The Roots of the Civil Rights Movement

RECONSTRUCTION AMENDMENTS 13th, 14th, 15th AMENDMENTS RECONSTRUCTION AMENDMENTS 13TH AMENDMENT OUTLAWED SLAVERY 14TH AMENDMENT MADE AFRICAN AMERICANS CITIZENS GUARANTEED EQUAL PROTECTION UNDER THE LAW 15TH AMENDMENT GUARANTEED AFRICAN AMERICANS THE RIGHT TO VOTE 13, 14, 15 – FREE, CITIZENS,VOTE

PLESSY v. FERGUSON (1896) U.S. Supreme Court case that made segregation legal in the United States Established the principle of “separate but equal” Homer Plessy

PLESSY v. FERGUSON (1896) “Separate but equal” meant that minorities were not allowed in the same places as whites Southern states passed laws that legalized segregation known as “Jim Crow” laws

Segregation became the way of life for blacks in the South until… For the next 70 years, Jim Crow laws dominated society in the South for African Americans Segregation became the way of life for blacks in the South until…

De jure Segregation- segregation imposed by law De facto Segregation- segregation by unwritten custom

BROWN v. BOARD of EDUCATION (1954) African American girl sued for the right to go to the school of her choice – and WON! Ruling overturned the ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson case and outlawed segregation in public schools

BROWN v. BOARD of EDUCATION Supreme Court ruled segregation of public schools was unconstitutional Ruling gave improved educational opportunities to African Americans

BROWN v. BOARD of EDUCATION NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall (center) argued the case to end segregation Marshall later became the first African American on the U.S. Supreme Court

Open casket at Emmitt Till funeral Odyssey of Emmitt Till Emmitt Till was a 14-year-old from Chicago whose murder in 1955 made national news Till was lynched and murdered after he said “bye baby” to a white woman who was the cashier at a store while visiting his cousin in Money, Mississippi Emmitt Till Open casket at Emmitt Till funeral

The Movement Begins Rosa Parks refuses to move to the back of the bus Parks is arrested, leading to the…

Montgomery Bus Boycott Outraged over Park’s arrest, African Americans organize a boycott of Montgomery’s Public Transportation System in 1956 African Americans carpooled, took taxis, or walked to avoid taking the bus After a year, the city of Montgomery was ordered to end its segregation policy African Americans carpooling during the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1956

Montgomery Bus Boycott

MLK leaving a bus after the boycott ends A leader emerges Martin Luther King Jr. ,newly elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association, led the boycott. MLK leaving a bus after the boycott ends

Civil Rights Organization Martin Luther King, Charles K. Steele, and Fred L. Shuttlesworth establish the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, of which King is made the first president. The SCLC becomes a major force in organizing the civil rights movement and bases its principles on nonviolence and civil disobedience. According to King, it is essential that the civil rights movement not sink to the level of the racists and hatemongers who oppose them: "We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline," he urges.

The local NAACP picked out nine African Americans to attend the school Ending school segregation In 1957, a federal court ordered the integration of Little Rock Central High The local NAACP picked out nine African Americans to attend the school Arkansas Governor Orville Faubus sent in the National Guard to “keep the peace” On their first attempt to enter the school, the black students were denied entrance

Ending school segregation The Little Rock Nine U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower called in federal troops to enforce the Supreme Court ruling Only one of the “Little Rock Nine” graduated, but the incident raised national awareness about the discrimination in the South

In 1960 Sit-ins started and SNCC founded (Greensboro, N.C.) Four black students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College begin a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter. Although they are refused service, they are allowed to stay at the counter. Student sit-ins would be effective throughout the Deep South in integrating parks, swimming pools, theaters, libraries, and other public facilities. (Raleigh, N.C.) The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) is founded at Shaw University, providing young blacks with a place in the civil rights movement. The SNCC later grows into a more radical organization, especially under the leadership of Stokely Carmichael (1966–1967).

Sit-ins Blacks were denied service at lunch counters They sat at the counter until they were served or arrested Students who participated in the sit-ins refused to become violent Sit-ins raised the awareness of the discrimination that was occurring

Freedom riders 1961 Over the spring and summer, student volunteers begin taking bus trips through the South to register black voters and work to end segregation. Several of the groups of "freedom riders," as they are called, are attacked by angry mobs along the way. The program, sponsored by The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), involves more than 1,000 volunteers, black and white.

Freedom Riders Blacks and whites traveled into the South to draw attention to the South’s segregation of bus terminals When Freedom Riders arrived at various cities in the South, white mobs attacked them

Civil Rights Marches Marches were the most common form of protests used during the Civil Rights Movement Protestors would march peacefully in attempt to draw national attention for their cause

James Meredith is denied admission into Ole Miss Ending school segregation 1962 James Meredith enters Ole Miss James Meredith is denied admission into Ole Miss President Kennedy sends 500 federal marshals to escort Meredith and make sure he was allowed to attended classes

Medgar Evers 1963 (Jackson, Miss.) Mississippi's NAACP field secretary, 37-year-old Medgar Evers, is murdered outside his home. Byron De La Beckwith is tried twice in 1964, both trials resulting in hung juries. Thirty years later he is convicted for murdering Evers.

Violence in Birmingham 1963 At marches in Alabama, Birmingham police chief Bull Connor used fire hoses and attack dogs to prevent people from marching The incident raised national awareness about the discrimination in the South

March on Washington 1963 To support to President Kennedy’s Civil Rights bill, Martin Luther King, Jr., organized a massive march on Washington, D.C., as a show of support for the bill On August 28, 1963, more than 200,000 demonstrators gathered peacefully at the nation’s capital

MLK: “I have a dream” It was during the March on Washington in 1963 that Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his “I Have a Dream” speech Dr. King presented his dream of freedom and equality for all Americans The March on Washington and Martin Luther King’s speech helped to lead to the…

Violence in Birmingham September 1963 Birmingham, Alabama, was regarded as the most segregated city in the South Because of all the bombings in the city, Birmingham was nicknamed “Bombingham” The bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church killed four innocent girls

Freedom Summer of 1964 A network of civil rights groups that includes CORE and SNCC, launches a massive effort to register black voters during what becomes known as the Freedom Summer. It also sends delegates to the Democratic National Convention to protest—and attempt to unseat—the official all-white Mississippi contingent.

Mississippi Burning murders In the summer of 1964, dubbed -Freedom Summer - three civil rights workers came up missing in, Mississippi Weeks later, they were found dead after having been killed by members of the Ku Klux Klan Michael Schwerner James Chaney Andrew Goodman

Civil Rights Act of 1964 Despite strong opposition from Southern senators, President Lyndon B. Johnson got Congress to pass the bill Law gave Congress power to outlaw segregation in most public places; gave minorities equal access to facilities such as restaurants and theaters

SNCC and SCLC increased their voter registration drives in the South 24th Amendment The 24th Amendment, ratified in 1964, helped to guarantee the right to vote for African Americans It abolished poll taxes, which were fees that had to be paid in order to vote in national elections SNCC and SCLC increased their voter registration drives in the South

Bloody Sunday 1965 (Selma, Ala.) Blacks begin a march to Montgomery in support of voting rights but are stopped at the Pettus Bridge by a police blockade. Fifty marchers are hospitalized after police use tear gas, whips, and clubs against them. The incident is dubbed "Bloody Sunday" by the media. The march is considered the catalyst for pushing through the voting rights act five months later.

Selma March/Bloody Sunday

Voting Rights Act of 1965 The violence in Selma infuriated President Johnson and led to the federal government to step in again Johnson to propose a new voting rights law and, in early August, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law "By the way, what's the big word?" It authorized the Attorney General to send federal examiners to register qualified voters by bypassing local officials who tried to keep blacks from voting

Civil Rights Organizations NAACP SCLC Southern Christian Leadership Council National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Civil Rights Organizations Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee Congress of Racial Equality SNCC CORE

Movement takes a different direction

Malcolm X Malcolm X was the Civil Rights Movement leader who advocated the use of violence to gain African American rights He was assassinated in 1965 after abandoning the beliefs of Black Panthers

Movement takes a different direction

Malcolm X Malcolm X was the Civil Rights Movement leader who advocated the use of violence to gain African American rights He was assassinated in 1965

The Black Panthers The Black Panthers were the group during the Civil Rights Movement that urged African Americans to fight for their rights The Black Panthers were led by former SNCC leader Stokley Carmichael

King was in Memphis, Tenn., for a march for Sanitation Workers Martin Luther King assassinated Tragedy struck on April 4, 1968, when Martin Luther King was assassinated King was in Memphis, Tenn., for a march for Sanitation Workers The assassination of Martin Luther King marked the end of the civil rights movement