Black Civil Rights Movement P1+3

Question 1

What was Plessy v Ferguson

Answer 1

1896 - Plessy took a seat in the ‘whites only’ on a train and refused to move. He was arrested and convicted for breaking the segregation law.
Prosecution argued that although segregation existed, it was based on “separate but equal”
Judge ruled against Plessy and was faced with either 20 days or a fine

Question 2

De jure segregation

Answer 2

Practises that are legally recognised

Question 3

De facto segregation

Answer 3

Practises that still existed, regardless of whether they were officially recognised

Question 4

What were the Jim Crow Laws

Answer 4

State and local laws that legalised racial segregation
Meant to marginalise African Americans by denying them the right to vote, hold jobs, get an education etc.

Question 5

What violence did African Americans face post 1945

Answer 5

• lynchings, a form of public execution
• bombing, black churches became targets or bombing or burning
• murder, people could be shot dead or beaten for violating Jim Crow Laws
• whippings and beatings

Question 6

What were the political restrictions on African Americans post 1945?

Answer 6

• poll taxes, they had to pay a large sum and pay for all the previous years they could have voted
• literacy and comprehension tests, forced to take difficult tests that measured ability
• citizenship tests, difficult questions on random state laws
• property requirements, required voters to prove they had property worth a set amount
• intimidation, threatened with loss of jobs or violence

Question 7

When was the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People NAACP founded?

Answer 7

1909 in response to black men being held in prison over alleged crimes against white people

Question 8

What were the aims of the NAACP

Answer 8

To advocate and litigate for civil rights for Black Americans
To champion equal rights and eliminate racial prejudice
To advance interest of coloured citizens in regards to voting rights, legal justice and educational/employment abilities

Question 9

What was the Brown v Board of Education 1954

Answer 9

• Oliver brown sided the school board for preventing his daughter from attending a white school
• judge ordered the southern states should set up integrated schools but southern states claimed ‘states rights’

Impact:
- Supreme Court had no date by which desegregation had to be achieved
- NAACP returned and obtained a second law order that integration should be accomplished with speed
- white citizens council was quickly formed to defend segregation
- kkk was revitalised
- 70% of school districts desegregated schools within a year, but in the Deep South, schools remained segregated

Question 10

What happened to Emmett Till

Answer 10

In 1955, he visited his southern relatives and wolf whistled at a white woman
A few days later his mutilated body was found
For the first time, white men were charged with murdering a black male in Mississippi
all white jury verdict was ‘not guilty’

Question 11

What was the Little Rock crisis in 1957

Answer 11

Central High School was the first integrated school with 9 black students to be reported there.
- Arkansas Govenor said he would call in National Guard to from entering the school, the students were not allowed to enter and white mobs formed outside
- Eisenhower ordered the 1200 Soldiers
- governor closed the school after 80% of voters chose to not desegregate the schools in 1958
- in 1959, the schools reopened and the African American students were allowed in

Question 12

What was the significance of the Little Rock nine

Answer 12

• first time desegregation was seen in education, with presidential backing
• but although 9 went into school, only 3 graduated as racism was really common in the school
• full integration in the school happened in 1972
• Supreme Court, cooper v Aaron in 1958 said that any law sought to keep segregation in public schools was unconstitutional

Question 13

What was the Montgomery bus boycott 1955

Answer 13

December 1955 - parks was taking the bus home and a white man was left standing, when ordered to move, she refused and was arrested and charged.

Local Women’s Political Council produced leaflets for a one day boycott on her trial

5th December, boycott started and black residents walked, cycled, carpooled or used taxis to get around
June - federal districts court ruled in favour and said this segregation is unconstitutional

Question 14

Who was Rosa Parks and why was she significant?

Answer 14

She joined the NAACP and became branch secretary, this branch started to challenge the bus segregation laws.

Question 15

How did the NAACP support the Montgomery bus boycott

Answer 15

They didn’t want to be completely involved but provided lawyers and paid the legal costs for it

Question 16

What was the southern Christian leadership conference SCLC

Answer 16

set up in jan 1957 by MLK

Aims; to exploit power of black churches and create mass demonstrations against racial discriminations

Methods
- provided meeting place, network of communications
- prioritised peaceful confrontations and non direct mass action

Question 17

What were the two civil rights acts

Answer 17

1957 Civil Rights Act: aimed to ensure all citizens to exercise the right to vote

1960 Civil Rights Act: made it a federal crime to obstruct court ordered school desegregation and black voting

Question 18

What were sit ins

Answer 18

Demonstrations to enter a business or public place and remain seated until forcibly evicted or answered
By august 1960, 70,000 students joined in with sit ins

The disruption caused by sit ins impacted the economies of those businesses and company profits fell until they had to accept desegregation.
SCLC feared they were being too confrontational and the NAACP was critical and wanted to take legal action

Question 19

What was the student nonviolent coordinating committee SNCC

Answer 19

originated in 1960 by Ella Baker
Baker had steered students to set up an independent organisation and to find bigger targets to fight for
Highly democratic and no dominant leader
There were accusations that SCLC had kept donations meant for SNCC

Question 20

What were the freedom rides?

Answer 20

Founders of Congress of Racial Equality (1941) organised the freedom rides
CORE and SNCC planned to ride in two buses from Washington to New Orleans

-bus was set on fire and attacked by white mobs
- Kkk members beat them ho
- bus drivers refused to drive the buses
- riders were arrested

Impact:
Due to pressure from Kennedy’s justice departments, the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) had power over buses and terminals and they declared an end to racial segregation = passengers were now permitted to sit wherever and “coloured” signs were removed from terminals

Question 21

What was the Albany Movement

Answer 21

Non-violent protests
SNCC and NAACP chose Albany in Georgia because they had resisted desegregation
Hundreds were arrested for trying to desegregate transportation facilities, as well as hotels and restaurants
Campaign was first attempt at desegregating a whole city

Police’s Methods:
- avoid violence which avoids media attention
- arrest large numbers of activists
- when King and Abernathy were arrested, release them quickly so it wasn’t a rallying point
- city agreed to negotiate and desegregate but they didn’t t keep up their side and segregation continued
- government didn’t intervene

Significance: Albany remained to be a segregated state and focused on white supremacy, and police stations learnt new opposition tactics
Within a year, the city was largely segregated and registration drives had increased African Americans electorate

Question 22

What was project Birmingham

Answer 22

Birmingham was chosen as there was high divisions between populations
King thought Birmingham was the worst city for racism and it was likely to produce opposition that won public sympathy

Aim: desegregate businesses and force them to employ black workers and to integrate their facilities for customers. They aimed for a peaceful march to disrupt traffic and boycott of city stores

• king was arrested and kept in solitary confinement

Children Crusade: 1963
- hundreds of school children gathered at a church where they watched the sit ins and the organisers thought school students should take place of the elders

Significance

• inspired many sit ins and demonstrations
• 5o southern cities agreed to desegregate in order to avoid chaos
• crucial in persuading Kennedy to push the 1964 Civil Rights Act

Question 23

What was the March on Washington

Answer 23

Masterminded by Phillip Randolph

Aim: to encourage passage of civil rights bill and actions to increase black employment]
Groups: all, organisers tried to attract as many Shute people as possible, Protestant ministers, catholic priests, Jewish rabbis

Significance:
- quarter of a million people arrived for the protest = biggest demonstration in US History
- all main civil rights leaders spoke, first time all civil rights leaders collaborated on a task
- Americans saw MLK as a leader of civil rights movement

Question 24

Who was Medgar Evens

Answer 24

WW2 veteran who was prevented from registering to vote by a white mob
Worked for NAACP investigating violent crimes and campaigning for desegregation and voter registeration
In the late 50s, he organised voter registeration drives]
He was assassinated after JFK spoke on 11 June 1963

Significance; shows that little steps of activism had a large impact on the movement

Question 25

What was the SNCC campaign in Mississippi 1961-3

Answer 25

NAACP invited SNCC to recruit and sent volunteers
They would love alongside poor rural blacks, developing local leaders
Organised literacy classes to help pass the literacy tests it vote
SNCC appealed to federal government to intervene

Question 26

What was Freedom Summer 1964

Answer 26

SNCC called for hundreds of students to come to Mississippi to teach in schools
They would receive training
White Knights and KKK responded by burning black churches and beating civil rights workers
From the 17,000 African Americans who attempted to register, only 1600 applications were accepted by local authorities

Question 27

What was Mississippi Burning 1964

Answer 27

CORE activists and student volunteers were arrested for speeding, the KKK followed them and they were never seen again.

Johnson organised the FBI to investigate after a public outcry which was named mississipppi burning

The state refused to prosecute although 19 were implicated in the murders

1967: 7 people were convicted and this marked the first time a Mississippi jury had convicted klansmen in connection with a death of a black man

Question 28

How was the civil rights bill of 1964 passed

Answer 28

Kennedy introduced the bill to congress in 63 but it remained stuck when he died

Johnson remained convinced that the bill would help the economic and political reintegration of the south within the nation
“And when Americans are sent to Vietnam or West Berlin we do not ask for whites only”

• NAACP, trade unionists and churches lobbied Congress
• Johnson won over a few southerners by appealing to their interests to get blacks and Hispanic workers working for him
• by jan 64, 68% of us citizens favoured it
• Johnson accepted Republican Leaders Dirksen’s changes as long as they didn’t weaken it

Question 29

What happened in Selma

Answer 29

• little changed in Selma, Alabama after the act
• local black activists feared the SCLC would come into town and leave too soon
• king led potential voters to register and they were faced with hostility and brutality
• SNCC criticised SCLC as leaving behind cities that left tben worse off

Significance: showed there were still remaining issues in the south and there were tensions between the groups

Question 30

What was the voting act of 1965

Answer 30

John Lewis - ‘the act was as momentous as the emancipation proclamation’

the law automatically suspended use of literacy and other tests for voting
60% of Selma’s black population was now registered to vote
Huge increase in number of blacks elected to public office across the USA

Question 31

Truman’s role in the civil rights movement

Answer 31

+ desegregation of the military 1948
+ establishment of president’s committee on civil rights, examined issues of civil rights 1946
+ fair employment practises comission FEPC, executive order to promoted fair employment practises
+ supported anti lynching laws and advocated for elimination of poll taxes

• faced strong opposition from southern democrats
• prioritised national security and economic stability
• getting legislation through was challenging

Question 32

Eisenhower’s role on civil rights movement

Answer 32

+ publicly endorsed ruling of Brown v Board and ordered federal an=fondues to begin desegregating facilities 1954
+ dispatched troops to ensure safe entry of Little Rock Nine in 1957
+ signed civil rights bill which aimed to protect the voting rights of African Americans 1957

• opposition from southern democrats
• concerned about preserving party unity
• influenced by state rights

Question 33

What was Kennedy’s role in the civil rights movement

Answer 33

+ appointed African Americans to key positions, such as Thurgood Marshall as a federal judge
+ civil rights 1963, proposed civil rights to end segregation in public facilities, equal access to education and strengthen voting rights
+ allowed Alabama National Guare to intervene when they tried to block the court ordered desegregation of the uni
+ when James Meredith was rejected from uni of Mississippi based on race, he ordered us marshals to ensure his enrolment

• fear of social unrest in south
• faced domestic and international challenges at the same time, such as Cuban missile crisis
• divided congress
• assassinated

Question 34

What was Johnson’s role in the civil rights movement

Answer 34

+ civil rights act 1964, landmark legislation that aimed to end segregation in public places, as well as desegregation of schools
+ voting rights act 1965, eliminated barriers to voting, stopped literacy tests
+ war on poverty programs, aimed at addressing economic inequality
+ the kerner commission in 1967, investigated causes of riots, examining factors such as police practises and poverty

• southern opposition
• not all American population were behind the cause
• presidency was coincided with Vietnam war

Question 35

what was Nixon’s role in the civil rights movement?

Answer 35

+ supported affirmative section to address discrimination, especially in employment
+ philadelphia plan 1969: program for constructio trade unions, aimed to increase employment of minority workers
+education iniatives: signed education amendments of 1972 which banned sex based discrimination in education programs

• southern resistance
• prioritising issues such as Vietnam War

Question 36

What was Johnson’s role in the civil rights movement

Answer 36

+ civil rights act 1964, landmark legislation that aimed to end segregation in public places, as well as desegregation of schools
+ voting rights act 1965, eliminated barriers to voting, stopped literacy tests
+ war on poverty programs, aimed at addressing economic inequality
+ the kerner commission in 1967, investigated causes of riots, examining factors such as police practises and poverty

• southern opposition
• not all American population were behind the cause
• presidency was coincided with Vietnam war