Civil Rights Movement Timeline

Learning Objective: Identify key events in the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s

Goal of the Civil Rights Movement: End segregation in the United States

1896 Plessy v. Ferguson: established the doctrine of “separate but equal” facilities in the South

1954 Brown v. Board of Education: Landmark court case that overturned Plessy v. Ferguson; made segregation in public facilities illegal; Earl Warren was Chief Justice of Supreme Court

Dec. 1, 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus to a white passenger; arrested and started the Montgomery Bus boycott that lasted for 54 weeks until the Supreme Court ruled that segregation on city buses was unconstitutional

1950s - 1960s Martin Luther King Jr.: major civil rights leader who advocated non-violent tactics such as sit-downs and boycotts

1957 Little Rock (AR) School Challenge: 9 Black students enrolled in Central H.S. (previously all-white school); Jefferson Thomas and Elizabeth Eckford were among those who challenged the all white policy; President Eisenhower finally had to send in Federal troops to guarantee student’s safety for the entire year

1950s Essential Quiz Identify and explain two most important foreign issues and two most important domestic issues that shaped the U.S. during the 1950s. (Advanced = more than 4 issues, excellent explanations; Proficient = 4 issues, well explained)

1960s Civil Rights Movement

Learning Objective: Identify key events in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s

1960 Student Non-violent Coordinating Council (SNCC): organized students to participate in sit-ins in segregated public facilities throughout the South

May 1961 Congress of Racial Equality (CORE): led what was supposed to be a 3 week bus trip throughout the South, publicizing the lack of desegregated buses; beaten, rampant violence, finally forced Robert Kennedy to force bus companies to comply with desegregation

1963 In Birmingham, Alabama - Police Commissioner Eugene “Bull” Connor used police, and dogs to attack demonstrators and thrown many protestors into jail

Civil Rights Bill Issued to Congress after Birmingham marches, called for total desegregation in the South

Aug. 3, 1963 March on Washington: get support for Civil Rights Act; time of Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I have a dream” speech

Civil Rights Act of 1964 Legislation that banned discrimination in all public places; passed after Kennedy’s assassination Included outlawing literacy tests, different standards for white and black voters, and prohibited discriminatory employment and labor practices

1960s Malcolm X: supporter of Black Muslim Group led by Elijah Muhammad; advocated Black Nationalism which included separating blacks from whites and forming Nation of Islam Believed in fighting back against whites, but later Malcolm had a change of heart, and was most likely assassinated by the radical elements of the Black Muslim Church in Feb. 1965

Aug. 1965 Watts Riots: six day riot that resulted in 35 people killed, almost $200 million in property damage 1965-66 - saw race riots in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco 1967 – sixty-seven different cities had riots

Late 1960s Black Panther Party: believed in self-defense, political and economic independence for blacks, and pride in black culture; very militant Famous co-founder was Huey Newton, who believed in black nationalism

April 4, 1968 Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. by James Earl Ray in Tennessee

WIO: Civil Rights Movement Write a paragraph response selecting the two most important events of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s, and why they were the most important.