THE

CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

IN AMERICA

THE 1800s

The Emancipation Proclamation

January 1st, 1863 Abraham Lincoln
announces that all persons held as
slavesare and henceforth shall be free.
13th Amendment in 1865 ends slavery
14th Amendment in 1866 guarantees equal
protection under the law

Assassination

Abraham Lincoln was

assassinated by John
Wilkes Booth on
April 15th, 1865
Booth killed Lincoln
due to his pro-African
American policy

N.A.A.C.P

National Association
for the Advancement
of Colored People
Multicultural Civil
Rights Group
founded in 1909 in
N.Y.

Separate but Equal

In 1892 Homer Plessy

challenged Jim Crow laws
that allowed for separation
of blacks and whites in
public. Whites only that
had become popular in the
1890s.
1896 the Supreme court
declared that as long as
accommodations were equal
there was nothing wrong
with the separation of the
races

Jim Crow laws remain popular

until the 1950s

Unfortunately
separate but equal
rarely played out as
equal under Jim
Crow laws

Challenge to Plessy Decision

October 1953- Brown vs.

Board of Topeka federal
lawsuit asking for the end
of school segregation Kansas
May 1954- Supreme Court
overturns Plessy decision.
Separate but equal goes
against 14th Amendment.
desegregation must
proceed with all
deliberate speed

Warning:Graphic
photo

Murder of Emmett Till

1955 Teen Emmett Till

was brutally murdered
for flirting with a white
girl.
An all white jury in
Mississippi found the
accused men innocent
despite overwhelming
evidence
Acquittal fueled outrage
across the United States.

Move to the back of the bus!

1955 Rosa Parks is

arrested in
Montgomery,
Alabama for not
giving up her seat for
a white man.
The next night black
community leaders
discuss the arrest

Montgomery Bus Boycott

Leaders including Rev.

Martin Luther King Jr.,
organize a bus boycott by
all black citizens.
Bus company will lose
65% of income
King arrested and paid
$500 fine
Thousands walked miles
to and from work during
the 381 day boycott

VICTORY!

1956 - Supreme Court

decided based on Brown
vs. Topeka that bus
segregation is against the
constitution
Montgomery buses end
segregation and hire black
drivers
Martin Luther King
emerges as a key leader in
the civil rights movement

The Little Rock 9

1957 desegregation
begins at Central High
School in Arkansas
9 black students are
chosen to integrate the
school
Governor Faubus resists
to keep the white vote
Arkansas National Guard
and an angry mob met
the students

Oh the anger!

Court ordered Faubus to

comply
The Little Rock 9 finally
enter the school three
weeks into classes under
protection of 1,000
paratroopers and 10,000
national guard sent in by
President Eisenhower

Federal Guards ensure

compliance at Central High

James Meredith

James Meredith was

enrolled at the University
of Mississippi by order of
Supreme Court 1962
Kennedy orders federal
troops to escort
Riots break out before
troops arrive 2 people
die

Sit-ins of 1960

Started by Joseph McNeil

at a Woolworths lunch
counter
As word spread students
from across the country
joined McNeil and started
sit-ins of their own
Protesters were assaulted
with beatings, ammonia,
fines and arrest
After 2 months police were
ordered not to arrest

Freedom Rides

1961 attempts to
desegregate bus terminals
in deep south. Testing
new federal laws forcing
desegregation of
interstate transportation
Protestors were often
faced with mob violence
and frequently arrested

Freedom riders fight on

Kennedy sent in federal

Marshals to ensure peace
which resulted in an
agreement from Southern
governors to keep peace
for the riders
Federal laws changed to
force desegregation in
public places in 1964

The Fight to Desegregate

Birmingham

Severe segregation
Sit-ins used in
restaurants and kneelins at churches.
Hundreds fined
Rev. King, Abernathy
and Shuttlesworth
lead a protest march
in Birmingham May
1963

Protestors were met

with extreme
violence by police
and arrest of leaders

Letter from Birmingham Jail

While imprisoned King writes famous

justification for the Civil Rights Movement in
his famous Letter from a Birmingham jail.
In 1964 the letter is reprinted in his book
Why We Cant Wait outlining his
philosophy of using non-violent protest to
fight against unjust laws and addressing his
critics who suggest these changes need to
occur more slowly

Bombing in Birmingham

Sept. 63 KKK bombs

Baptist church killing 4
little girls
By end of day riots and
fires had broken out
across Birmingham and 2
teens were killed
Galvanizes the movement
and shocks the
international community

Medgar Evers

June 12th, 1963 Evers

in shot dead by the
K.K.K.
Evers was the leader
of the NAACP in
Jackson, Mississippi

March on Washington

August 28th, 1963

250,000 civil rights
marchers descend on
Washington D.C.
Demanding jobs and
freedom for millions
of African Americans
Peace is maintained

I have a Dream today

Martin Luther King Jr. gives famous I have a dream speech o
the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. It becomes a key symbol of
the Civil Rights movement.

J.F.K Dead!

November 22nd 1963

President Kennedy is
assassinated by Lee
Harvey Oswald in
Dallas, Texas
Kennedy was a strong
supported of
integration and civil
rights

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Huge Victory

President Johnson pushes for the

civil rights bill to be passed in
memory of Kennedy
Major lobbying by Civil rights
leaders help the bill pass
African Americans can no longer
be excluded from restaurants,
hotels and other public facilities.
Affirmative Action is introduced
to level the playing field in
education and jobs

Freedom Summer - 1964

Large groups of
students are sent to
the South
(Mississippi) to
register black voters
Movement meets
violent resistance
3 civil rights workers
go missing and are
found killed

Malcolm X

Joined the Nation of Islam in

1952 and became one of the top
speakers
Spoke out with bitterness against
black oppression and
exploitation
Believed not in integration and
equality but pushed for black
separatism
Advocated violence for self
protection
In contrast to the popular
peaceful movement of the time

Malcolm changes his tune

In 1964 Malcolm left

the nation of Islam
and joined orthodox
Islam
Changed beliefs to
those closer to other
civil rights activists
believing in peace
with whites

Malcolm Assassinated!

Malcolms popularity
and outspoken
approach angered
many in the Nation of
Islam
Feb. 21, 1965 Malcolm
is assassinated at a
rally in New York by 3
Nation of Islam
members

March to Montgomery
Blood Sunday

Outraged over the killing of a

demonstrator by an Alabama
state trooper and the blocking
of African Americans from
voting, activists marched from
Selma to the capitol of
Montgomery to face Governor
Wallace.
Demonstrators were faced
with violent state troopers as
they crossed the border into
the city.

Growing Support

Tear gas and batons were used

on the demonstrators bowed in
prayer
Demonstrators were forced
into a housing project where
residents were also attacked
The coverage on the evening
news rallied support across the
country

Protestors Respond

Several marches are

organized in response the
following Tuesday and an
activist is killed
March 25th King tries again
with support of President
Johnson and is successful
March was fairly peaceful
as marchers were protected
by federal troops
Viola Liuzzo was killed that
night as she drove home.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

The protests quicken

the passing of the
Voting Rights Act of
1965 August
Prohibits literacy tests
and poll taxes
From 1960 to 1966
registered black voters
more than tripled in
some states

Black Power Movement

Those

who profess to favor

freedom, and yet depreciate
agitation, are men who want
crops without plowing up the
ground. They want rain
without thunder and lightning.
They want the ocean without
the awful roar of its many
waters. ...Power concedes
nothing without demand. It
never did and it never will.[1]
Fredrick
Douglas

By the early 1960s many were

cynical of the non-violent
movement
Many wanted to meet violence
with violence
Mostly popular amongst the
youth
Took inspiration from Douglass
words more than a century before
Malcolm X and the Nation of
Islam were key in this
movement.
Phrase Black Power is created
by Carmichael in 67

Black Panther Party

A controversial organization
started by Huey P. Newton and
Bobby Seale
Initially pushed for armed
resistance to black oppression
One of key goals was to end
police abuse
Eventually became more
moderate in views and looked
more to supporting those in
oppressed communities
Generally had poor relations
with police by end 1970 34 BPs dead and 15 police.

Riots in Watts

Rioting in Watts, Los

Angeles, August 1965
Riots broke out after police
pulled over a young black
man who was reported to be
driving erratically
A crowd gathered and
became outraged at perceived
violence by white police
against the black youth
30-35 thousand residents
rioted

Results

over 1,000 buildings

were damaged and or
looted in the erupting riot
which lasted for 6 days
Leaves 34 dead
Federal troops and strict
curfews are brought in
Fear across the nation
results and is considered a
set back to the Civil rights
movement by many

Rioting in Detroit and Newark 1967

43 die when rioting breaks out

in Detroit

Sparked by a police raid on an

after hours club
Feeling of oppression already
existed

23 die in Newark

Sparked by case of police

brutality in front of many
onlookers
in a city where blacks already
felt oppressed
The National Guard had to be
brought in to bring both riots
under control.

Assassination of
Martin Luther King Jr.

April 4th, 1968 King is shot

outside of his Memphis motel
room.
Age 39
Was in Memphis to help with a
strike of black sanitation
workers
James Early Ray was
convicted of his death but
conspiracy theories remain
Sparked a wave of riots in
more than 60 cities

Civil Rights Act of 1968

President Johnson
signs the Act
prohibiting
discrimination in the
sale, rental or
financing of housing.

Desegregation and busing

1971 courts rule in favour of

policy of busing students in
order to desegregate schools
The battle to have this stopped
is wage throughout the decade
at state level
Efforts continue into the
1980s to integrate schools
1991 Supreme court rules to
allow the end of busing past
discrimination has been
addressed