Civil Rights Laws 1964-65 Flashcards
The 1964 Civil Rights Act
New powers forces school desegregation.
Government could stop federal funding of state projects that peomoted inequality.
No discrimination in voter registration tests.
Banned discrimination in public spaces and intersate businesses.
Set up EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPURTUNITIES COMMISION to combat work discrimination
The 1965 Voting Rights Act
Johnson introduced a standard voting registration across the USA controlled by the federal government.
States could introduce new voting rules only if the federal government agreed.
Federal officials would take over voter registration in states where less than 50% of those qualified to vote failed to register.
Johnson was heavily influenced by the
Selma Campaign.He saw the march as a turning point against racial prejudicend injustice.
The SCLC and Martin Luther King decided to campaign for
Voting rights in Selma, Alabama.To lend support for Johnson’s 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Some campaigners held protests against voter registration tests while others tried to
Register to vote.Violence broke out with the police and a protestor was killed.
On 7 March 1965 600 people set out to march
54 miles from Selma ,Alabama to Montgomery.To publicise the right of black Americans to vote.State troops stopped the protestors outside selma using tear gas , clubs and cattle prods.The media reported the violence worldwide.
A second attempt to march was on 9 March but it was unsuccessful.A local white group murdered
A white civil rights activist, causing public outrage.President Johnson intervened.He placed Alabama state national guard under federal control and ordering it to give safe passage to the protestors.
The third and final took place on 21- 24 March, with 25,000
Protestors concluding the march from Selma to Montgomery on 25 March.
How did President Kennedy contribute to civil rights law
He selected black people for high level jobs including Thurgood Marshall.
Backed introduction of new civil rights laws after initially being reluctant to support civil rights.
He became commited to the cause after seeing the impact of the civil rights protests and in particular the treatment of protestors in Birmingham 1963.
Sent federal troops to the University of Mississipi to protect James Meredith.
Sent US marshals to escort Freedom Riders nd prefent them from being attacked.
How did President Johnson contribute to civil rights laws ?
Continued to appoint black people to high level jobs.
Supported the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Intervened to escort protestors marching from Selma to Montgomery.
