USA

Question 1

What are jim crow laws

Answer 1

enforced segregation that covered all aspects of life.

Question 2

Where black Americans allowed to vote

Answer 2

Technically, black Americans were allowed to vote.

However, by 1956, only 20% of them had registered to do so in the face of intimidation by white Americans

Question 3

What was the Plessey v Ferguson case of 1896

Answer 3

upheld Jim Crow Laws.

It said that segregation was acceptable if the facilities provided were equal.

Question 4

What was the NAACP

Answer 4

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

Set up 1909, created legal defence fund in 1940

Question 5

What was CORE

Set up 1942, protested against segregation

Answer 5

Congress of Racial Equality

Question 6

What was Brown v. Topeka case (1954).

Answer 6

Oliver Brown took the City of Topeka in Kansas to court for forcing his daughter to attend a black school a long way away. The NAACP supported the case and 4 others. In 1954 the Supreme Court declared that all segregated schools were illegal, because separate must mean unequal.

Key turning point in Civil Rights although there was still much opposition in the south

Question 7

What was the Montgomery Bus Boycott 1955

Answer 7

Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give her seat on a bus to a white man.

Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Improvement Association organised a boycott of the buses which lasted for a year until the bus company gave in.

In 1956 the Supreme Court said that segregation on buses was also illegal.

Question 8

What was Little Rock 1955

Answer 8

9 black students tried to enrol at Little Rock High School in Arkansas.

They were stopped by the State Governor, Orval Faubus, who surrounded the school with the state National Guard.

Eisenhower sent federal troops to escort and protect the students – showed that US government was willing to support desegregation of schools

Question 9

What was the Civil Rights Act 1957

Answer 9

In 1957 Eisenhower introduced the first Civil Rights Act since 1875.

It set up a commission to prosecute anybody who tried to deny American citizens their rights.

Question 10

How was the KKK a Opposition to the civil rights movement

Answer 10

The KKK and were involved in violent attacks

The murders of George Lee, Lamar Smith and Emmet Till (14 year old boy) got a lot of coverage across the country

Question 11

How was the Southern churches a Opposition to the civil rights movement

Answer 11

Claimed the bible said that integration was a sin (many KKK members were also members of these churches)

Question 12

Who where the Dixiecrats

Answer 12

Southern democrats that formed a breakaway party after 1948 Civil Rights Bill

Question 13

How was Dixiecrats a Opposition to the civil rights movement

Answer 13

southern democrats that formed a breakaway party after 1948 Civil Rights Bill

Question 14

How was a Southern state governors Opposition to the civil rights movement

Answer 14

most state officials favoured segregation so opposed and moves towards Civil Rights

Question 15

How was a White Citizens’ Council a Opposition to the civil rights movement

Answer 15

set up in Mississippi to oppose desegregation

Question 16

What was the Greensboro sit-in

Answer 16

The first was at Woolworth’s in Greensboro North Carolina, where students demanded to be served at a whites-only counter. When they were refused they organised a sit-in.

Altogether 70,000 took part in sit-ins across the south and 3,600 went to jail.

When whites turned violent there was widespread television coverage and support for Civil Rights.

Student protests organised by the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee

Question 17

What where the freedom riders

Answer 17

CORE campaigners rode buses to highlight that desegregation had not happened

The KKK and WCC vowed to stop them

In 1961 the KKK firebombed a bus in Aniston, and buses were also attacked in Montgomery with little police protection, some riders arrested e.g. in Jackson, Mississipi

Freedom rides continued throughout 1961 - government said that they would send federal troops if states did not desegregate bus facilities

Question 18

What was the The James Meredith case.

Answer 18

James Meredith, a black student, was rejected from Mississippi university and the NAACP challenged his rejection.

The Supreme Court ordered the university to admit him but officials still stopped him.

In 1962 Kennedy sent the National Guard and federal troops soldiers into Mississippi to make sure that he could take his place at a university.

But when rioting followed, 23,000 troops were needed to keep order

Question 19

What was the impacts Birmingham, Alabama April 1963 peaceful protests

Answer 19

SNCC, SCLC & ACMHR (Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights) began Campaign ‘C’ (for confrontation).

They targeted Birmingham notoriously racist Eugene ‘Bull’ Connor was the chief of police and it was believed that he could be easily provoked into using violence against peaceful protesters.

Arrests, water cannon, dogs and baton charges were used to disperse the marchers. Arrests reached 500 a day, but it was all shown on television and many were sickened by the violence

Question 20

What happened on the March on Washington 1963

Answer 20

Immediately after events in Birmingham, 250,000 people (including 40,000 whites) took part Despite fears, the march was peaceful

Significance of the March - Size, TV broadcast around the world, King’s emotive speech, black and white crowd with famous people involved too (e.g. Bob Dylan)

Question 21

What was the Freedom Summer 1964

Answer 21

1000 volunteers went to Mississippi to work with local campaigners. Many white college students involved: Freedom Schools set up, helped many to pass voter registration tests.

Significant white opposition - Reaction of many white Mississippians, many blacks lost jobs, beatings and violence common, only 1600 of 17000 successfully registered to vote

Question 22

What was the Mississippi murders 1964

Answer 22

3 CORE workers (two white ,Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman, and one black, James Chaney) were murdered by the KKK in June 1964, although their bodies were not discovered until August. Other bodies of black CORE workers were also discovered in the search. Another scandal that gained much media coverage

Question 23

What did president Kennedy for civil rights

Answer 23

JFK - Appointed blacks to high level jobs, pressed for changes to laws, not afraid to intervene in south with executive orders eg James Meredith case.

JFK was assassinated before he could achieve what he wanted.

The Presidents also still needed the support of voters and members of Congress that opposed Civil Rights (eg Dixiecrats) so this limited what they could do.

Question 24

What did President Johnson do for civil rights

Answer 24

LBJ - Appointed blacks to high level jobs, Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act, Escorted marchers from Selma to Montgomery

The Presidents also still needed the support of voters and members of Congress that opposed Civil Rights (eg Dixiecrats) so this limited what they could do.

Question 25

What happened at Selma, Alabama 1965

Answer 25

A protest march was planned on 7 March 1965 from Selma to Montgomery but the marchers were stopped from crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge by state troopers with tear gas/cattle prods/clubs. This became known as ‘Bloody Sunday’ and prompted President Johnson to send federal troops to escort the marchers from Selma to Montgomery on 21-24 March where MLK gave a speech to 25,000 people.

Question 26

What was the civil rights act 1964

Answer 26

Banned: Discrimination in voting, in public spaces and in jobs (Equal Opportunities Commission) Gave government power to: Enforce desegregation, remove funding from state projects that discriminated

Question 27

What was the voting rights act 1965

Answer 27

Helped more blacks register to vote

Federal government officials ran registration in some states

Question 28

Why where Both Acts limited in their impact

Answer 28

it was difficult to enforce in many states and there was still significant opposition in the south

Question 29

Who was Malcolm X

Answer 29

Born May 1925 as Malcolm Little.. Joined the Nation of Islam, became interested in black nationalism, changed name to Malcom X

Rejected non-violence, criticised MLK,

Changing political views: Left NOI, changed views after visit to Mecca and became more willing to consider integration and accept white help. Met SNCC and CORE

Assassinated in 1965 by NOI, 15,000 attended his funeral

Question 30

Who where the black panthers

Answer 30

Founded in 1966 by Huey P Newton and Bobby Seale

Beliefs: Black people needed black officials and police to protect them.

Uniform: Black beret, trousers, leather jacket.

Successes: local activities in ghetto communities, health clinics and breakfast clubs.

Negatives: some were involved in robberies and deliberately provoking police, e.g Newton charged with murder

Question 31

What was the Black Power movement like

Answer 31

Encouraged black Americans to be proud and rejected white help. Influenced by Malcolm X’s ideas and spoke about revolution. They were popular amongst the poor

Stokely Carmichael - became leader of SNCC and more people from Black Power became involved that radicalised SNCC campaigns

CORE and SNCC became less welcoming of white supporters
Mexico 1968 - Tommie Smith and John Carlos made Black Power salute on podium after 200m race. Seen across the world and had a massive impact -

Question 32

What where the Major riots across US 1965-7 like

Answer 32

sparked off by poor treatment of black Americans. Significant clashes with police and damage to property.

Led to the Kerner Report of 1968 that stated: riots were the result of poor conditions in the ghettos, white officials had failed to fix problems, the police needed to provide more protection in the ghettos, the media had sensationalised the riots

Question 33

What was King’s campaign in the North like

Answer 33

MLK and the SCLC went to Chicago in 1966 to campaign for fairer housing. Mayor Daley of Chicago agreed to talks but did not fulfil his promises MLK then organised Poor People’s Campaign

4 April 1968: MLK was assassinated and widespread rioting took place. The Poor People’s Campaign went ahead without much success.

Question 34

What was Civil Rights Act of 1968

Answer 34

included a section about fair housing and gave federal protection to Civil Rights workers
Black protest split after 1969, with different groups focusing on different issues and using different tactics (some more radical, some still more peaceful).

Question 35

What happened to the civil rights movement by 1975

Answer 35

The Vietnam War became more of an issue so support for Civil Rights dropped 1970 Voting Rights Act banned literacy tests, in 1975 it was changed to include Hispanic, Native Americans and other races but the fight for equality in the US was far from won.