Civil Rights and Voting Rights Lecture Review

Flashcards covering key terms, events, people, amendments, and big questions related to Civil Rights and Voting Rights, based on the provided lecture notes.

What were Jim Crow Laws?

Segregation laws in the South (after Reconstruction) that restricted rights of African Americans, including voting.

What is voter intimidation?

Threats or violence used to scare people (often Black voters) away from voting.

What were poll taxes?

Fees required to vote, designed to stop poor Black (and white) citizens from voting.

How were literacy tests used to suppress voting rights?

Tests to “prove” literacy; unfairly administered to disqualify Black voters.

What was the Grandfather Clause?

A law that let people vote only if their grandfather could; it excluded Black people whose grandparents were enslaved.

What was SNCC and what activities did it organize?

The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a youth-led civil rights group that organized sit-ins, Freedom Rides, and voter registration drives.

What was CORE's primary role in the Civil Rights Movement?

The Congress of Racial Equality, a civil rights group that helped with Freedom Rides and voter registration.

What was the significance of the Voting Rights Act of 1965?

A landmark law banning literacy tests, poll taxes, and other discriminatory practices, giving the federal government power to protect voting rights.

What happened during the Wilmington Race Riot of 1898?

A violent white supremacist coup in NC where Black officials were forced out, and voters were killed and intimidated.

What was the Selma to Montgomery March, and why was it significant?

A peaceful march for voting rights in 1965 that met with brutal police violence (“Bloody Sunday”), which helped push the Voting Rights Act.

What was Freedom Summer (1964)?

A massive campaign to register Black voters in Mississippi, during which volunteers faced violence and even murders.

Who were the Freedom Riders and what did they aim to achieve?

Activists who rode buses into the South in 1961 to challenge segregation in transportation and faced violent mobs.

What were sit-ins, and where did they originate?

Nonviolent protests at segregated lunch counters, started in Greensboro, NC, in 1960.

Who gave the "Give Us the Ballot" speech and what was its message?

Martin Luther King, Jr. gave this 1957 speech urging full voting rights for African Americans.

Who gave the "Ballot or the Bullet" speech and what was its warning?

Malcolm X gave this 1964 speech, warning that if peaceful means failed, more radical action might follow.

Who was John Lewis?

A respected SNCC leader who led the Selma march and later became a congressman.

Who was Medgar Evers?

An NAACP leader in Mississippi who was murdered for his civil rights work.

Who were James Earl Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner?

Freedom Summer activists who were killed in Mississippi in 1964.

What was Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s primary role in the Civil Rights Movement?

A civil rights leader who led nonviolent protests and marches, known for "I Have a Dream" and the Selma march.

Who was Malcolm X and what was his philosophy?

A Nation of Islam leader who pushed for Black self-determination, known for "Ballot or the Bullet."

Who was Fannie Lou Hamer?

A SNCC activist and powerful speaker on voter suppression, known for her quote “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired."

What key civil rights legislation did President Lyndon B. Johnson sign?

The Civil Rights Act (1964) and the Voting Rights Act (1965).

What did the 13th Amendment (1865) achieve?

It abolished slavery.

What rights did the 14th Amendment (1868) establish?

It established citizenship and equal protection under the law.

What did the 15th Amendment (1870) guarantee?

The right to vote cannot be denied based on race.

What did the 19th Amendment (1920) establish?

Women’s suffrage (the right for women to vote).

What did the 24th Amendment (1964) ban?

It banned poll taxes.

What did the 26th Amendment (1971) do?

It lowered the voting age to 18.

Who primarily had the right to vote in the early 1800s?

Mostly white male property owners.

What were the primary reasons for imposing Jim Crow Laws?

To enforce segregation, maintain white supremacy, and limit African Americans’ political and economic power.

What strategies were employed to secure voting rights in the 1960s?

Nonviolent protests (marches, sit-ins, Freedom Rides), legal challenges, grassroots voter registration drives (SNCC, CORE), national speeches/media to gain support, and pressuring the federal government (leading to the Voting Rights Act).