Exploring American HistoryExploring American History

Unit IX- Postwar AmericaUnit IX- Postwar America

Chapter 28 – Section 1Chapter 28 – Section 1

The Civil Rights Movement Takes The Civil Rights Movement Takes ShapeShape

The Civil Rights Movement Takes The Civil Rights Movement Takes ShapeShape

The Big Idea

Civil rights activists used legal challenges and public protests to confront segregation.

Main Ideas

• Civil rights leaders battled school segregation in court.

• The Montgomery bus boycott helped end segregation on buses.

• Students organized sit-ins to protest segregation.

Main Idea 1:Main Idea 1:Civil rights leaders battled school Civil rights leaders battled school

segregation in court.segregation in court.

In 1896 Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson established the “separate-but-equal” doctrine. Federal, state, and local governments could allow

segregation so long as separate facilities were equal. States in North and South maintained separate

schools for white and black students.

In reality, segregated schools were not equal. Schools for black children typically received less

funding.

Early civil rights leaders focused on ending segregation in public schools. Led by members of National Association for the

Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

Brown Brown v. v. Board of EducationBoard of Education NAACP worked to show that separate schools did not

provide equal educational opportunities for black students.

NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall led courtroom battles against segregation.

Brown v. Board of Education “Brown” was a seven-year-old African American girl

named Linda Brown from Topeka, Kansas.

Linda’s father and the NAACP sued to allow Linda to attend school closer to her home.

May 17, 1954– Supreme Court issued an unanimous ruling that segregation in public schools was illegal.

The next year, the Court ordered public schools to desegregate.

Brown Brown v.v. Board of Education Board of Education

The Supreme Court heard arguments over a two-year period. The Court also considered research about segregation’s effects on African American children.

In 1954 Chief Justice Earl Warren issued the Supreme Court’s decision.

All nine justices agreed that separate schools for African Americans and whites violated the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection of the law.

Little Rock NineLittle Rock Nine Most schools in South implemented gradual

integration plans. Little Rock, Arkansas school board decided to start

by integrating one high school. Invited nine outstanding black students, who became

known as the Little Rock Nine, to attend Central High School

Arkansas governor Orval Faubus worked to prevent desegregation by using National Guard troops to block the nine students from school.

For weeks, Faubus refused to allow them to attend school.

Finally President Eisenhower sent federal troops to escort students into the school.

Little Rock Nine began attending classes. Faced hostility and discrimination from other students Eight of the nine remained in school and graduated.

Battling School SegregationBattling School Segregation

IdentifyIdentify – Which Supreme Court – Which Supreme Court case made school segregation legal?case made school segregation legal?

SummarizeSummarize – Describe the Supreme – Describe the Supreme Court action in Brown v. Board of Court action in Brown v. Board of Education.Education.

DevelopDevelop – Why was it significant – Why was it significant that the Supreme Court decision in that the Supreme Court decision in the Brown case was unanimous?the Brown case was unanimous?

Battling School SegregationBattling School Segregation

RecallRecall – How many of the – How many of the Little Rock Nine graduated Little Rock Nine graduated from Central High?from Central High?

AnalyzeAnalyze – Why do you think – Why do you think Hazel Massery and Elizabeth Hazel Massery and Elizabeth Eckford became friends?Eckford became friends?

Main Idea 2: Main Idea 2: The Montgomery bus boycott helped end The Montgomery bus boycott helped end

segregation on buses.segregation on buses. Black passengers required to sit at back of city

buses and to give up seats to white passengers On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up

her seat to a white passenger. Bus driver called police and she was taken to jail.

Local leaders organized a Montgomery bus boycott. Thousands of African Americans stopped riding buses. Bus ridership fell by 70 percent. Martin Luther King Jr., a young Baptist minister, helped

lead the boycott. Lasted 381 days

Finally in November 1956 the Supreme Court ruled that segregation on public transportation was illegal.

Montgomery Bus BoycottMontgomery Bus Boycott

ExplainExplain – Why was the Montgomery – Why was the Montgomery Improvement Association formed?Improvement Association formed?

RecallRecall – How long did the bus – How long did the bus boycott last?boycott last?

ElaborateElaborate – Why was it significant – Why was it significant that black and white ministers rode that black and white ministers rode together on the first integrated bus together on the first integrated bus in Montgomery?in Montgomery?

Main Idea 3: Main Idea 3: Students organized sit-ins to protest Students organized sit-ins to protest

segregation.segregation. Many private businesses in the South were segregated. On February 1, 1960, four students went into a

Woolworth in Greensboro, North Carolina, and staged a sit-in—a demonstration in which protesters sit down and refuse to leave.

They sat in the “whites only” section of the lunch counter. The next day, they returned with dozens more students. Soon another sit in began at a nearby store. Despite harassment, they refused to respond with violence.

Over time, some businesses began process of integration.

Leaders of student protests formed Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1960.

Trained protesters Organized civil rights demonstrations

Sit-ins and the S.N.C.C.Sit-ins and the S.N.C.C.

DescribeDescribe – What protest – What protest strategy was used in the sit-strategy was used in the sit-ins?ins?

AnalyzeAnalyze – Why do you think – Why do you think sit-ins were effective?sit-ins were effective?