Civil Rights Movement 1950s - 1960s America Flashcards Preview

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Flashcards in Civil Rights Movement 1950s - 1960s America Deck (28)
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1
Q

Identify five ways black people experienced racism in America in the early 1950s

A
  1. Jim Crow laws in the southern states legalized the segregation of black and white people
  2. Black people were stopped from registering to vote
  3. Inequality in education
  4. Inequality in work places
  5. They were not equal in the eyes of the law
2
Q

What were the name of the laws which legalized segregation in southern America?

A

The Jim Crow laws

3
Q

Which civil rights campaign group challenged the segregation of education in 1954?

A

The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of colored people)

4
Q

What case did the NAACP use to challenge the segregation of education in 1954?

A

The case of Linda Brown. Had to travel several km to school everyday, including crossing a dangerous railway track, instead of attending the nearby white only school. This was know as Brown vs Board of Education

5
Q

What did the supreme court rule in the Brown vs Board case 1954?

A

Chief Justice Earl Warren stated that segregated education was not equal, and against the American Constitution.

6
Q

What did the Chief Justice Earl Warren order to happen after the success of the Brown vs Board case?

A

He ordered the southern states to set up integrated schools

7
Q

Identify two achievements of the Brown vs Board case?

A
  1. Segregated education was ruled unconstitutional

2. Southern states were ordered to integrate schools

8
Q

Identify two failures of Brown vs Board case?

A
  1. Southern states opposed the integration of education

2. By 1968, 58% of black children were still being educated in segregated schools

9
Q

What happened at Little Rock High school in Arkansas in 1957? (Give three stages)

A
  1. In 1957, the Supreme court ordered the Governor of Arkansas, to integrate schools and allow 9 black students
  2. Faubus ordered state troops to prevent the black students from attending the school
  3. President Kennedy sent in federal troops for six weeks to protect the students and ensure they could attend school.
10
Q

When was the Montgomery Bus Boycott?

A

1955 - 1956

11
Q

Who initially decided to challenge the segregation of Montgomery’s buses in 1955?

A

Rosa Parks

12
Q

How did Rosa Parks challenge the segregation of Montgomery’s buses in 1955?

A

She refused to give up her seat to a white man, and was arrested, convicted and taken to court

13
Q

What organisation was formed to help challenge the segregation of buses in Montgomery?

A

Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA)

14
Q

How did the MIA protest against segregated buses in Montgomery?

A

They boycotted the buses (refused to travel on them)

15
Q

Identify two pieces of evidence which suggest the popularity of the MIA’s boycott of buses?

A
  1. Martin Luther King
  2. Integrated buses were shot at
  3. Black churches and homes were set on fire
16
Q

What was the outcome of Rosa Parks’ protest and the Montgomery Bus Boycott?

A

December 1956, the supreme court declared that segregation on buses were unconstitutional

17
Q

Identify an achievement of the Montgomery bus boycott?

A

Supreme court declared that segregation on buses and all transport services was unconstitutional and some bus services in southern states began to be desegregated

18
Q

Identify one failure of the Montgomery Bus Boycott

A

Many US states did not obey the ruling that segregation on transport services was unconstitutional

19
Q

What type of protest did civil rights campaigners use in the early 1960s?

A

Non-violent direct action

20
Q

Which three organisations used non-violent direct action

A
  1. Southern Christian Leadership Conference(SCLC)
  2. Student Non-violent Co-ordinating Committee
  3. Congress of Racial Equality
21
Q

What was the main method of protest used by SNCC

A

Sit-ins

22
Q

Describe the sit-ins organised by SNCC

A

Between February and July 1960, students sat in whites-only seats in restaurants and lunch counters, starting in Woolworth’s restaurant. They refused to leave the restaurants when they were refused service.

23
Q

What were the achievements of SNCC’s sit-ins?

A

By the end of 1960, lunch counters had been desegregated in 126 cities

24
Q

What was the main method of protest used by CORE?

A

Freedom Rides on interstate bus services

25
Q

Describe the Freedom Rides organised CORE

A

CORE aimed to test the supreme court ruling that the segregation of transport was unconstitutional. From May 1961, “freedom riders” rode on buses from northern states to the south, where segregation remained in place in buses and bus station facilities.

26
Q

What were the achievements of CORE’s Freedom Rides?

A
  1. President Kennedy supported the freedom riders, by sending in federal troops to protect them.
  2. In November 1961, a law desegregating interstate travel was financially enforced.
27
Q

How did people respond to the Freedom Rides?

A

When a bus with 13 black and white CORE and SNCC campaigners arrived in Alabama, a white mob attacked and bombed the bus. Police Chief Bull connor did little to protect the activists.

28
Q

What was the main method of protest used by SCLC?

A

Marches to bring publicity to the civil Rights movement and put pressure on the US government to pass a civil Rights Law.