1. Explain how and why African Americans and other supporters of civil rights challenged segregation in the United States after World War II.

3.  1896 – Plessy v. Ferguson : “separate but equal”  Jim Crow laws were created and were common in the South  1955 – Rosa Parks challenged segregation and was arrested. Days later a bus boycott was organized in Montgomery.  NAACP challenged segregation in the courts  1935 – exclusion from juries violated equal protection under the law  1946 – segregation on interstate busses unconstitutional  1950 – state law schools had to admit qualified African American applicants

4.  1942 - Congress of Racial Equality  Used sit-ins to protest segregation  Successfully integrated theatres, restaurants, and other public facilities in Chicago, Detroit, Denver, and Syracuse

6.  Thurgood Marshall – NAACP chief counsel  1954 – Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas : segregation in public schools was unconstitutional and a violation of the 14 th amendment (equal protection)

7.  “Southern Manifesto” – southern resistance to Brown v. Board  101 Southern members of Congress signed  Pledged to use “all lawful means” to reverse the decision  Montgomery Bus Boycott  December 1955 - Led by Martin Luther King Jr.  Inspired by Mohandas Gandhi – non-violent resistance  Boycott lasted over a year  December 1956 – Supreme Court declared Alabama’s segregation law unconstitutional

8.  Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) – led by Martin Luther King Jr.  Eliminate segregation from American society  Encourage African Americans to register to vote  Challenged segregation at voting booths and in public transportation, housing, and public accommodations

9.  President Eisenhower disagreed with segregation  Ordered navy shipyards and veterans’ hospitals to be desegregated  Disagreed with ending segregation through protests and court rulings  Believed people had to allow segregation to end gradually as values changed  Refused to endorse Brown v. Board but had the obligation to uphold the court ruling

10.  September 1957 – Little Rock, Arkansas  9 African American students were to enroll in Central High School  Governor Orval Faubus, running for re- election, defended white supremacy  Ordered National Guard to prevent students from entering building  Students had to be escorted away to safety by police  President Eisenhower ordered 1,000 federal soldiers to escort the students into the school

11.  Civil Rights Act of 1957  Designed to protect the right to vote for African Americans  Investigate allegations of denial of voting rights  SCLC campaigned to register 2 million new African American voters