Civil Rights Movement

8.6 (1945-1960)

Objective: Explain how and why the civil rights movement developed and expanded from 1945-1960.

Key Ideas:

Plessy v. Ferguson

  • Separate but Equal

Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

From 1960 to 1963, the Civil Rights Movement was shaped by the SNCC organizing sit-ins and voter registration drives. The Southern Manifesto opposed desegregation, causing tensions. Martin Luther King Jr.'s SCLC promoted nonviolent protests. The period demonstrated the impact of political and social efforts in advancing the movement.

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

In the 1970s, social movements like SNCC and the Black Panther Party played a key role in advancing the Civil Rights Movement. Grassroots organizations led actions such as the Freedom Rides, sit-ins, and marches to challenge segregation. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were influenced by both political and social pressures. Legal victories and grassroots mobilization together drove the movement forward, leading to significant social change and progress in civil rights.

Southern Manifesto

The period from 1960 to 1963 was crucial for the Civil Rights Movement. Actions like sit-ins, freedom rides, and the March on Washington highlighted racial injustice. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) organized these movements, emphasizing grassroots activism. President Kennedy's backing of civil rights laws and the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education ruling also influenced the political landscape. Political and social movements collaborated to combat segregation and discrimination in the U.S.

Executive Order 10730

  • Desegregation of Little Rock, Arkansas schools

Jackie Robinson

  • First African-American inside of Major League Baseball

  • Help ended the segregation of sports

Montgomery Bus Boycotts

  • One of the earliest Equal Rights movements

  • Rosa Parks, NAACP member

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

  • Martin Luther King, Jr.

Which was more responsible for the growing Civil Rights Movement: Political or Social movements?

Political:

  • Brown v. Board of Education

  • Exec. Order 10730

Social:

8.10 (1960s)