The Civil rights
movement 1860s-1960s
Sources – historical arguments
•
‘‘Analyses of print media coverage of civil rights "events" suggest that court decisions, including Brown,
attracted relatively little attention as compared with demonstrations producing confrontation and
violence, such as the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955-1956.’’
Michael J. Klarman, Brown, Racial Change, and the Civil Rights Movement, Virginia Law Review, 80.1 (1994),
p.78
•
‘‘The US civil rights movement did not, however, rebut scepticism about the effectiveness of non-violent
action against dictatorships. Although faced with socially entrenched and violent repression in the South,
African Americans appealed to the US constitution, the Supreme Court, and the President.’’
Doug McAdam, The US Civil Rights Movement: Power from Below and Above 1945-70 in Adam Roberts and
Timothy Garton Ash (eds), Civil Resistance and Power Politics, Oxford University Press 2009
•
‘‘At the national level, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference served as the "decentralized political
arm of the black church" (Morris 1984, 91). The SCLC's mandate was to coordinate nonviolent direct action
activities through churches in various locations and its initial leadership was made up of ministers who led
many of the largest nonviolent actions in Montgomery, Tallahassee, New Orleans, Atlanta, Baton Rouge,
Birmingham, and Nashville.’’
Allison Calhoun-Brown, Upon This Rock: The Black Church, Nonviolence, and the Civil Rights Movement,
Political Science and Politics, 33.2 (2000), p.169
•
‘‘The black church was able to mobilize people for nonviolent action because church membership
provided individuals a frame for receiving the message and meaning of nonviolence.’’
Allison Calhoun-Brown, Upon This Rock: The Black Church, Nonviolence, and the Civil Rights Movement,
Political Science and Politics, 33.2 (2000), p.172
Finding Sources
• Books in libraries – school, public, Sheffield Universities –
Remember that just because a book is not about your specific
subject you may still find useful information to use!
• Google Books/Scholar
• Purchasing Items – Abebooks, Amazon, etc.
• American History Research Wiki http://history.dept.shef.ac.uk/wikiamerica/index.php/Main_Page
• Other internet databases –
• http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/
• http://news.google.co.uk/news/section?cf=all&ned=us&topic=w
&ict=ln&edchanged=1&authuser=0
• Be selective when using sources! Don’t use Wikipedia as a
reference!
Analysing sources
• What type of source is it? What can that tell
us?
• What is it trying to argue/put across?
• What are its limitations?
• What is the significance of it’s date/place?
• Who is it aimed at – audience, viewers etc.?
Essay writing pointers
• Avoid structuring your essay chronologically, as
this can make it overly narrative.
• A good way to approach the essay is thematically
– e.g. economic changes in civil rights of black
Americans, political changes, social changes etc.
• Make sure to address the whole 100 year period!
You are looking at change and continuity – what
changed over the period, what stayed the same?
– and cause and consequence – why did the
changes occur? What happened as a result?
Argument
• A clear and concise argument is crucial to
achieving a high mark in a history essay, have
a clear idea of what yours is before you start
writing!
• Once you have an argument make sure to
sustain it through-out the essay.
• What sources and examples do you have to
back up your argument? How do you dismiss
the counter-argument?
An example argument
• E.g: to the question ‘In the context of 1861 to 1975 to what extent
did war act as a catalyst in advancing black civil rights in America?’
• ‘The Civil War played a large role in advancing black civil rights as it
freed blacks from the bondage of slavery. Brogan has identified that
during the war black slaves were enlisted by the army as labourers
and soldiers… African Americans were formally liberated with the
passing of the 13th Amendment to the constitution in December
1865 which stated… Both of these acts clearly show that black civil
rights had not only been advanced but established for the first time
in the U.S., and that with them came greater…’
• Point
• Evidence
• Explanation
Referencing and bibliography
• Why do we need a reference and
bibliography?
Referencing
• There are a number of ways to reference
materials you have used, one of these is called
the Harvard referencing system.
• Referencing can be tricky when you’re not
used to it. There are a number of sources
online which are useful and worth using.
• This website tells you how to use the system:
http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/harvar
d.htm, as do others.
Referencing in the text
Referencing within the text is the same for all types of secondary
sources – books, articles, websites etc.
You need to put the name of the author of the source you are
using, the date it was published and the page number if needed.
You can put the reference after the information or embed it
within the text.
For example: ‘The black church was able to mobilize people for
nonviolent action because church membership provided
individuals a frame for receiving the message and meaning of
nonviolence.’ (Allison Calhoun-Brown, 2000, p.172). OR
Allison Calhoun-Brown (2000, p.172) states that ‘The black
church was able to mobilize people for nonviolent action
because church membership provided individuals a frame for
receiving the message and meaning of nonviolence.’
For some sources the author will not be an individual but an
organisation, for example, if you are quoting from the BBC
website, you put (BBC, 2012).
Bibliography
• In the bibliography you need to write a list of
all the references you have used in full. The
way to do this differs according to type of
source, e.g. book or website.