HSC Modern History Civil Rights Movement Study Notes

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the key figures, organisations, methods, and legislative milestones of the American Civil Rights Movement and its global influence.

Dorie Miller

An African American cook who was awarded the Navy Cross for his bravery at Pearl Harbour during World War II.

Double V campaign

A notion introduced by an African American newspaper seeking a victory in civil rights back in the US following victory in World War II.

Jim Crow Laws

A range of laws that enforced segregation and allowed discrimination, particularly in the South, affecting transport, public spaces, restaurants, and schools.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

A court case stating that segregation was constitutional as long as facilities were 'separate but equal'.

Literacy tests

Tests introduced by state and federal governments to prevent African Americans from being able to vote.

Grandfather clauses

Provisions allowing illiterate whites to vote if they were descendants of someone eligible to vote, while excluding descendants of slaves.

Poll taxes

Fees used to prevent African Americans from voting.

Ghettos

Poorer, more dangerous neighbourhoods in Northern states where black people generally lived separate from the white population.

NAACP

National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People; formed in 1909 to achieve political and social equality using legal and social methods.

CORE

Congress of Racial Equality; an interracial non-violent organisation established in 1942 that targeted segregated public spaces and instigated sit-ins.

Black Panthers

A revolutionary organisation that preached black nationalism/power and armed self-defence, particularly against police brutality.

FOR

Fellowship of Reconciliation; a Christian-led movement aiming for peace, justice, and nonviolence through education and anti-racism activism.

SCLC

Southern Christian Leadership Conference; formed from the Montgomery Bus Boycott and led by Martin Luther King Jr. to focus on grassroots activism.

Operation Breadbasket

An SCLC initiative that encouraged African Americans to support businesses providing employment opportunities to black people.

Nation of Islam (NOI)

A black Muslim organisation that preached black nationalism and superiority, seeking to form an all-black state.

SNCC

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; an interracial organisation of college students emerged from the 1960 Greensboro Sit-ins.

CRC

Civil Rights Congress; founded by a Communist party member to defend the civil liberties of working-class blacks and left-wing whites.

Brown v. BOE (1954)

A landmark case where Thurgood Marshall argued that school segregation was against the 14th Amendment, leading to the end of segregated schooling.

Thurgood Marshall

NAACP lawyer who argued Brown v. BOE and Boynton v. Virginia; later the first African American appointed to the Supreme Court.

Boynton v. Virginia (1960)

A US Supreme Court ruling that racial segregation on interstate transportation was illegal and violated the Interstate Commerce Act.

Browder v. Gayle (1956)

A case stemming from the Montgomery bus boycott where the District Court ruled the bus company could not segregate buses.

Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-56)

A successful 381-day protest where the black population of Montgomery walked or carpooled to force the desegregation of the bus company.

Greensboro Sit-ins (1960)

Protests by university students at Woolworth stores that received national attention and led to the removal of whites-only lunch counters.

March on Washington (1963)

A $250,000+$ person march demanding racial equality where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his 'I have a dream' speech.

Selma March (1965)

A march from Selma to Montgomery for suffrage where protesters faced police brutality, contributing to the passing of the Voting Rights Act.

Freedom Rides (1961)

Non-violent civil disobedience where interracial groups rode interstate buses to test the enforcement of desegregation rulings.

Martin Luther King Jr.

A Baptist minister who advocated non-violent resistance and mass action to achieve racial equality and end discrimination.

Malcolm X

A spokesperson for the NOI who supported black supremacy and self-defence, famously stating freedom should be taken by 'Any Means Necessary'.

Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

A white supremacist organisation that used violent tactics, including bombings and lynchings, to oppose the civil rights movement.

White Citizens' Council (WCC)

A non-violent organisation formed in response to Brown v. BOE that opposed civil rights through legal and social methods.

Emmett Till

A 14-year-old boy murdered in 1955 after being accused of wolf-whistling at a white woman; his death inspired sympathy for the movement.

Eugene Connor

The mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, known for using firehoses and police dogs against demonstrators during the Birmingham campaign.

Little Rock High School (1957)

The site where 9 black students were initially blocked by Governor Orval Faubus and later escorted by the 101st Airborne Division to enter.

Mississippi Freedom Summer (1964)

A project by CORE and SNCC to increase black voter registration in Mississippi, where only $7\%$ of blacks were registered.

Civil Rights Act (1964)

Legislation that prohibited discrimination based on race, colour, religion, or national background, effectively ending Jim Crow laws.

Voting Rights Act (1965)

A law prohibiting discriminatory voting practices, such as literacy tests.

Fair Housing Act (1968)

A law that banned discrimination when renting or selling property.

Charles Perkins

Leader of a 1964 Freedom Ride through rural NSW to highlight the discrimination faced by Indigenous Australians.

Apartheid

A system of strict racial segregation in South Africa that the US civil rights movement helped inspire activists to fight against.