Civil Rights Movement
Definitions
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Civil Disobedience-Refusal to obey civil laws in
an effort to induce change in governmental
policy or legislation, characterized by the use of
passive resistance or other nonviolent means.
Non-violent resistance-Not passive, but behaving
in a non-violent manner when approached or
provoked
Segregation-to separate people according to
race
Amendments
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13th-Abolished slavery
14th-guaranteed all citizens equal
protection under the law
15th-right to vote regardless of race
Plessy v. Ferguson
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Plessy v. Ferguson: In June of 1892 Homer Plessy was
jailed for sitting in the “white” car of the East Louisiana
Railroad Company after identifying himself as black, in
response to Louisiana passing the Separate Car Act
Plessy’s case went all the way to the Supreme Court,
where his lawyer argued that separate cars violated the
13th and 14th amendments
The Plessy v. Ferguson case stated that separate but
equal public facilities were constitutional
Jim Crow laws were enforced
NAACP
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National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People
Created by W.E.B. Dubois in 1909
Fights for equality
Brown v. Board of Education
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Seven year old Linda Brown
has to travel thru a train
switch yard to get to the
bus stop to take her to the
“black” school, even though
there was a “white” school
only a few blocks from her
house
With help from the NAACP,
Linda’s father fights the
system
Landmark case that decided
that segregation in public
schools is illegal-May 17,
1954
Thurgood Marshall
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Lawyer who fought
for Linda Brown
First African American
Supreme Court
Justice
Martin Luther King Jr.
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Southern Baptist minister
who promoted nonviolent methods of
protest
Was arrested 38 times in
his quest for equality
Constant death threats,
as well as bomb threats
at his home
Was assassinated at age
38
Marches
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People marched in protest over many of
the issues faced by African Americans
Police used dogs to quell civil unrest
Fire hoses were turned on young civil
rights demonstrators
March on Washington 1963
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This was a peaceful
demonstration to
promote Civil Rights
and economic equality
for African Americans
March on Washington 1963
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The event was
highlighted by King's
"I Have a Dream"
speech in front of the
Lincoln Memorial.
August 28, 1963
Civil Rights Act of 1964
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New law that made it illegal for restaurants,
hotels, hospitals, and other public places to
discriminate against people on the basis of race
Other new laws made it illegal to deny equal
housing opportunities, and to charge a poll tax
or otherwise keep minorities from voting (24th
amendment to the U.S. Constitution)
Pushed through by Lyndon Baines Johnson