1. The Civil Rights Movement

2. The Early Years
1948 President Truman signs an executive order to end segregation of the US armed forces. The war in Korea will be the first conflict fought in a desegregated military.
1954 Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas combined several Supreme Court cases, and effectively ended segregation in public schools. There was fierce resistance to the ruling and many schools remained segregated for years after the ruling.
1955 Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white bus passenger. This leads to the Montgomery Bus Boycott

3. 1957
January- Several black preachers and civil rights leaders meet in Atlanta to discuss strategy for non- violent protests. Martin Luther King Jr. is among those attending.
September- The Little Rock Nine are blocked from entering Central High School. President Eisenhower sent federal troops to force integration of the school, but the students faced continual harassment.
That same month Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of allowing those who suppress another’s voting rights to be prosecuted by federal law.

4.
Woolsworth’s Lunch Counter Protest in North Carolina. 4 college students arrested and spread similar protests across the country.
Aug. 28, ,000 people participate on the March on Washington. Highlight of the event was MLK’s “I Have a Dream Speech”
Civil Rights Act of guaranteed equal employment for all, eventually ended literacy tests for voting, and integration of public places.

5. Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday- resulted from the first attempt at the Selma to Montgomery March protesting the death of a civil rights worker killed by a white police officer.
Protestors were attacked at the Edmund Pettis Bridge with tear gas and physical force.
Entire incident was televised

6. Selma to Montgomery March
March Protestors walk the 54 miles between Selma and Montgomery with federal protection.
March led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
Act ended literacy tests and poll taxes. It also provided federal election monitors.

7. A Tragic Ending Leads to More Reform
On April 4, 1968 Martin Luther King was assassinated by James Earl Ray at the Lorraine Motel.
In the wake of his assassination, Congress passed the Fair Housing Act later that April.
The act made discrimination in housing based on race, sex, or national origin illegal.
Last piece of legislation of the Civil Rights Era.