 starter activity
Watch the clip of Barack Obama giving his acceptance speech after the US
elections in 2008. His victory was described as a ‘monumental event in US
history’ by one commentator. Why was this so?
What rights did Black
people in America have
 Aims
by 1945?
Provide an outline of the course
Identify the social & political condition of
black Americans & ethnic minorities in 1st
half of C20th
Course outline
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Background to Civil Rights Campaign
Campaign for Civil Rights (1945-57): impact of
WWII; NAACP; legal landmarks, e.g. Brown
Case
Campaign for Civil Rights (1957-68): aims &
methods; Black nationalism & Black Power;
MLK & Malcolm X
Role of federal govt: role of President; Civil
Rights Acts
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Factors for change: social reforms; protest
culture
Resistance & obstacles to change: State racism;
KKK; poverty cycle
Review: nature & extent of discrimination &
change by 1968
 Your task

Your teacher will give you some questions on
the background to the civil rights movement.
Read the appropriate sections of your text book
and complete the answers.
Booker T Washington
WEB Du Bois
Marcus Garvey
KKK
Abolition
of slavery
Tuskegee
Airmen
Sharecroppers
Supreme court
What do the following images refer to with regard to your background reading?
 Your task
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Read Sanders, p.32-6.
What were the effects of migration and living
together?
What evidence is there of activism in this early
period?
How effective was federal intervention?
What has this picture got to do with the Civil Rights campaign?
 Your task

Compare the conditions of blacks living in the South
with those in the North. Sanders, p.37-42; Paterson
109-110
North
Social
Economic
Legal
South
 Your task

Read Sanders p.42-3 & Paterson p.108-109 and
list evidence for and against the idea the civil
rights movement was active before 1945.
Thurgood Marshall. Civil rights lawyer & early
black activist
Evidence of existence of Civil
Rights before 1945
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Impact of New Deal, i.e. way black communities
discriminated against
Local studies of community actions, e.g.
Fairclough on Louisiana examined pre-King
TUs, schools, teachers, NAACP
Key individuals, e.g. A Philip Randolph &
Thurgood Marshall
Early activism played down during Cold War era
Evidence against Civil Rights before
1945
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Soldiers politicised by experiences of War, i.e.
fight against fascism
Historic focus on role of MLK
Key test cases, e.g. Rosa Parks, sit-ins & bus
boycotts
Leading historians, e.g. Fairclough, argue earlier
developments did not have same impact as later
ones
 Your task

Conduct a SWOT analysis of the Civil Rights
movement in 1945. Remember:
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
 Plenary
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How well organised was the civil rights
movement in America in 1945?
What were the major threats to its survival?
What would help the movement gather
strength?