The Civil Rights Movement
(1950s—1970s)
The Turning Wheel
• Each group starts with a poster with a term,
person, or phrase at the top.
• You have about 1 min and 30 sec for the group to
write down anything you know about the
term/person/phrase
• When time is up, pass the poster to another
group who will add to the poster (NO REPEATS)
• After several rounds, the poster should be given
back to the original group who should CIRCLE the
THREE best statements.
• Post on board, copy, discuss.
Topics
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The Civil Rights Movement
Rosa Parks
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Problems facing African-Americans in the U.S.
Other minority groups and problems
Leaders of the Civil Rights Movement
Conditions for Blacks in the South
• Civil Rights Act of 1875—Congress passed a
law that barred segregationoverturned by
the Supreme Court in 1883
• 1880s—Jim Crow Laws—laws passed by
Southern states enforcing segregation in every
public place
– Af-Ams were reduced to second class citizens
– Lynchings were frequent
• 1890—Mississippi Plan—
imposed literacy tests and
poll taxes to disenfranchise
blacks from voting—done
throughout the South
• De jure segregation—
imposed by law (South)
• De facto segregation—
imposed by unwritten
custom (North)
• 1896: Plessy v. FergusonSup. Court
declared that laws requiring blacks to use
separate washrooms, schools, and railroad
cars did not violate the 14th amendment
• “Separate but equal” became law of the land
• 14th Amendment (1868) All people born or
naturalized in the U.S. are citizens and shall
receive full rights/protection under the law.
The Movement Begins
• Why would the Civil Rights Movement begin
after WWII?
• Many African Americans served in combat and
worked in the defense industries at home
• 1947 President Truman issued an executive
order desegregating the military and defense
industries
Origins of the Movement
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NAACP
Great Migration and effects
CORE
Thurgood Marshall
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
• Declared segregation in public schools
unconstitutional
• Stated that separate public educational facilities
were “inherently unequal”
• Brown II (1955) established guidelines and
timetable for desegregation
• What amendment
did the case
challenge?
– 14th
Amendment”equa
l protection clause”
• Who was the Chief
Justice?
– Earl Warren believed
black education was
nonexistent
HW: The Southern Manifesto
• Read the primary source
• Answer #1-6
• Evaluate the argument of the Southern
Manifesto. Do they have a valid standpoint?
Why or why not?
“Massive Resistance”
• Some schools integrated quickly, but many
protested
• 1956—The Southern Manifesto was signed by
101 southern members of Congress protesting
Brown decision
– Claimed no mention of education in Constitution
• Southern governors, mayor, local school
boards and the White Citizens’ Councils
worked to obstruct desegregation
• By 1957, only 684 of 3,000 school districts in
the South began to desegregate
Hernandez v. Texas
• Same month as Brown
• Supreme Court case involving MexicanAmericans
• Court ended exclusion of Mex-Ams from trial
juries
• 14th Amendment includes all citizens
The South Reacts to Brown
• 1956—101 members of Congress signed the
Southern Manifesto on Integration
• Opposed the Brown decisionclaimed
Constitution makes no mention of education
• accused the Supreme Court of "clear abuse of
judicial power."
• Claimed the Brown decision was creating
chaos and ruining the relations between
whites and blacks
Flashback Q
• What 1896 court case enforced “separate but
equal” for white and black public facilities?
• What was the result of Brown v. Board of
Education in 1954?