Chapter 27
The Civil Rights Movement
1945-1975
“What were the causes, main
events, and effects of the civil
rights movement?”
Early Demands for Equality
Section 1
“How did African Americans
challenge segregation after WWII?”
 Vocabulary:

-de jure segregation
-de facto segregation
-Civil Rights Act of 1957
-Montgomery bus boycott
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
-Brown v. Board of Education
Earl Warren
Rosa Parks
Thurgood Marshall
Standards

SSUSH22

The student will identify dimensions of the Civil Rights movement 19451970.

SSUSH22.a

Explain the importance of President Truman's order to integrate the U.S.
military and the federal government.

SSUSH22.b

Identify Jackie Robinson and the integration of baseball.

SSUSH22.c

Explain Brown v. Board of Education and efforts to resist the decision.

SSUSH22.d

Describe the significance of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from a
Birmingham Jail and his I have a dream speech.

SSUSH22.e

Describe the causes and consequences of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and
the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Early Demands for Equality
Segregation Divides America
Main Idea: African Americans suffered many forms of discrimination, including
segregation that separated blacks and whites in hospitals, schools, restaurants and
other areas of public life. In the 1940s, new efforts arose to fight these injustices,
but they had limited success.
Brown v. Board of Education
Main Idea: The NAACP pushed to end segregation in schools and finally had major
success with the case Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka Kansas.
Federal and State Governments Clash
Main Idea: When the governor of Arkansas tried to prevent African Americans from
attending a previously all-white school, Eisenhower sent Federal troops to enforce
the law and protect the students.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott
Main Idea: After Rosa Parks violated a Montgomery law by refusing to give up her
bus seat to a white passenger, she was arrested, which ultimately led to a yearlong bus boycott by African Americans.
NOTE TAKING
Reading Skill: Summarize
Segregation Divides America
Jim Crow Laws limit African Americans
-de jure segregation: segregation imposed
by law
-Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896: ruled segregation
was constitutional as long as facilities
were equal
 Segregation prevails around the nation
-de facto segregation: segregation by
tradition, resulted in discrimination in
housing and jobs

Civil Rights Movement Grows

World War II was the beginning of the
civil rights movement
-FDR banned discrimination in the
defense industry
-James Farmer founded the Congress of
Racial Equality (CORE); advocated nonviolent methods to gain civil rights
-Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn
Dodgers in 1947
-President Truman desegregated the
military
The Struggle for Equality




Truman supported
civil rights
Congress refused to
act
Truman ended
discrimination in
hiring federal
employees
Truman ordered an
end to segregation in
the armed forces

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
Jackie Robinson – first
African American in pro
baseball
Played for the Brooklyn
Dodgers
1947, league’s most
valuable player
Opened the way for
other African American
athletes
James Farmer
Brown v. Board of Education



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1954, NAACP challenged the “separate
but equal” principle
Thurgood Marshall headed the legal team
Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote decision,
which was unanimous
“Southern Manifesto” Congressmen
opposed to Brown
Ku Klux Klan staged a revival
Federal and State
Governments Clash

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Conflict erupts in Little Rock, Arkansas
Central High School; nine African
American students volunteered to enroll
Governor Orval Faubus called out the
National Guard to block the students
President Eisenhower sent federal troops
to Little Rock to enforce the Court’s
decision
Civil Rights Act of 1957: U.S. Civil Rights
Commission (law lacked teeth)
Little Rock



1957 Central High
School in Little Rock,
Arkansas
Governor Orval Faubus
posted National Guard
to keep African
American student out
Eisenhower sent
soldiers to protect the
nine students
Montgomery Bus Boycott

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
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In 1955 Rosa Parks
refused to give up her
seat to a white man
Boycott – African
Americans did not ride
the but system until
segregation on buses
changed
Martin Luther King, Jr.
became spokesperson
Supreme Court ruled
bus segregation illegal
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Ministers Form SCLC



Montgomery bus
boycott showed the
power of unity
Elevated King and
nonviolence
King and Ralph
Abernathy
established the
Southern Christian
Leadership
Conference
TRANSPARENCY
Working Toward Equal Rights
INFOGRAPHIC
King’s Philosophy of Nonviolent Protest
PM
TRANSPARENCY
Progress Monitoring Transparency
The Movement Gains Grown
Section 2

How did the civil rights movement
gain ground?

Vocabulary:
-sit-in
Medgar Evers
-SNCC
March on Washington
-freedom ride
filibuster
-James Meredith
-Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Movement Gains Ground
Student Activists Make a Difference
Main Idea: Young African Americans who were frustrated with the lack of progress used nonviolent protests to fight continuing segregation in the 1960s.
Riding for Freedom
Main Idea: After a Supreme Court ruling that segregation on interstate buses was illegal, civil
rights activists planned a “freedom ride” to force the federal government to enforce the decision.
Protests and Confrontations Intensify
Main Idea: Protesters who continued to fight against racial discrimination were often the targets
of violence, but they convinced President Kennedy to propose new civil rights legislation.
The Movement Marches on Washington
Main Idea: Thousands of civil rights supporters participated in the March on Washington to
pressure Congress to pass a new civil rights bill.
Congress Passes the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Main Idea: When Johnson became President, he pushed to get the Civil Rights Act passed,
banning segregation in public places, outlawing discrimination in employment, and taking many
other steps in improving civil rights.
Sit-Ins
1943, Jack Spratt
Coffee House in
Chicago; used by
CORE
 1960, four students
from NC A&T sat at
Woolworth’s
counter in
Greensboro, NC

SNCC Promotes Nonviolent
Protest
Sit-ins marked new militancy
 Ella Baker helped organize the Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
(SNCC)
 Goal to create a grass-roots movement
to involve all classes of African Americans
to attain equality

Freedom Rides

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
Boynton v. Virginia 1960,
integrated bus waiting
rooms and restaurants
1961, bus left
Washington, D.C.;
Anniston, AL, bus
attacked and
firebombed; riders were
beaten
Resulted in
desegregation of all
transportation
INFOGRAPHIC
Riding for Freedom
Integration at “Ole Miss”
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James Meredith, Air Force veteran
Supreme Court upheld Meredith’s
admission to University of Mississippi
Governor Ross Barnett blocked the way
to the admissions office
Violence erupted; two killed with
hundreds hurt
President Kennedy sent army troops to
restore order and marshals escorted him
to class
James Meredith
Birmingham Jail
Martin Luther King, Jr. held protest marches and
sit-ins
 Charged with parading without a permit, “Bull”
Conner, the police commissioner, arrested King
and other demonstrators
 King was released after a week and adds children
to the marchers; Connor arrested more than
900 children
 Police use high-pressure fire hoses and dogs
 TV coverage focused attention on protesters
 City facilities are desegregated

“Bull” Connor
Kennedy on Civil Rights
Persuaded Georgia judge to release King on bail,
resulting in increasing African American vote in
1960 election
 Embarrassed by world’s response to Freedom
Rides in 1961
 Proposed civil rights bill, but southern
segregationists in Congress kept it from coming
up for a vote

March on Washington
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August 1963; organized
by A. Philip Randolph
Many leaders and
celebrities took part
Speech by Martin
Luther King, Jr.
“I have a dream…”,
page 832
TRANSPARENCY
The March on Washington
NOTE TAKING
Reading Skill: Summarize
Johnson on Civil Rights

Civil Rights Act of 1964:
(1)Banned use of different voter registration
standards
(2)Prohibited discrimination in public areas
(3)Allowed the withholding of federal funds
(4)Banned discrimination on the basis of race,
sex, religion, or national origin
(5)Created the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC) to investigate charges of
job discrimination
Anne Moody
College student from Centreville, Mississippi
 Joined NAACP, CORE, and SNCC
 Brother beaten and nearly lynched
 Told to never return home, but continued to
protest
 Wrote Coming of Age in Mississippi
 Left South to move to North; she felt that things
remained the same in Mississippi, regardless of
the protests

PM
TRANSPARENCY
Progress Monitoring Transparency
New Successes and Challenges
Section 3

“What successes and challenges
faced the civil rights movement
after 1964?”

Vocabulary:
-Freedom Summer
Kerner Commission
-Fannie Lou Hamer
Malcolm X
-Voting Rights Act
Nation of Islam
-black power
Black Panthers
-Twenty-fourth Amendment
New Successes and Challenges
The Push for Voting Rights
Main Idea: Many African Americans were still not registered to vote, and growing protests led to
new legislation to guarantee voting rights.
Frustration Explodes Into Violence
Main Idea: In urban areas, frustration over continuing discrimination turned to anger and violent
racial riots.
New Voices for African Americans
Main Idea: During the mid-1960s radical African Americans such as Malcolm X and the Black
Panthers offered new methods of responding to discrimination.
Martin Luther King’s Final Days
Main Idea: Martin Luther King continued to believe in non-violent protest and fought what he
thought were injustices until his assassination in 1968.
Significant Gains and Controversial Issues
Main Idea: By the end of the 1960s, steps had been made to end segregation and raise the
incomes and education levels of African Americans, but controversy continued to exist over
racial issues.
Continued…
NOTE TAKING
Reading Skill: Summarize
Freedom Summer - 1964
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Voter registration drive in Mississippi
A thousand volunteers came to register
African Americans to vote
Three men were reported missing and
found buried in an earthen dam
Each had been beaten to death
80 mob attacks (KKK)
Churches and homes burned
Selma March 1965
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Federal officials could register voters in
places where local officials were blocking
registration by African Americans
 Effectively eliminated literacy tests and
other barriers
 400,000 African Americans registered to
vote in the Deep South

CHART
African American Voter Registration
Twenty-fourth Amendment
Ratified in 1964
 Barred the use of
the poll tax in
federal elections

Racial Violence
Riot in Watts in
Los Angles
 Riots in Newark,
NJ and Detroit, MI,
summer of 1967
 Kerner
Commission longterm racial
discrimination led
to riots

Riots
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De jure segregation:
created by law
De facto segregation:
caused by social
conditions
Rochester, NY; New
York City; New Jersey;
Los Angeles (Watts)
Kerner Commission
investigated the riots
TRANSPARENCY
Urban Riots
Malcolm X
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
Malcolm Little, jailed for
seven years; joined the
Nation of Islam or Black
Muslims, which
preached black
separation and self-help
Formed Muslim
Mosque, Inc.
Trip to Saudi Arabia
changed his mind; killed
by Nation of Islam
members
Black Power Movement
Stokely Carmichael, came to the U.S. at
age 11
 Rose in SNCC leadership and tired of
nonviolent protest
 His motto was “We Shall Overrun”

Black Panthers
Militant political party formed by Bobby
Seale and Huey Newton
 Wanted the government to rebuild the
ghettos
 Motto: “Power flows from the barrel of a
gun.”(Mao Zedong)
 Set up day-care centers and breakfast
programs

Bobby Seale
Huey Newton
James Baldwin
Wrote The Fire Next
Time, describing the
oppression and
suffering of African
Americans
 Supported the civil
rights movement

John Lewis
Martin Luther King’s Final Days
Planned a “Poor People’s
Campaign”
 Memphis,TN, April 1968
 “Like anybody, I would like to live a
long life. But I’m not concerned
about that now. I just want to do
God’s will.”
 Killed April 4, 1968

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Gains and Controversy
Eliminated de jure segregation, opening
up voting and political participation for
African Americans
 Poverty rates fell
 Attempts to increase economic
opportunities and to integrate
neighborhoods and schools were less
successful
 Affirmative action: close the economic
gap; still controversial

TRANSPARENCY
The Lamp
QUICK STUDY
Effects of the Civil Rights Movement
PM
TRANSPARENCY
Progress Monitoring Transparency