage people to boycott city buses

Question 27

Who got involved with the boycott?

Answer 27

- MLK - Ralph Albernathy - Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) formed

Question 28

What did MLK declare following Rosa Parks' arrest?

Answer 28

African-Americans were tired of being humiliated and oppressed in their own country, but they would use peaceful means to persuade people to follow their cause

Question 29

Why did the MIA decide to continue the boycott?

Answer 29

Rosa Parks was fined for her offence

Question 30

What were the immediate consequences of the Montgomery Bus Boycott?

Answer 30

- King's home firebombed - King and Parks arrested for organising an illegal boycott

Question 31

Who intimidated the boycotters?

Answer 31

The Montgomery White Citizens Council

Question 32

When did the Supreme Court rule that segregation was unconstitutional?

Answer 32

December 1956

Question 33

What happened during the Sit-in protests?

Answer 33

- Students endured violence and assaults - Didn't retaliate

Question 34

What was the effect of the Sit-ins?

Answer 34

Put pressure on the local economy and was successful

Question 35

Who were the Freedom Riders?

Answer 35

- Led by the group CORE - Tested whether integration was really happening

Question 36

What were some violent consequences of the Freedom Rides?

Answer 36

- Anniston, Alabama a bus was attacked and burnt - In Montgomery, riders were beaten up - In Jackson, around 100 riders were jailed

Question 37

Why was MLK popular?

Answer 37

- Enthusiastic - Energetic - Able to inspire those who worked with him

Question 38

What were examples of some of MLK's achievements?

Answer 38

- Led the MIA - Led the SCLC - Voted TIME's Man of the Year - Won the Nobel Peace Prize

Question 39

Which areas did MLK target and why?

Answer 39

- Birmingham and Alabama - It had a large black American population - It had a notoriously racist chief of police (Bull Connor)

Question 40

What did MLK do when he was arrested?

Answer 40

- Wrote his 'Letter from Birmingham Jail' highlighting how slow progress was in the USA towards Civil Rights

Question 41

Why did students and children join the demonstrations and what was the result?

Answer 41

- To test the police reaction - Dogs and powerful hoses were used - 2000 demonstrators and 1300 children arrested - The violence from the police gained massive publicity

Question 42

What was JFK's response to the demonstrations in Alabama and Birmingham?

Answer 42

Got involved and agreed that desegregation would take place within 90 days

Question 43

What happened during the March on Washington in August 1963?

Answer 43

- 250,000 demonstrators came from all over the USA - King delivered his 'I have a dream' speech - It was televised across the USA and put pressure on JFK to pass his Civil Rights Bill

Question 44

What two major setbacks did the campaign suffer in 1963?

Answer 44

- Four black girls were killed in a bomb attack attending Sunday school - JFK was assassinated

Question 45

Who passed the Civil Rights Act in 1964?

Answer 45

Johnson

Question 46

Why did MLK target Selma?

Answer 46

To highlight barriers to black voter registration