Chapter 18 Civil Rights Movement Study Guide

What does NAACP stand for? 

The NAACP stands for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

What happened after Rosa Parks' arrest? 

After Rosa Parks’ arrest, African Americans in Montgomery would organize a boycott of the bus system, mass protests would soon begin forming across the country, and many African Americans would finally decide that the time had come to demand their equal rights.

What did the court rule in Sweatt v. Painter?

In the court case Sweatt v. Painter, the court ruled that state law schools were required to admit qualified African American applicants, even if parallel black law schools existed.

Explain what sit-ins are? 

Sit-ins are a form of protest that first began being used in the 1930s by Union workers. The strategy of Sit-ins is that African Americans go to segregated restaurants and if they are denied service, they sit down and refuse to leave. Furthermore, Sit-ins were intended to shame restaurant managers into integrating their restaurants.

What public areas was CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) successful in integration of races? 

The public areas that CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) were successful in the integration of races were the public areas of restaurants, theaters, and several other public facilities in Northern cities such as Chicago, Syracuse, Detroit, and Denver.

Who was Thurgood Marshall? 

Thurgood Marshall was the NAACP’s chief counsel and the director of its legal defense and education fund from the years 1939 to 1961 and would later serve as the first African American to serve as a justice in the Supreme Court.

What did the court rule in Brown v. Board of Education? 

In the court case, Brown v. Board of Education, the court ruled that segregation that was occurring in public schools was unconstitutional and was violating the fourth clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Who led the Montgomery Bus Boycott?

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was led by president of the Montgomery Improvement Association, Martin Luther King Jr.

Why were churches important to the Civil Rights Movement? 

Churches were important to the Civil Rights Movement because they served as forums for several of the protests and planning meetings, and many mobilized many of the volunteers for specific civil rights campaigns. 

Explain the crisis at Little Rock Arkansas. 

The Crisis at Little Rock, Arkansas, was when nine African American students were admitted to Central High which was a public school in Little Rock, Arkansas containing 2,000 white students because of the passing of a court order won by the school board. During the crisis, the National Guard would be sent in by the governor of Arkansas in order to prevent the nine students from entering the school

What was the sit-in movement? What would students do?

The sit-in movement was when African Americans would sit down at counters in public places such as schools and refuse to leave often leading to violence such as food getting thrown at them. The African Americans would do this as a form of protest towards segregation and civil rights.

Explain what were the Freedom Riders/Freedom Rides. 

The Freedom Riders/Freedom Rides were teams made up of African Americans and White students with many of them being college students who would travel to the South in order to draw attention to its refusal to integrate bus terminals.

What did President Kennedy create to stop hiring discrimination against African-Americans? 

In order to stop hiring discrimination against African-Americans, President Kennedy would create the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity or CEEO in order to stop the federal bureaucracy from discriminating against African Americans in the fields of hiring and promotions.

Who was James Meredith? What happened to him? 

James Meredith was an African American air force veteran who applied for a transfer to the University of Mississippi. He would eventually try to register at the University’s admissions office only to find that the Missipsiipi governor would be blocking his way. President Kennedy would react frustrated to this and he would then send 500 federal marshals to escort Meredith to the campus. Meredith would then get admitted and would attend classes all year long and would eventually graduate from the University.

What was the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” about? 

The “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was a letter sent by Martin Luther King Jr while in jail in Birmingham and was about how although the protestors were breaking the laws, they were still following a higher moral code that was based on divine justice.

Describe what the “March on Washington” was. 

The “March on Washington” was a public march that took place in Washington DC in 1963 where more than 200,000 demonstrators from all races marched in order to protest African American civil rights. During the march, the audience would hear speeches, hymns, and songs and Martin Luther King Jr would deliver his most famous speech, his I have a dream speech.

Why did African-Americans march in Selma? What were they protesting against? 

African-Americans marched in Selma because of the voting rights that were being imposed on African Americans in the state and they were protesting against how police were restricting African Americans from voting.

What was the significance of the Selma March? What did it lead to? 

The significance of the Selma March was that it would lead to the nation becoming stunned at the events and would lead to the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1965 which would authorize African Americans the ability to vote and ban the use of discrimination in the form of voting towards people of all races such as literary tests.

What issues were African Americans still facing after 1965? 

After 1965, African Americans were still facing the problems of discrimination, prejudice, poor neighborhood conditions, high crime rates, and several economical issues such as a lack of jobs held by African Americans and high rates of poverty.

What was the cause of the Watts riots? 

The Watts riots were caused by suspected allegations of police brutality.

What was the Kerner Commission, what did they recommend? 

The Kerner Commission was a commission created in 1967 by President Johnson that was created to study the causes of the urban riots that were occurring and to make recommendations to prevent the urban riots from occurring again. The Kerner Commission would recommend the creation of 2 million inner - city jobs, the construction of 6 million new units of public housing, and a renewed federal commitment to fight de facto segregation.

What did black power symbolize? 

Black Power symbolized African Americans should be able to control the social, political, and economic direction of their struggles.

What did the Black Panthers believe?

The Black Panthers believed that a revolution was necessary in the United States and they would urge African Americans to arm themselves and to prepare to force whites to grant African Americans equal rights.

What was the Civil Rights Act of 1968? 

The Civil Rights Act of 1968 was a law passed by congress in 1968 that would contain a fair - housing provision that would outlaw discrimination in all housing sales and rentals and would give the Justice department the authority to bring lawsuits against such discrimination.

Describe what the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was, how did this help African-Americans? (4-5 sentences)(Section 2). 

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was one of the most comprehensive civil rights laws that Congress would ever enact. The law would give the federal government the broad power to prevent racial discrimination in several areas, would make segregation illegal in most places of public accommodation, and would give citizens of all races and nationalities equal access to public facilities. In addition, the act would create, resolve, and end several other things that were issues for African Americans living in the US. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 helped African Americans because it gave them equal access to public facilities with an end in segregation, and gave the African Americans several different rights they did not possess before the passing of the act.

Describe what the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was, how did this help African-Americans? (4-5 sentences)(Section 2)

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 would bring an end to racial discrimination in voting in the US. The act would fulfill several things such as it would authorize the US attorney general to send federal examiners to register qualified voters which would bypass local officials who would often refuse to register African Americans. Furthermore, it would suspend discriminatory devices such as literary tests in counties where less than half of all adults had been already registered to vote. This helped African Americans because it made African Americans finally be able to vote and register to vote in US elections without experiencing any racial discrimination.