Civil Rights Movement Vocab Study Guide

Flashcards about key events and concepts in African American history, from Emancipation to the Civil Rights Movement.

Emancipation Proclamation

1863 executive order by Abraham Lincoln freeing slaves in Confederate states.

Black soldiers in the Civil War

Nearly 200,000 African Americans fought for the Union, facing discrimination but contributing significantly.

13th Amendment

Abolished slavery in the United States in 1865.

Black Codes (1865–1866)

Southern state laws that restricted the rights of newly freed African Americans.

Congressional Reconstruction

Radical Republican-led effort to enforce civil rights and rebuild the South after the Civil War.

14th Amendment

Granted citizenship and equal protection under the law to all born or naturalized in the U.S.

15th Amendment

Prohibited denying the right to vote based on race, color, or previous servitude.

White terrorism in the South during Reconstruction (KKK)

Groups used violence to suppress Black political power and civil rights.

Enforcement Acts (“Klan Acts”)

1870–71 laws to protect African American voters and suppress the KKK.

Colfax Massacre

White militia killed over 100 Black men; SCOTUS limited federal power to prosecute civil rights violations.

Cruikshank v. US (1875)

SCOTUS limited federal power to prosecute civil rights violations.

Depression of 1873

Economic crisis that weakened Northern interest in Southern Reconstruction.

“Redeemer” State Governments

Southern Democrats who regained control and rolled back Reconstruction reforms.

The Compromise of 1877

Resolved the 1876 election; ended Reconstruction and removed federal troops from the South.

Sharecropping

System where freedmen farmed land in exchange for a share of crops, often trapping them in debt.

Disenfranchisement laws

State laws designed to suppress Black voting.

Poll Tax

Fee to vote, suppressing black voters.

Literacy Test

Reading tests with biased administration, used to suppress black voters.

White Primary

Only white voters could participate in primaries, suppressing black voters.

Local control over registration

Gave officials power to deny registration, often arbitrarily, suppressing black voters.

Lynching and race riots

Extra-legal violence used to enforce white supremacy and terrorize Black communities.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

SCOTUS upheld “separate but equal” segregation.

Segregation laws (de jure)

Legalized racial separation in public spaces.

De Facto segregation

Racial separation by custom or economic conditions, not by law.

Frederick Douglass and political power

Former slave and leading abolitionist who advocated for Black voting rights.

Booker T. Washington and “accommodation”

Urged vocational education and economic self-reliance over political activism.

W.E.B. DuBois and Ida B. Wells

Pushed for civil rights through legal action and journalism; co-founders of the NAACP.

The Great Migration (1917–1965)

Mass movement of African Americans from the South to Northern and Western cities for better opportunities.

WWII and Cold War impact on Civil Rights (FEPC)

Pressure for democracy abroad led to federal actions

Desegregation of military

Truman ordered racial integration of the armed forces in 1948.

Thurgood Marshall & Brown v. Board (1954)

NAACP lawyer won SCOTUS case ending school segregation.

Emmett Till murder

1955 lynching of a Black teen; galvanized the Civil Rights Movement.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

1955–56 protest sparked by Rosa Parks; launched MLK Jr. ’s leadership.

Nonviolent protest strategy

Tactic of peaceful resistance inspired by Gandhi and used to confront segregation.

SNCC

Youth-led civil rights group organizing sit-ins, Freedom Rides, and voter registration.

SCLC

MLK Jr.'s organization leading major protests and advocating nonviolence and civil disobedience.

Birmingham protests

Violent response to peaceful protests pushed Congress to pass sweeping civil rights law, leading to the Civil Rights Act (1964).

Civil Rights Act (1964)

Sweeping civil rights law passed by Congress in response to the violent response to peaceful protests.

Selma March

March for voting rights led to federal legislation banning voter suppression tactics, leading to the Voting Rights Act (1965).

Voting Rights Act (1965)

Federal legislation banning voter suppression tactics, passed due to the Selma March.

Black Nationalism & Black Power

Advocated racial pride, self-determination, and sometimes separation from white society.