Civil Rights Movement Revision Notes

8 Nov 2026 · @juliette

Topic 13: The African American Civil Rights Movement, from slavery to the Birmingham campaign of 1963.

Timeline

Key terms and people

Causes

Cause 1: A history of racism

• Nearly 12.5 million enslaved Africans were transported to the Americas from 1619.

• Slaves were forced to work on farms growing tobacco, coffee, cotton, sugar and rice.

• Slavery officially ended after the Civil War in 1865.

Cause 2: Legislative changes in theory

• 13th Amendment (1865): abolished slavery, except as punishment for a crime.

• 14th Amendment (1868): birthright citizenship, due process and equal protection for all.

• 15th Amendment (1870): no one could be denied the vote because of race or colour.

Cause 2: Why these changes failed in practice

• Punishment clause: arrested people were leased out to private companies and plantations, which was slavery by another name.

• Voter suppression: poll taxes, literacy tests and violent intimidation stopped Black men voting.

• Lack of enforcement: the federal government withdrew troops from the South, leaving freed slaves unprotected.

Cause 3: Segregation and Jim Crow laws

• Southern states passed Jim Crow laws that ignored the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments.

• In 1896, Plessy v. Ferguson ruled segregation constitutional if "separate but equal".

• This limited African Americans' access to education, housing and jobs.

• Examples:

  • Alabama: white female nurses could not be made to work in wards with Black men.

  • Florida: marriage between white people and people of African descent was banned.

  • Missouri: marriage was void even with 1/8 Black ancestry.

  • Mississippi: segregated prisons; 3 months' jail for promoting opposition to Jim Crow.

Key events 1954–1957

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

• Cause: Jim Crow laws kept Southern schools segregated.

• Event: On 17 May 1954 the Supreme Court ruled school segregation violated the Constitution, so "separate but equal" did not apply in schools.

• Impact: All public schools had to desegregate, but it took a long time to take effect.

Little Rock Nine (1957)

• Cause: Arkansas, a Southern state, resisted desegregation.

• Event: On 3 September 1957, 9 African American teenagers were to start at Little Rock Central High School. Governor Orval Faubus ordered the National Guard to block them, claiming it was for their safety. On 4 September a mob and the Guard stopped them entering.

• Elizabeth Eckford's family had no phone, so she missed the plan to arrive together. She faced the mob alone and later described her knees shaking as the crowd shouted threats.

• Outcome: 16 days later a federal judge removed the Guard, but protests continued. On 25 September President Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne to protect the students so they could attend class.

Murder of Emmett Till (1955)

• Cause: 14-year-old Emmett Till, visiting family in Mississippi, may have whistled at Carolyn Bryant in her store.

• Event: Her husband Roy Bryant and brother-in-law J.W. Milam kidnapped and murdered him, dumping his body in the Tallahatchie River. Despite witnesses, they were found not guilty.

• Outcome: His mother chose an open casket so America could see what was done. Photos circulated nationwide and the funeral was covered by the media, building support for civil rights.

Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–56)

• Cause: On 1 December 1955, Rosa Parks, an active civil rights member, refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama, and was arrested.

• Event: African Americans and allies boycotted the buses for about a year, walking to work instead. They were the main customers (60–70%), so bus companies lost about 65% of their income.

• Outcome: Courts ruled bus segregation unconstitutional and ordered desegregation. It showed non-violent protest works, though segregation remained in restaurants and theatres.

Civil Rights Act 1957

• Cause: Only 20% of African Americans were registered to vote, especially low in the South, because of unfair tests and threats.

• Event: The Act aimed to help African Americans vote freely and let federal prosecutors investigate voter suppression.

• Impact: It did not increase Black voter numbers in the South or stop Southern governments, but it was widely publicised.

Key events 1960–1963

Greensboro Sit-in (1 February 1960)

• Cause: Inspired by Gandhi's non-violent protest and the murder of Emmett Till; people were sick of segregated restaurants.

• Event: 4 young Black men sat at a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, and refused to leave after being denied service.

• Impact: Sit-ins spread to college towns across the South. Many protesters were arrested for trespassing or disorderly conduct. TV coverage gave the movement publicity, and the diner and other businesses changed their segregation policies.

Freedom Rides (1961)

• Cause: The Supreme Court had ruled segregation on interstate buses illegal (1946) and extended this to waiting rooms, terminals and restaurants (1960), but the South ignored it.

• Event: 13 members of CORE rode buses from Washington (North) to New Orleans (South) to test the ruling. They faced violence and their bus was firebombed. Hundreds were jailed, some denied food and blankets, but more buses kept coming, supported by Northerners.

• Impact: Inspired Southern African Americans to use civil disobedience, was reported worldwide, and led to the desegregation of all interstate bus companies.

Birmingham, Alabama (1963)

• Cause: In January 1963 Martin Luther King announced a campaign in Birmingham, one of the most segregated cities in the US. Governor George Wallace promised "segregation forever".

• Action: Daily demonstrations aimed to fill the jails (about 300 arrests). Authorities hit back with an injunction against marching and high bail, and some wondered if non-violence was working.

• Event (Children's Crusade): On 2 May 1963 children led the march. Police arrested over 900 children and used fire hoses, dogs and batons. Many police and firemen refused to attack, as it looked bad in the media.

• Impact: Lunch counters, restrooms and drinking fountains were desegregated in exchange for ending the protests. Photos from Birmingham also inspired Australia's 1965 Freedom Ride.