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Brown v. Board of Education Ruling
The Supreme Court unanimously decided that segregating public schools was unconstitutional. This challenged the "separate but equal" narrative that the judges were previously spreading, which indicated positive change. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. The NAACP was able to take this case and "spark a new era in the civil rights movement," as the textbook states. -
The Montgomery Bus Boycott
Just as Rosa Parks made her first court appearance, the Women's Political Council carried out a boycott on buses in the city of Montgomery. This was extremely significant, because the boycott was the first large demonstration against racial segregation. Additionally, Martin Luther King Jr. was designated to lead the newly formed Montgomery Improvement Association following the boycott. -
Eisenhower Sends Troops
When the governor of Arkansas went against government orders and prevented nine Black students from attending a school, eventually unleashing a mob of angry white people on the group, President Eisenhower sent one thousand troops to support the African Americans. This was the first time that something like this was carried out since Reconstruction, making it an important piece of the Civil Rights Movement. -
The Sit-in Movement
Four African Americans kicked off a massive movement when they manage to be served in the whites-only section of a restaurant. Within no time, Black people were performing sit-ins in a whopping fifty-four cities. This created passion and excitement among college students for the Civil Rights Movement, which led to the creation of the SNCC.