Civil Rights Movement Review

Flashcards covering key figures, events, organizations, and legal milestones of the American Civil Rights Movement.

Ida B. Wells

Investigative journalist who exposed lynching in the South through her writing and brought national attention to racial violence.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Leader of the Civil Rights Movement who promoted nonviolent protest and civil disobedience; helped pass the Civil Rights Act (1964).

Earl Warren

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1953–1969) who led the Court in the Brown v. Board decision.

Emmett Till

14-year-old Black boy brutally murdered in Mississippi (1955) whose death energized the Civil Rights Movement.

Schwerner & Goodman

Civil rights activists murdered during Freedom Summer (1964), highlighting the extreme violence faced by activists.

James Meredith

First Black student admitted to the University of Mississippi (1962), requiring federal troops to enforce desegregation.

John F. Kennedy (JFK)

President during the early 1960s who proposed civil rights legislation before his assassination.

Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ)

President who pushed major legislation through Congress, including the Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Rights Act (1965).

Malcolm X

Black nationalist leader who supported self-defense and Black pride, influencing the shift toward militant activism.

Medgar Evers

NAACP leader in Mississippi whose assassination in 1963 increased the urgency for civil rights legislation.

George Wallace

Alabama governor who supported segregation and famously declared "segregation forever."

Ruby Bridges

First Black child to attend an all-white elementary school (1960).

Rosa Parks

Activist whose refusal to give up her bus seat in Montgomery (1955) sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Stokely Carmichael

SNCC leader who promoted Black Power and the shift from nonviolence to militant activism.

Thurgood Marshall

NAACP lawyer who argued Brown v. Board and became the first Black Supreme Court justice.

Little Rock Nine

Group of nine Black students who integrated Central High School (1957) under the protection of federal troops.

Tommie Smith & John Carlos

Olympic athletes who raised their fists in protest in 1968 to bring global awareness to racial inequality.

Truman

President who desegregated the military (1948), marking the first federal action for civil rights.

Eisenhower

President who sent troops to Little Rock to demonstrate federal power over state resistance to desegregation.

Nixon

President who used "law and order" politics, which slowed progress though some policies continued.

Brown v. Board (1954)

Supreme Court ruling that segregation in schools was unconstitutional, ending the "separate but equal" doctrine.

Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955)

A protest against bus segregation that served as the first major success of nonviolent protest.

Sit-ins (1960)

Protests at segregated lunch counters led by students that spread nonviolent protest nationwide.

Freedom Rides (1961)

Activists challenging segregation in interstate travel that forced the federal government to take action.

Birmingham Campaign (1963)

Protests where media coverage of police violence helped gain national support for the movement.

March on Washington (1963)

Massive protest where MLK delivered a speech to build support for the Civil Rights Act.

Freedom Summer (1964)

A voter registration campaign that highlighted systemic voter suppression.

Selma March (1965)

A protest for voting rights that led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act.

SNCC

A student-led organization that focused on protests like sit-ins and Freedom Rides.

NAACP

A legal strategy group focused on challenging segregation through court cases.

CORE

Organization that promoted nonviolent action and organized the Freedom Rides.

SCLC

Organization led by Martin Luther King Jr. that directed major civil rights protests.

Black Panthers

Organization that promoted self-defense and community programs as part of a shift toward militant activism.

Plessy v. Ferguson

Court case that allowed segregation and served as the legal basis for Jim Crow laws.

Civil Rights Act (1964)

A major turning point in legislation that banned segregation in public places.

Voting Rights Act (1965)

Law that protected Black voting rights and ended the use of literacy tests.

Fair Housing Act (1968)

Legislation that banned housing discrimination to address residential inequality.

Disenfranchisement

The act of preventing people from exercising their right to vote.

Nonviolent protest

A method of peaceful resistance used to achieve social change.

De facto segregation

Segregation that occurs through social practice rather than law.

De jure segregation

Segregation that is enforced by law.

Jim Crow laws

Laws specifically designed to enforce racial segregation.

Redlining

The practice of denying loans to individuals in Black neighborhoods.

Black Power

A movement that promoted Black pride, independence, and self-sufficiency.