civil rights movement

Freedom Rides (1961)

organized by CORE and SNCC to test a Supreme Court ruling that banned segregation in bus terminals; riders faced violent mob attacks, drawing national attention and forcing federal intervention

James Meredith & Ole Miss (1962)

the violent integration of the University of Mississippi when James Meredith enrolled; a white mob erupted, leading to a federal marshals and troops being sent by JFK to enforce the law

Birmingham Campaign (1963)

a strategic nonviolent protest in one of the South's most segregated cities, using sit-ins and marches to provoke a crisis; police brutality against children was broadcast nationally

"Letter from a Birmingham Jail"

Martin Luther King Jr.'s powerful defense of nonviolent direct action, written after his arrest in Birmingham; it argued that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere

George Wallace's Stand in the Schoolhouse Door

the Alabama governor's symbolic attempt to block the integration of the University of Alabama in 1963; he stepped aside after federal marshals and the Alabama National Guard arrived

Assassination of Medgar Evers (1963)

the murder of the NAACP field secretary in Mississippi by a white supremacist; his death heightened national outrage and helped push JFK to introduce major civil rights legislation

March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (1963)

a massive rally of 250,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial; its climax was Martin Luther King Jr.'s iconic "I Have a Dream" speech, building momentum for civil rights laws

16th Street Baptist Church Bombing

a terrorist attack by the KKK just 18 days after the March on Washington, killing four young Black girls in Birmingham; it shocked the nation and underscored the violent resistance to civil rights

Freedom Summer (1964)

a voter registration and education project in Mississippi led by SNCC; hundreds of white Northern college students volunteered, facing extreme violence, including the murders of three civil rights workers

Watts Riot (1965)

a six-day uprising in Los Angeles sparked by an incident of police brutality; it resulted in 34 deaths, signaled deep urban Black frustration, and marked a shift toward more militant activism

Malcolm X

a prominent Black nationalist and minister for the Nation of Islam who advocated for Black self-defense, separation, and dignity; his views evolved before his 1965 assassination, influencing the Black Power movement

Black Panther Party for Self-Defense

founded in 1966, a militant organization that advocated for armed self-defense, community control, and revolutionary socialism; their Ten-Point Program demanded basic rights and an end to police brutality

Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ)

the 36th president who used his political mastery to achieve landmark liberal legislation, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, declaring a "War on Poverty"

Revenue Act of 1964

a major tax cut proposed by JFK and passed under LBJ; it lowered the top income tax rate from 91% to 70% to stimulate economic growth, which it successfully did, creating new jobs and consumer demand

Civil Rights Act of 1964

the most sweeping civil rights law since Reconstruction; it outlawed discrimination in public accommodations, employment, and federally funded programs, and created the EEOC to enforce it