Preview

Civil rights movement

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
504 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Civil rights movement
The Civil Rights Movement in the United States between 1954 and 1968, was one of the most important times in American history. With activities, protest marches and boycotts, organizations challenged segregation and discrimination. The Movement happened because not all Americans were being treated in the same way. In general white Americans were treated better than any other American people, especially African-American people. The Civil Rights Movement made the country a more fair and humane society for all. The term paper that you are about to read discussed some of the main events of the movement in chronological order, their importance, and who was involved in.The civil rights movement was a time when a people who where oppressed for many years, rose up against the odds and achieved their freedom. An admirable aspect of the civil rights movement was the unachievable victory that the african americans sought after and made. Through determination, persistence, and courage, the african americans won their independence. They should be honorably admired for their integrity and will to fight for what is right.

In the 1950's, school racial segregation was widely accepted all over America. In most Southern states the law allowed it. In 1952, the Supreme Court heard a number of school-segregation cases, including Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. This case decided unanimously in 1954 that segregation was unconstitutional, overthrowing the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling that had set the "separate but equal" precedent.

In August 1955 a case that drew the most national publicity was the murder of 14 year old Emmett Till, a black teenager from Chicago who was visiting relatives in Mississippi that summer. Although warned by his mother not to talk to whites, he ignored that warning, saying to a white woman "Bye, baby" as he left a local store. Several nights later Emmett was kidnapped by the woman's husband and his half-brother. They beat him to death,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Fourteen-year-old Emmett Till was visiting relatives in Money, Mississippi, on August 24, 1955, when he was accused of whistling at a 21 year old white woman , who was a cashier at the grocery store, Bryan’s Grocery and Meat Market. Four days later, two white men kidnapped Till, beat him and shot him in the head. The men were tried for murder, but an all-white, male jury discharged them. Till's murder and open casket funeral motivated the emerging Civil Rights Movement…

    • 254 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Plessy vs Ferguson

    • 480 Words
    • 2 Pages

    This nonsense was later overruled in Brown v. Board of Education which pointed out that "separate is inherently unequal". This case began in the 1950’s in Topeka, Kansas in 1951 a third grader by the name of Linda Brown had to walk 4 miles to school when there was a school 4 blocks from where she lived, but due to the fact Linda was African American and the school 4 blocks from her home was for whites only. Segregation was enforced at this time in Kansas Linda’s dad Oliver Brown went to the NAACP for help with segregation in the public schools the case was heard in the U.S District Court for the district of Kansas from June 25-26 1951. The NAACP stood by the Brown family in court and argued many different facts against segregation in schools. On May 17, 1954 chief justice Earl Warren read the unanimous decision in court the Brown’s won. They overturned the “separate but equal” law of Plessey and ruled in favor of the Brown’s Desegregation was to take effect in all schools across America…

    • 480 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Eisenhower Era 1952-1960

    • 2577 Words
    • 11 Pages

    In the case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954), the Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public schools was unequal and thus unconstitutional. The decision reversed the previous ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896).…

    • 2577 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The civil rights movement can be defined as a mass popular movement to secure for African Americans equal access to and opportunities for the basic privileges and rights of U.S. citizenship. Although the roots of the civil rights movement go back to the 19th century, the movement peaked in the 1950s and 1960s. African American men and women, along with whites, organized and led the movement at national and local levels. They pursued their goals through legal means, negotiations, petitions, and nonviolent protest demonstrations. The largest social movement of the 20th century, the civil rights movement influenced the modern women's rights movement and the student movement of the 1960s.…

    • 904 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Mass Bay Colony Law

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages

    • 1954 • Brown vs. Board of education, Topeka case makes segregated schooling illegal on the grounds that segregated schools generate feelings of racial inferiority and are inherently unequal.…

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ive Seen The Promised Land

    • 1440 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Civil Rights Movement was at its highest point from 1955-1965. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, guaranteeing basic civil rights for all Americans, regardless of race, after nearly a decade of nonviolent protests and marches, ranging from 1955-1965 Montgomery bus boycott to the student sit-ins of the 1960s to the Huge March on Washington in 1963. This reform movement was to put an end to racial discrimination against African Americans and to put a stop to segregation in the Southern states. “This era marked a period of struggle for African Americans to gain equal rights and integrate into schools and other public places. Much of the struggle to end racial inequality was documented as the country resisted racial segregation and discrimination.”(Web quest, 1) By working together, most of these protests and rallies were successful and African Americans were able to get their voices heard and gain their civil rights like everyone else.…

    • 1440 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Board of Education and a few other movements such as bus segregations. The biggest issue during this era was segregation. After my reading, civil rights meant when ordinary people pushed for certain laws and regulations to change. Organizations that were form on the behalf of "change" and equal rights wanted an equal opportunity that the American government promised. However, the white community fought against equal rights for blacks. What the white community was not prepared for was a protestor that had devoted his life to the movement, Martin L. King,…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Through the years, society has changed in many ways. A big change occurred during the years of 1954 and 1968. This change was known as the Civil Rights Movement. This was a time when African Americans were trying to get their freedom and get the same rights everyone else had. The Civil Rights Movement did not just affect the lives of African Americans during this time, it also affected the lives of everyone else. During this time period, many people were dedicated to help improve the lives of African Americans and they spoke out on the issue. The Civil Rights Movement was a…

    • 1388 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The civil rights movement was a movement to fight for equal rights and privileges of a U.S citizen non-dependent of their race or religion. The movement goes back to the 19th centry but peaked in the 1950s and 1960s.…

    • 1017 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dbq Civil Rights Movement

    • 520 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Discrimination in America has never been condemned like today, but how did the country change from a place where discrimination was a part of every day’s life to a place where discrimination is not encouraged by many. Unfortunately, African Americans have been the ones who have suffered the most from discrimination mainly because of the type of their skin. The Civil Rights is the moment when African Americans could finally achieve what their forefathers had been promised a Century ago. To achieve these people had to sacrifice their lives, the sages were not wrong when they uttered the proverb no pain no gain.…

    • 520 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The African American Civil Rights Movement Martin Luther King Jr. and his followers took on the U.S government filled with white supremacist with a nonviolent movement. The movement was from (1954-1968) and the reason for the movement was to gain equality and suffrage. The African Americans endured many hardships when they were supporting the protest. They endured racism, murder, kidnappings, rapes, and etc… Hollywood films try to recreate important events throughout history and they also try to recreate many of the feelings and ideas of the people said and expressed at that moment. Many films recreate the African-American Civil Right Movement but, they only recreate the white side or the African American side. The film Salem by Ava Duvernay…

    • 132 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Have you ever wondered about the U.S. history? Even if you didn’t, you might have heard of the civil rights movement. A few brave leaders risked their lives to fight for having an equal right. The civil rights movement was from 1995 to 1968. The civil rights movement was a very social, legal, and political act that the blacks encountered with a lot of effort and determination. With the help of brave leaders, African Americans were finally able to have same rights and equal treatment that the whites had. The civil rights movement has won victory.…

    • 412 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    The defendant argued that the fourteenth amendment was not violated so long as the separate school houses for the separate races were equal. The plaintiff argued that the separate school houses were in fact not equal. Instead, black Americans received subordinate education, accommodations, and treatment. The US Constitution states that “all men are created equal.” The Supreme Court ruled that segregation in schools was unconstitutional. Once again, “by 1955 the time was ripe for an organized challenge to Jim Crow in Montgomery.” (Lee, 2006). This time the concentration would be on desegregating public transportation. The public bus was divided into three sections. The first ten rows were reserved for white passengers only, just as the last ten rows were reserved for colored passengers. The middle of the bus was often referred to as “no man 's land.” Colored passengers were allowed to sit in “no man 's land” so long as white passengers had available seats in their section. “On 1 December 1955, after a long day 's work, Parks boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus for a trip home.” Parks paid her ten cents fare, noticed that there were several empty seats in the white section, and chose a seat in no man 's land. After just two stops, the white section filled up with passengers, so the driver stopped the bus and asked Parks and three African-American gentlemen to…

    • 2804 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Racial Segregation

    • 935 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The challenge to segregation in schools came to the courts in the famed case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas. It challenged the previous court ruling, Plessy v. Ferguson, which upheld "the separate but equal" standard in public education. In 1954 Brown overruled Plessy and the notion of separate but equal was discredited as being separate but not equal. The court ruled that segregation was wrong but left it up…

    • 935 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century was a transformative period in history of America. Through methods of nonviolent protest, leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. worked to challenge the segregation and discrimination facing African Americans. Through the success of the Civil Rights Movement, victories and advances in political, social, and economic equality have been made for not only African Americans, but also women, Asian Americans, and other minority groups in American society.…

    • 1287 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays