UNIT 15African – American Civil Rights Movement

Evolution of the Civil Rights Movement

Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation- During Civil War it declared all enslaved persons in states rebelling against

the Union to be free

Post Civil War Amendments1. 13th - abolished slavery2. 14th- defined a US citizen and could not deny them rights3. 15th- states could not deny right to vote to any male US citizen over 21

Roots of the Civil Rights Movement

Booker T. Washington- born into slavery- began Tuskegee Institute in Alabama- promoted education for African-Americans as the way to

progress

W.E.B. Dubois - pushed for civil rights progress- formed the NAACP to push for legal methods to end racial

discrimination

Milestones of the African-American Civil Rights Movement

Brown vs. Board of Education Topeka, Kansas (1954)

Issue:- Dispute over separate educational facilities not being equalDecision:- Ruling stated that educational facilities were in fact not equal- Ruling reversed the landmark Plessy vs. Ferguson case- Schools had to allow african-americans to attend

Montgomery Bus Boycott

Rosa Parks: African American women arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for violating local law by sitting in the front section of a public bus

Martin Luther King Jr.: local minister in a Montgomery Baptist Church when Rosa Parks was arrested-urged local african-americans to use non-violent methods to fight segregation-organized a boycott against the bus system that lasted for a year which worked causing bus company to end its policy of segregation

Crisis at Little Rock- Governor ordered National Guard troops to prevent the admittance of

African American students into little Rock High School- President Eisenhower ordered Federal Troops to escort the students into

the schools

Civil Rights Act of 1957- Passed by Congress to protect the right of African-Americans to vote

Civil Rights Act of 1964- Strongest Civil Rights law ever passed by Congress- Segregation outlawed by Congress in most public places- Equal access to all public places for all citizens

March on Washington- A rally to support President Kennedy’s Civil Rights Bill- Over 200,000 people marched on the Mall in DC- MLK gave his “I Have a Dream” speech

24th Amendment- Prohibited Congress or states from implementing conditions to vote – such

as a poll tax

Black Power- Frustrated with non-violent movement, some looked for increased black

pride and black nationalism through violence- Malcolm X/Black Muslims-advocated black nationalism-self govn’t for a

black society

Affirmative Action

- President Johnson signed an executive order requiring employers with federal contracts to take “affirmative action” to hire more women, African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Asian Americans

- Meant to correct past injustices by giving preferences to these groups in employment opportunities, as well as college admissions

Assignment

In the workbook finish pg.113

Definitions:Civil RightsAffirmative Action