Chapter 15
The Civil Rights Era
1954-1975
15.1
Origins of the
Civil Rights
Movement
Rosa Parks is fingerprinted by Dep. Sheriff D.H.
Lackey in Montgomery, Ala., on Feb. 22, 1956,
two months after she refused to give up her seat
on a bus for a white passenger. Her action
prompted the Montgomery bus boycott and
sparked the civil rights movement.
A Montgomery (Ala.) Sheriff's Department booking photo of Rosa Parks taken Feb. 22,
1956.
The actual bus on which Rosa Parks
refused to give up her seat to a white man
in an act of civil disobedience in 1955 is on
display at the Henry Ford Museum in
Dearborn, Mich.
Aspects of WWII that Energized
the Civil Rights Movement:
1.The internment of Japanese
Americans during the war
2.The black migration to cities to
work in war industries
3.Nazi persecution of Jews
Remember This!!!!
• Prosperity and economic
growth that followed
WWII was NOT an aspect
of WWII that energized
the Civil Rights Movement.
Changes that Gave the Civil Rights
Movement Strength:
1. The migration of African
Americans to urban areas
2. Increased employment of
African Americans in better
paying jobs
3. Broad rejection of racist ideas
such as those of the Nazis
Plessy v. Ferguson
• “In 1896 the Supreme Court upheld the lower
courts' decision in the case of Homer Plessy, a
black man from Louisiana, challenged the
constitutionality of segregated railroad coaches,
first in the state courts and then in the U. S.
Supreme Court. The high court upheld the lower
courts noting that since the separate cars provided
equal services, the equal protection clause of the
14th Amendment was not violated. Thus, the
"separate but equal" doctrine became the
constitutional basis for segregation.” Dudley, M. E. Brown v.
Board of Education (1954) . New York: Twenty-First Century Books, 1994.
The scary part is that Plessy did not look black. People
hated black people so much that the law stated that if:
Black
White
White
White
White
White
White
White
White
White
White
White
White
White
• If you were
at least
1/16th, you
had to
legally claim
yourself as
black.
It wasn’t until the 50’s that the
case was put to the test again in
the courts.
• Brown V. Board of Education, Topeka
These two sisters,
aged 10 and 6, had
to walk through the
dangerous Rock
Island Switchyard in
order to catch a bus
to all-black Monroe
School. Linda
Brown and her
Sister Walking to
School, Topeka,
Kansas, March 1953
Brown v. Board of
Education of Topeka
• A lawsuit against the school
system of Topeka, Kansas
resulting in a landmark
Supreme Court decision
stating that segregated
schools were
unconstitutional.
Read aloud p. 413 History Makers
Who was Mohandas Ghandi?
He was a leader in India who believed non-violent
tactics would help India win its independence from
Britain. He was an important role model for MLK.
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Martin Luther King
lead a bus boycott
in Montgomery,
Alabama
15.2
Kennedy,
Johnson, and
Civil Rights
President Kennedy
• Although he favored Civil
Rights, he did not push for
laws because he feared
losing the support of the
Southerners in Congress.
Reasons Why the Nonviolent Protests
Continued Despite Segregationist
Violence:
• Nonviolent protesters wanted
people to see them being beaten.
• Leaders hoped the violence would
force the federal government to act.
• The incidents were a tactic to gain
sympathy and support.
1963 Marches in Birmingham,
Alabama Showed This About
Nonviolence:
• The SCLC leaders expected a violent
response, which would increase
support for their cause.
• The SCLC had recruited children for the marches.
• The Civil Rights leaders planned to embarrass
Birmingham city officials by filling Birmingham’s
jails with children.
No More: The Children of Birmingham 1963
and the Turning Point of the Civil Rights
Movement 10 min.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCxE6i_SzoQ
TV coverage of police
brutality against children
and other peaceful
protesters in Birmingham,
Alabama increased public
support for the Civil Rights
Movement.
The March on Washington
caused Kennedy to
support Civil Rights Laws.
The huge size of the
march caused many
groups to call for federal
laws.
Kennedy Assassination
Cutting through Conspiracies
November 22, 1963
• JFK was in Dallas
trying to gain
support for next
year’s election.
• Dallas had an
unfriendly
reputation
towards
politicians.
Lee Harvey Oswald
• Shown here in
Oak Cliff, Texas.
• Tried to defect
to the Soviet
Union and Cuba.
School Book Depository
• LHO got a job in this building. He would
eventually shoot JFK from the sixth floor.
6th floor
Sixth Floor of the School Book
Depository
Oswald’s Sniper’s
“Nest” in Depository
Sniper’s Perch
• This is Lee Harvey
Oswald’s view
from the 6th floor
of the School Book
Depository
• Only film recording of the bullets hitting
Kennedy.
• Zapruder was a local dressmaker who
happened to be
filming this event
for his daughter.
The Zapruder Film
Zapruder’s film was the most famous
evidence
He was filming from here.
Warren Commission continued…
• The commission's determination was that:
• it was likely that all injuries inside the limousine were
caused by only two bullets, and thus one shot likely
missed the motorcade, but it could not determine
which of the three. (The 1979 House Select
Committee on Assassinations agreed that two shots
caused all the injuries.)
• the first shot to hit anyone struck President Kennedy
in the upper back, exited out his throat, and likely
continued on to cause all of Governor John
Connally's injuries,
• the second shot to hit someone fatally struck
Kennedy in the head 4.8 to 5.6 seconds later.
Sniper
perch
1st shot
3rd shot
Path of the “magic bullet”
The “magic bullet” in “pristine condition”
The Warren Commission says this
single bullet proves there was a
single shooter. However, the
trajectory past Kennedy’s neck and
into Connally’s shoulder seems to
have magically changed course.
This plaque sits next to where he was
fatally shot.
Kennedy was rushed to Parkland
• Friday - November 22, 1963
• JFK lands at Love Field (Dallas, TX)
• JFK and motorcade head to Trade Mart
• 12:30 – Shots fired at JFK
– Police rush into Book Depository
– Only employee missing = Oswald
• 1:00 – JFK pronounced dead
Timeline of Major Events
Clip 6
Oswald fled the scene
• He checked into his
boarding house on
1026 Beckley.
• Officer J. Tippit
stops on the street
to talk to Oswald.
• Oswald shoots him
4 times to death
Lee Harvey Oswald walked 8 blocks to
Texas Theatre on Jefferson Blvd.
Arrested
• The police beat
him up as
Oswald resists
arrest at the
theater.
• At this point arrangements were made to
provide Secret Service protection of the two
Johnson daughters, and it was decided that
after he is sworn in, LBJ would leave on the
presidential aircraft because it had better
communications equipment. Johnson was
driven by an unmarked police car to Love
Field, and kept below the car's window level
throughout the journey.
• The President waited for Jacqueline Kennedy,
who in turn would not leave Dallas without
her husband's body, to arrive aboard Air Force
One. Kennedy's casket was finally brought to
the aircraft, but takeoff was delayed until
Johnson took the oath of office.
LBJ was sworn in at Love Field
(See next slide)
LHO was being escorted to another jail.
Oswald transferred to another jail.
• Jack Ruby, a Dallas
nightclub owner,
shoots Oswald on
live TV.
• LHO will never go
on record why he
did what he did.
He is now dead.
LHO killed
• “You killed
my President,
you rat!”
JFK, Jr. at Father’s Funeral
Procession
Funeral Procession in Arlington
National Cemetary
The Eternal Flame at Arlington
The 24th
Amendment
(1964)
•It outlawed the
payment of a poll tax as a
requirement for voting.
•The SNCC and the SCLC followed it’s
passage with voter registration
drives.
•Its shortcomings were a reason for
the passage of the Voting Rights Act.
Voting Rights Were Central to
the Civil Rights Movement
Political power would help
African Americans achieve the
other goals.
The violence of state troopers at
Selma, Alabama helped President
Johnson push a voting rights bill
through Congress.
The Voting Rights Act
banned literacy tests
and other laws that
kept blacks from
registering to vote.
The Great Society 1960’s
This included civil
rights laws and federal
aid to education.
The extent of discrimination
throughout the United States
in the 1960’s is shown by the
fact that one of the SCLC’s
biggest failures was in
Chicago.
15.3
The Equal
Rights Struggle
Expands
Cesar Chavez
• Family Migrant
Farmers During the
1940’s
• $0.20 for Each
25lb. Bag of Peas
• Endured Poor Pay
and Working
Conditions
• Formed a Union
Chavez Forms Union
• No pay raise =
Workers to Strike
• Asked Americans to
Boycott All Produce
Picked by Non-Union
Members (Peaceful)
• Tactic Worked!
Goals of La Raza Unida
• Better jobs and pay
• Better housing
• Better education
• What about the right to
vote???? NO Why??
•Mexican Americans
had the right to vote
th
because of the 15
Amendment of 1870.
It has been more difficult for
Hispanics than it has been for
African Americans to organize
large-scale civil rights
organizations because there is
more diversity among Hispanics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jfzCuvlgIc
Start at 9:44 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When you listen to this professor, he
represents the feelings of the
government. We need to be able to
hear perspectives from all sides of an
issue.
The Federal Government’s
Termination Policy
It was opposed by Native
American groups because it
removed protection of their
land.
The Self-Determination Act of
1975 gave Native Americans
control over law
enforcement, education, and
other social programs.
Women Faced Discrimination
in the 1960’s
•They could not get jobs in many
male-dominated occupations.
•Married women could not get credit
on the same terms as men.
•Women who became pregnant
could be fired from their jobs.
Betty Friedan
•Helped shape the
Women’s Movement
with her book the
Feminine Mystique and
she was a cofounder of
NOW, the National
Organization for
Women.
Betty Friedan
• N.O.W.’s Goals Were:
– Help Women Get Better Jobs and
Better Pay
Equal Rights Amendment (1972)
• In 1972, Congress
Passed the Equal
Rights Amendment
(ERA)
• Stated That Women
Were Now Equal
• In Order to Change
the Constitution, How
Many of the 50
States Have to Ratify
(Vote Yes) for an
Amendment to Become
Law?
Phyllis Schlafly
• Phyllis Schlafly Led the
Fight Against the ERA
• Believed the ERA Would
Ruin American Families
• Believed Women’s
Problems Were Not the
Government’s Business
• The ERA Amendment
Never Passed
Phyllis Schlafly
•Opposed the Equal Rights
Amendment as an unnecessary
involvement of the federal
government in people’s lives.
How has the federal
government reduced
inequalities between men and
women?
•The Higher Education Act of
1972 and the Civil Rights Act of
1964.
Martin Luther King, Jr. and
César Chávez used a boycott
and other nonviolent tactics to
win rights for their followers.
They were the two civil rights
leaders who used methods
that were the most alike.