📘 Civil Rights Revision Notes (with Dates)

🌍 United Nations & Human Rights

United Nations (UN)

  • Founded: October 1945

  • After: World War II

  • Purpose:

    • Maintain international peace

    • Promote human rights

    • Encourage cooperation between countries

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)

  • Adopted: December 10, 1948

  • Created by the UN

  • Sets out basic human rights for all people

  • Key ideas:

    • Equality

    • Freedom

    • Protection from discrimination

  • Context: Response to atrocities of WWII

🇺🇸 US Civil Rights Movement

Emmett Till

  • Event: Murdered in August 1955

  • 14-year-old African American boy

  • His death shocked the nation

  • Impact: Sparked outrage → increased support for civil rights movement

Rosa Parks & Montgomery Bus Boycott

  • Date: December 5th, 1955 – December 20th, 1956

  • Parks refused to give up her seat

  • Led to Montgomery Bus Boycott

  • Impact: Ended bus segregation

Martin Luther King Jr.

  • Active mainly 1950s–1960s

  • Leader of nonviolent protest

  • Key event:

    • March on Washington: August 1963

  • Impact: Major influence on civil rights laws

  • Assassinated in 1968.

Little Rock Nine

  • Date: September 1957

  • 9 Black students integrated a white school

  • Faced extreme racism

  • Impact: Showed need for federal enforcement of rights

🇦🇺 Australian Civil Rights Movement

Background

  • Discrimination against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

  • Lack of:

    • Voting rights

    • Equal treatment

    • Legal recognition

Day of Mourning

  • Date: January 26th, 1938

  • Protest on Australia Day

  • Impact: First major Indigenous civil rights protest

Federal Voting Rights

  • Year: 1962

  • Indigenous Australians gained the right to vote federally

Freedom Rides

  • Date: February 1965

  • Led by Charles Perkins

  • Exposed racism in rural towns

  • Impact: Raised public awareness

1967 Referendum

  • Date: May 1967

  • Over 90% voted “Yes”

  • Allowed federal government to make laws for Indigenous people

  • Included them in the census

Mabo Decision

  • Date: June 1992

  • Recognised native title

  • Overturned terra nullius

  • Led by Eddie Mabo

Bringing Them Home Report

  • Date: 1997

  • Investigated forced removal of Indigenous children

  • Impact: Raised awareness of injustice

National Apology

  • Date: February 2008

  • Given by Kevin Rudd

  • Apologised to the Stolen Generations

Reconciliation

  • Ongoing process (1990s → present)

  • Goal: Improve relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians

  • Definition: Reconciliation is about strengthening relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-indigenous peoples, for the benefit of all Australians.