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African American Migration
After the Civil War, African Americans began to migrate north where they were treated more fairly than in the south. The population of New York City jumped from 60,000 people to 450,000 people. Some of those with more education gained politcal influence and became leaders -
National Urban League
This league was created to assist people moving to major American cities. They helped African Americans move out of the south and made sure that they were treated fairly at work. They also helped immigrant families. -
LULAC
The League United Latin American Citizens also struggled for civil rights and protested when a Hispanic soldier was not allowed to be buried with the rest of the soldiers in Arlington National Cemetery. They also had to deal with school segregation -
Martin Luther King
Dr. King was a Baptist preacher when he was asked to be a part of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. His talent in speaking and his determination and use of nonviolent protest made him a hero for many African Americans and he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 -
The New Deal
Roosevelt began to gain the support of African American votes for New Deal policies and under Roosevelt more and more African Americans began working for the federal government -
World War II
As the need for workers grew in the north, African Americans moved there to find jobs. This increased number of African Americans gave them a lot of voting power -
Congress of Racial Equality
The goal of CORE was to bring change through peaceful confrontation. They were interracial and their director worked without pay to keep the organization alive -
Jackie Robinson Joins the Brooklyn Dodgers
He was the first African American ever in professional baseball and was able to keep himself under control through the insults he recieved. He won rookie of the year that year -
NAACP
The NAACP was created to fight for African American rights and where having trouble winning their battles because of the "separate but equal doctrine. they had a great legal team and would finally win their biggest fight in 1954 in Brown v. Board of Education -
Native Americans
Native Americans were staying on reservations in extreme poverty until the government decided to try and assimilate them into a "normal" American life. They resisted this until the government eventually discarded it -
Sothern Manifesto
More than 90 congress members expressed that they disagreed with the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education and many were unwilling to comply with the new changes. They claimed that it violated state rights and that the Supreme Court had over stepped. -
Nonviolence
Martin Luther King was a big preacher of nonviolence as whites became more hostile towards African Americans after the Brown decision. He begged those who fought for civil rights to fight without violence. -
Supreme Court Rules Segregation of Schools Unconstitutional
Oliver Brown became tired of seeing his daughter have to walk past a white only school just to get on a bus to a different school. After three years of appeals, the case made it to the Supreme Court where it was unanimously decided that the "Separate but equal" doctrine was unconstitutional. -
Rosa Parks
A member of the NAACP for 12 years decided she was not going to give up her seat on the bus for a white man even though she was in the white only section of the bus. Once ordered to move to the back she refused and was arrested because of this. This event grabbed the nations attention. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Shortly after Rosa Parks took her stand, the NAACP organized a boycott of the bus system until they decided to change their ways. Martin Luther King became a big part of this and over the next year over 50,000 African Americans refused to take the buses regardless of losing money. -
Little Rock Nine
Governor Orval Faubus decided to disregard the constitution and posted National Gaurd troops outside of Central High School and told them to turn away the nine African Americans that were supposed to attend that school. Angry mobs gathered to prevent the nine students from entering. Eisenhower although not in favor of the law knew that Governor Faubus had directly disobeyed it and ordered the national guard to protect the students. -
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Martin Luther King created the SCLC to advocate his belief in nonviolence. They used nonviolent protest and did not resist even when attacked. -
Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee
The SNCC was created to help students that were in the fight of school segregation because Ella Baker did not believe that the NAACP and the SCLC were doing enough to help the younger African Americans. Nearly 200 students attended the first meeting. Martin Luther King spoke and this program gave young activists a chance to make change