Civil Rights Assessment November 2023

Question 1

What was the USA like at the end of WW1?

Answer 1

A multi-ethnic society – the ‘open door policy’ meant that anyone could live there.

Question 2

What was the goal with early 1900s America?

Answer 2

They wanted lots of people to come into America, bringing different cultures together to create a new person, an American.

Question 3

Why did people want to come to America?

Answer 3

There may have been unemployment, depressions and famines in their own countries, and saw America as a land of freedom and opportunity.

Question 4

What is/was the American Dream?

Answer 4

The American dream means the opportunity for anyone, regardless of their background, to become successful if they work hard.

Question 5

Where did the “first-wave immigrants” come from?

Answer 5

Britain, Ireland, Germany and Scandinavia.

Question 6

Where did the “second-wave immigrants” come from?

Answer 6

Poland, Italy and Russia.

Question 7

What were WASPs?

Answer 7

WASPs were first-wave immigrants who thought they were the big dogs. They did not like the newer immigrants coming from poorer countries.

Question 8

What happened to the USAs “open door policy” in the 1920s?

Answer 8

It started closing and immigration policies started getting more racist.

Question 9

What was Ellis Island?

Answer 9

The Immigration Registration and Inspection office in New York from 1892-1954.

Question 10

What are three reasons why attitudes to immigration changed after 1918?

Answer 10

● Many Americans feared revolution, due to Communism spreading.

● Immigrants were blamed for strikes, due to the large numbers of strikes in the US from immigrant workers.

● Many Americans feared that more immigrants
would make jobs and houses even harder to
come by.

Question 11

How were Black Americans viewed in the South?

Answer 11

They were treated as second-class citizens and were paid lower wages than white workers doing the same job.

Question 12

What problems did immigrants face when coming to the US? In other words, what was the “American Reality?”

Answer 12

They faced problems such as:
Disease
Unemployment
Discrimination
Slum Housing

Question 13

What were Jim Crow Laws?

Answer 13

The effect of the Jim Crow laws was to create a segregated society. White people said that Jim Crow laws were made to keep Black and White people apart and that segregation just meant they would have ‘Separate but Equal’ facilities.

Question 14

What did the “Separate but Equal” facilities include?

Answer 14

Segregation in trains and buses, and also things like hotels and schools.

Question 15

Why couldn’t Black people vote?

Answer 15

In some states people had to pay a poll tax, which most Black Americans couldn’t afford.
In other states, Black men had to take literacy tests which usually meant reading out a difficult document in front of a white listener.

Question 16

What was the Double V campaign?

Answer 16

Double V meant Victory in the war AND Victory for Civil rights
back home. Black people wanted change in their home country after serving in the war.

Question 17

What is the KKK?

Answer 17

The Ku Klux Klan was a racist organisation that started in the deep south at the end of the American Civil War.

Question 18

What were the rules of KKK membership?

Answer 18

They had to be native-born Americans, white, protestant males.
No black Americans, Catholics or Jews were allowed to join.
Klansmen wore robes and masks topped with pointed hoods.

Question 19

What did the KKK do?

Answer 19

Burned crosses near the homes of people they wished to frighten.
Victims might be kidnapped, whipped, mutilated or murdered.
Held marches and rallies.
Lynched Black Americans.

Question 20

What was MLK’s goal with his non-violent protests?

Answer 20

To give the campaign publicity to increase the pressure for more change.

Question 21

What caused the Montgomery Bus Boycott?

Answer 21

It was caused by a woman called Rosa Parks refusing to give up her bus seat for a white passenger. Parks was subsequently arrested for this.

Question 22

What was the Montgomery Bus Boycott?

Answer 22

Black people refused to ride buses. Instead, they shared cars with one another. This hurt the bus companies, as black people made up 60-70% of their customers. This lasted over a year.

Question 23

What was the effect of the Bus Boycott?

Answer 23

The courts decided to desegregate Montgomery’s buses in December 1965. This showed Black Americans in the South what could be achieved by organised protests.

Question 24

What happened when schools were desegregated in 1954?

Answer 24

They were met by furious White racist mobs. The mobs, along with Ku Klux Klan members, attacked Black students. This meant not one Black child attended a “White” school, despite them being desegregated.

Question 25

Who was Elizabeth Eckford?

Answer 25

The first Black student who tried to get into Central
High school. She was met with angry violence from White protesters.

Question 26

What did the President do about the school situation?

Answer 26

He sent 1000 US soldiers to protect the Black children on their way to school. The soldiers patrolled the school corridors to make sure the children were safe, for a year. These events attracted worldwide attention to the Civil Rights movement.

Question 27

How did the Sit-Ins start?

Answer 27

It started when four black students sat at the ‘White-Only’ lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. They did not move when asked. The next day they returned with other black and white students, where they sat there all day despite insults.

Question 28

What happened with the Sit-Ins?

Answer 28

Non-violent protest was met by White violence, and TV viewers saw peaceful students being insulted, beaten and dragged off to jail. This got the Sit-Ins publicity.

Question 29

What was the effect of the Sit-Ins?

Answer 29

The jails reached bursting point, and Restaurants and cafes across the South could not afford this bad publicity and loss of business. By summer 1960 there were almost no more segregated lunch counters in the South.

Question 30

What was the plan of the Freedom Rides?

Answer 30

To see if the ban on segregation in restrooms, waiting rooms and restaurants was actually enforced. They rode from Washington to New Orleans to use white-only facilities at stopping points.

Question 31

What happened when the Freedom Rides reached the South?

Answer 31

The KKK was waiting for them. Buses were stopped and burned and the students were attacked and beaten up. This drew national attention and made northern White Americans more sympathetic towards the Civil Rights cause.

Question 32

What was the effect of the Freedom Rides?

Answer 32

In the face of national publicity and pressure to change, the government ordered the end of segregation in airports, rail and bus stations.

Question 33

Why did MLK target Birmingham as their next protest?

Answer 33

Birmingham was a very racist town, with very racist leaders. The Civil rights leaders knew that if they could lead a successful demonstration then they might spark big changes across the South.

Question 34

What happened in Birmingham?

Answer 34

They used schoolchildren for the march. This peaceful protest was met with fire hoses, billy clubs and dogs. America watched in horror as school-aged children were savagely beaten and bitten.

Question 35

What was the result of the Birmingham march?

Answer 35

The bad publicity that Birmingham was getting on national
television was likely to damage local businesses. Restrooms, lunch counters and meeting rooms were then desegregated.

Question 36

What was the March on Washington?

Answer 36

It was when almost 250,000 people gathered beside the Lincoln Memorial. The March achieved brilliant publicity as 4 national channels carried the event live. It was there MLK delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech.

Question 37

What did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 do?

Answer 37

Disallow segregation in
Public places (hotels, restaurants etc)
Schools, museums and hospitals
Employment

Question 38

What were the problems of the Civil Rights Act?

Answer 38

It did nothing to solve discrimination in housing, or give Black
Americans a fair vote, and didn’t end fear or discrimination. The Klan were still terrorising Black people.

Question 39

What was the goal of Selma, Alabama?

Answer 39

The goal was to paint white violence as in the wrong, and attract publicity to give Black people the vote.

Question 40

What did the Voting Rights Act of 1965 do?

Answer 40

It gave the vote to an additional 250,000 black people. Within 3 years most of the black population were registered to vote.

Question 41

What were the problems Black people faced in the ghettos?

Answer 41

Bad housing
High rents
Unemployment,
Hunger

Question 42

Who was Malcom X?

Answer 42

He was The Nation of Islam’s most effective speaker. He wanted a separate nation for Black Americans only because he was tired of waiting on White authority to change things.

Question 43

Who was Stokely Carmichael?

Answer 43

He was a leader who used the “Black Power” slogan. He wanted stronger action against violence and Black people to have their own separate communities and businesses.

Question 44

Who were the Black Panthers?

Answer 44

They were a party who supported the use of violence to
force change.

Question 45

What are some slogans used by the Black Panther Party?

Answer 45

Burn baby Burn!
I’m Black and I’m Proud!
Black Power!

Question 46

What did the Black Panthers do?

Answer 46

Provide free breakfast and health clinics.
Demanding freedom, better housing and releasing Black people from prison.