Warm-up: List everything you know or can remember about the Civil Rights Movement in America

The Civil Rights Movement The Why, When, What, Where, Who & How

WHY During WWII, Hitler and Nazi Germany believed in the superiority of inferiority of the races The U.S. and its Allies opposed Hitler’s “racial theory” in the Holocaust During the war many African Americans worked in defense industries and served in combat When the war ended, African Americans expected a new day in America

WHEN & WHAT The Civil Rights Movement was a political movement during the 1950s and 1960s devoted to securing equal opportunity and treatment for members of minority groups. The Movement was built upon the basic principles on which this nation was founded The Declaration of Independence The U.S. Constitution

WHAT & WHERE The Movement covered all aspects of life: Social equality The right to go to regular public school The right to go to public facilities (hotel, restaurants, etc.) Political equality The right to vote The right to run for office Economic equality The right to apply for a job and not be discriminated against The right to apply for a bank loan and not be discriminated against It was centered in the South where people were killed over the right to vote

WHO The movement was led by African Americans It enlisted the support of people from all walks of life It served as a model for American Indians, Mexican Americans, women, and more current-The Gay community in their struggle for equality It served as a model for people around the world who are struggling to get their natural rights

HOW It was a reform movement It was a movement for peaceful change Its participants used civil disobedience It was a movement to make the US more democratic It was a long and difficult process to achieve change It involved overturning the entrenched interests who were hostile to change that would reduce their power and privilege