The Civil Rights Movement

Also known as Jim Crow Era 1870s – 1960s

Congress freed

the slaves but

they failed the

ensure their freedoms

THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

The Civil Rights Movement 1955-1965

1953-61

1961-63 1963-69

A New Slavery

After the slaves were freed, most African Americans became “tenant farmers’’ and “sharecroppers” to rent and share the land of wealthier whites

Segregation

After Reconstruction, many Southern

state governments passed “Jim Crow”

laws forcing the separation of the races in public places (segregation)

The Jim Crow Era (1870s – 1960s)

“Jim Crow” laws were laws that legally segregated African Americans and prevented them from voting, going to white schools, riding in white trains, etc.

Remember, Jim Crow laws segregated white society and black society

Some African Americans sued, claiming that ssegregation was unconstitutional

A New Slavery

Despite being freed from slavery, African Americans were still tied to the white power structure and had little options for earning money.

Without federal protection, emancipation resulted in a new kind of slavery

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Supreme Court Cases

Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896)(separate but equal=constitutional)

overturned by

Brown vs. Board of Education (1954)(separate but

equal=UNconstitutional)

Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896)

African Americans said that segregation was a violation of the 14th Amendment

Plessy v. Ferguson went to the Supreme Court

Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896)

This case said that segregation

of the races in public Accommodations and institutions was legal.

This continued inequality would

eventually lead to the Civil Rights Movement of the

1950s and 60s

NAACP

NAACP (Nat’l Assoc. for the Advancement of Colored People) -

this organization sought change mainly through the courts

Peaks Elementary School for Blacks (Prince Edward County, VA)

Rice Elementary School for Whites

Epps Elementary School for Blacks

Worsham School for Whites (1-12)

Felden Elementary School for Blacks

Felden Elementary School Bathroom

Darlington Heights Elementary for Whites

Brown vs. Board of Education

NAACP lawyers argued that segregated schools were unequal and unfair

Attorney Thurgood Marshall led the NAACP legal defense Team

This supreme court case overturned Plessy vs. Ferguson and forced schools to integrate

It also made segregation of all public facilities illegal

Many states ignored this new law (including Virginia)

The response in Virginia

Massive public resistance – The state even closed public schools for over a year

Many private academies were established for

whites only

This caused “White Flight” from urban school systems

Oliver Hill

Oliver Hill led the NAACP legal defense team in Virginia

The response nationwide

Most resistance to integration occurred in the Southeast

The response nationwide

In Little Rock, Arkansas, the Governor used the state National Guard to prevent Black students from entering white schools

President Eisenhower sent the US Army to force the school to integrate

Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955)

Rosa Parks refused to give a bus seat to a white person in Montgomery, Alabama and was jailed

Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955)

African Americans organized a massive boycott of the city buses

This protest lasted over a year

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. organized this protest

Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955)

The Supreme Court ruled that bus segregation was illegal

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK)

After the bus boycott he became the leader of the Civil Rights Movement

MLK taught “non-violent protest”

Freedom rides

Black and White civil rights activists would ride buses together though the South as

a form of protest

Many buses were attacked in the deep South

Sit-ins

Sit-ins were designed to integrate public facilities

Many of these places were reserved for “whites only”

Sit-ins

In Greensboro, North Carolina three Black college

students took a stand and went to a Woolworth’s lunch counter

All of them were arrested

This sparked a wave of sit-ins across the South

Marches

The most famous march took place in Birmingham, Alabama

MLK jr. organized the march

MLK jr. chose Birmingham because it was one

of most racist cities in the South

March on Birmingham

“Bull” Connor was the racist police commissioner of Birmingham

He attacked protesters with fire hoses, tear gas, and attack dogs

March on Washington (1963)

March on Washington (1963)

Over 200,000 blacks and whites marched on the nation’s capital to protest

MLK delivered the famous “I Have a

Dream Speech”

This demonstration was televised and

many more Americans began to support more Civil Rights laws

after this event

The march demonstrated the power of

non-violent, mass protest

Civil Rights Act Passed (1964)

Prohibited discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, and gender It also made it a national law to

desegregate all public facilities (hotels, trains, restaurants, etc)

Civil Rights Act (1964)

Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) played an important role in passage of this civil rights law

Voting Rights Act (1965)

This act outlawed literacy tests to vote (Jim Crow laws)

Federal officers were sent to the South to register voters

This resulted in dramatic increases in African American voters

MLK was assassinated in 1968

He taught self-defense, violent protest, and segregation

He later admitted that he was

wrong and said that the hatred of white people was wrong

He was assassinated in 1965 by radical Islamic Blacks

Malcolm X