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The Montgomery Bus Boycott
The people involved in this were Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. King was using powerful words and people's opinion but never used violence. African Americans car pooled or walked to work. African American churches helped the boycott succeed. Rosa Parks was working her way through the boycott in court. The result was the Supreme Court declared a law in Alabama that segregation on buses must be unconstitutional. -
The Little Rock 9
The school board in Little Rock, Arkansas, won a court order that required nine African American students to be brought into a school with about 2,000 white students. Faubus, the governor of Alabama, did not want them to go to the school. Eisenhower ordered federal authority to help end the violence. Eventually letting the African Americans inside the school. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
This was intended the right of African Americans to vote. Johnson made a compromise to get the act passed, Eisenhower also tried to help African Americans voting rights. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights was created to investigate allegations of denial of voting rights. Then soon after the bill was passed, the SCLC announed a campaign to register new African American voters. -
The Sit-in Movement
Four African American freshmans from a college in Greensboro went to a sit-in at the whites-only lunch counter. They were all afriad but they kept returning until they were served just as the whites were. This created a movement and many other African Americans joined them as well. Ella Baker urged students to create their own organization and created the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. -
The Freedom Riders
The Freedom Riders were African Americans and white volunteers who with the help of James Farmer, traveled to the South to draw attention to its refusal to intergrate bus terminals. They boarded several southbound interstate buses. Many white mobs tried to attack them and in some cases, they did. Many Americans were shocked until JFK helped get the violence under control. -
James Meredith & the Desegregation of the University of Mississippi
James Meredith tried to register at the Univerity of Mississippi but the governor of Mississippi was giving him a hard time. With the help of JFK, he had federal marshals escort him to the campus. Many people tried to attack and JFK ordered more troops to go to the campus for the remainder of the year allowing Meredith to attend classes as well as graduate from there. -
Protests in Birmingham
Martin Luther King, Jr. was angry with what was happening in Mississppi they wanted a new civil rights law to be made and violence was the only way. King was arrested for the protest, while he was in jail he began to write the Letter from Birmingham. He talked about his defense and once King got released police got very violent. That is when JFK realized he had to make a new civil rights bill. -
The March on Washington
King knew that JFK would have a hard time passing the bill. He had an idea that would get more public support and Congress attention. Many went to to hear his speeches, sing songs, and remain peaceful. King stated in his speech how he wanted freedom and equality for all Americans. The speeches made some progress but Congress still tried to delay the bill being passed. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
President Johnson signed this bill and it was the most comprehensive civil rights law passed by Congress. It gave the federal government power to prevent racial discrimination, made segregation illegal, and gave citizens of any race, equality. It made a lot of progress for them. The act did not focus to much on voting rights. They began to realize that they needed a new law to be passed to help protect their voting rights. King wanted to have another protest to solve this problem. -
The Selma March
Dr. King chose Selma for their campaign for voting rghts. King's demonstrations in Selma led to the arrest of about 2,000 African American, including schoolchildren. King joined with the SNCC and organized a "march for freedom". As they approached the Edmund Pettus Bridge many began to get beaten and left many African Americans in hospitals and some injured. Johnson was furious when he saw what happened and a few days later, he proposed a new voting rights law. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This authorized the U.S. attorney general to send federal examiners to register qualified voters. Almost 250,000 African Americans were registered as new voters. The numbers also increased in the South. This marked a turning point in the civil rights movement. Segregation had been outlawed and new federal laws were made to prevent discrimination and protect voting rights. They began to want to start helping African Americans in poverty and living in ghettos. -
Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
King got assassinated on his hotel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee by a sniper. His death hurt many people and also caused many riots. In the wake of his death, Congress did pass the Civil Rights Act of 1968, this act was made to help with discrimination. There were still many things that had to be solved but many improvements were made with the help of King. This was the second attempt of King being assassinated, an ill-African American women stabbed him thinking he was conspiring aganist her.
