Civil Rights Protests 1960-74

Question 1

Sit-ins events - 1960

Answer 1

• February 1, 1960, four African American student in North Carolina sat at a whites-only lunch counter, they were asked to leave however the students remained seated until the shop closed and returned the day after to do it again, but were joined by another 25 students, February 3rd it was another 80 and February 4th it was 300
• This spread throughout North Carolina and finally in towns all over the South, over 70,000 people took part in sit-in events

Question 2

Sit-ins responses - 1960

Answer 2

• Received much abuse, were insulted, spat at, had food and drink thrown at them and even physically attacked, however the protestors didn’t respond
• Thousands were arrested, which led to a tactic of ‘jail not bail’, so some jails became overcrowded, this attracted media attention which helped the sit-ins spread and support grew for their causes

Question 3

Sit-ins significance - 1960

Answer 3

• Successful, businesses affected by them, less food was sold. Some areas had desegregated eating facilities
• More visible than boycotts as a form of protest, generated huge publicity and the sight of young African Americans being attacked without reacting attracted sympathy, even President Eisenhower showed his concern
• Sit-ins truly the first mass protest as huge numbers of people took part in them across the country
• Student based , led to organisation of the SNCC - Student Non-Violent Co-ordinating Committee

Question 4

Civil Rights Groups

Answer 4

• NAACP - National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People
• CORE - Congress Of Racial Equality
• SCLC - South Christian Leadership Council
• MIA - Montgomery Improvement Association
• SNCC - Student Nonviolent Co-ordinating Committee

Question 5

Freedom Riders causes & events - started 1960

Answer 5

• December 1960, Supreme Court ordered for desegregation in state transport
• CORE (Congress Of Racial Equality) planned ‘freedom rides’ in 1961 to show that the rulings were not always followed, CORE aimed to provoke a violent reaction that would generate huge publicity

Question 6

Freedom Riders - Anniston Fire Bombing - 1961

Answer 6

• Bus arrived at a bus station in Anniston
• Police escorted the bus to outside the city and left it to the angry mob that had followed them
• As a fire spread to the the petrol tank, the white mob left the bus, fearing an explosion
• Second bus was also attacked its passengers being dragged off the bus an beaten

Question 7

Significance of Freedom Riders

Answer 7

• Achieve their aim, the continuing violence attracted huge media attention
• Threatened to send US marshals to enforce desegregation in transport and it worked, the threat was enough and the states began to integrate bus facilities

Question 8

James Meredith causes & events - 1961-1962

Answer 8

• James Meredith applied for a place at Ole Miss University and was rejected, the NAACP helped him take the case to court and in June 1962 Ole Miss was ordered by Supreme Court to admit him, and they refused
• Governor of Mississippi came out and said ‘no school will be integrated in Mississippi’
• Ole Miss then refused again saying he had been accused and convicted of a felony offence, ‘false voter registration’
• President Kennedy intervened and ordered those ‘obstructing the law’ to ‘desist’, on the same evening there were riots on the university campus
• Kennedy sent hundreds of Federal officials to escort Meridian to register, the officials were attacked and a riot followed, Kennedy’s requests for calm were ignored, as 2 civilians died and 300 people were injured, over 2000 Federal troops were sent in nd they manage to stop the rioting

Question 9

James Meredith impact & significance - 1961-1962

Answer 9

• Forced Kennedy to act, this showed that the President would take direct action to enforce Supreme Court rulings
• After this, African American students were rarely prevented from attending integrated universities by state or university authorities, although they often had a difficult time

Question 10

MLK’S background and views

Answer 10

• Well educated, and a well-spoken and passionate speaker
• Continuously emphasised non-violence
• Worked with people of all races
• Was a Baptist minister and had the respect of many African Americans as many were committed Christians

Question 11

Birmingham 1963

Answer 11

• Campaign organised by the SNCC and SCLC, the campaigners aimed to end the rigid system of segregation in Birmingham as they had not desegregated facilities at all
• Methods used were sit-ins, boycotts and marches
• Birmingham also had a high KKK membership and African Americans were often attacked
• First march was at beginning of April and was followed by other demonstrations the police started arresting protestors
• A month after the, first large children’s march took place, although most were teenagers, some were as young as 6 years old, many were shocked at how young they were and how they were treated, 1000 children had been arrested
• The day after more children marched and due to jail cells being filled up local police called upon firemen with powerful hoses, the civi rights activists got what they wanted, publicity

Question 12

Impact of Birmingham 1963

Answer 12

• President Kennedy sent a negotiator to Birmingham to hope workout an agreement and talks were held on 10 Mat, however state troops were sent in by the Governor of Alabama to disrupt the talks, this stirred up more violence - including more bombings off African American homes and businesses
• While protesting African Americans did not respond with violence until they faced extreme violence and a race riot began
• Mayor agreed to some desegregation as many businesses were losing money
• Events in Birmingham influenced other areas to protest the same and more protests began to desegregate facilities

Question 13

March on Washington & Dream speech - 1963

Answer 13

• Civil rights groups had wanted to organise a march on Washington for white some time and detailed planning began soon after the Birmingham march, as the US capital was where Federal government was based, the protesters wanted to show their support for the new civil rights bill that was being debated
• They hoped that if large numbers marched in support of the bill, the march would force the President and Congress to pass the bill, the March on Washington would turn out to be the largest political gathering the USA had ever seen
• As news of the planned march spread, President Kennedy tried to persuade the organisers to call if off bu they refused, to keep order 1,000 extra police were brought in and 2,000 members of the National Guard were placed on standby
• Over 250,000 people, both white and black, took part in the March ‘Jobs for freedom’ marched peacefully though Lincoln Memorial
• The Dream Speech was done by MLK and was the final speaker, MLK used his powerful auditory skills to deliver a speech that became one of the most famous in history, it emphasised MLK as the main leader of the civil rights movement, in 1964 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize

Question 14

Importance of the March on Washington - 1963

Answer 14

• Huge number of people showed up showing that civil rights was supported by many people
• Event gained huge publicity
• Put further pressure on politicians to bring about change
• Fixed MLK’s place as leader of the whole civil rights movement
• After the movement civil rights leaders met with President Kennedy in the White House and Kennedy assured the protestors that the federal government was committed to seeing the civil rights bill through congress, this seemed unlikely after his assassination

Question 15

Mississippi Freedom Summer causes & events - early 1960s

Answer 15

• Involved setting up a new political party - the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (the MFDP). This party had more than 80,000 members, and 68 members were elected to join the national Democratic Party convention that year
• SNCC recruited around 1,000 volunteers, mostly well-off white college students from Northern cities and were recruited as violence against young people would gain huge publicity
• MFDP ran classes to help African Americans pass voter registration tests, it also opened 30 Freedom Schools throughout Mississippi, which taught black history and politics

Question 16

Mississippi Freedom Summer murders - 1964

Answer 16

• Those who took part in the Freedom Summer were attacked by the KKK as there was a high membership in Mississippi, campaigners were shot or beaten up, and African American churches and homes were bombed
• Deaths of campaigners attracted huge publicity

Question 17

Freedom summer impact & significance

Answer 17

• Mnay saw it as a failure as its aims were to increase voter registration but only 1,600 more African American successfully registered to vote in Mississippi, although 17,000 tried to do so

Question 18

Selma causes & events