Civil Rights Mrs. Sinacore, 2015 US Regents Review Part 13 Civil Rights Mrs. Sinacore, 2015
Brown v. Board of Education, 1954 The Supreme Court overturned the Plessy v. Fergusson, 1896 decision when it ruled that separate accommodations (schools) were unconstitutional. Chief Justice Earl Warren used psychological and sociological evidence in this surprising and unanimous decision. Schools were supposed to integrate “with all deliberate speed.”
Little Rock Crisis, 1957 In 1957, 9 Black students were chosen to integrate Central High School, but the white community was upset; Governor Faubus tried to use the National Guard to prevent these students from attending, but President Eisenhower intervened and used the troops to protect the students indstead.
Freedom Rides, 1961 Black and white students boarded busses in the north and traveled into the south to challenge segregation laws; they faced great resistance and violence; the outcome was that the Interstate Commerce Commission got involved and banned segregation on interstate transportation
March on Washington, 1963 More than 200,000 people peacefully demonstrated in Washington, DC; Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous “I have a dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial
Civil Rights Act of 1964 This federal law outlawed discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity
24th Amendment This amendment abolished the poll tax
Voting Rights Act of 1965 This federal law came in response to the march from Selma to Montgomery; It outlawed voting barriers put into place after the Civil War (grandfather clauses, literacy tests, voucher systems)