civil rights in the u.s. - mr. young's class! · • literacy tests required voters to answer...

W I T H A F O C U S O N T H E S T R U G G L E O F A F R I C A N A M E R I C A N S

CIVIL RIGHTS IN THE U.S.

CIVIL RIGHTS

• Definition: the rights of citizens to political and social

freedom and equality.

POST-CIVIL WAR TO EARLY 1900S

LET’S BACKTRACK…

• How were African Americans viewed by the courts in the early 1800s?

• “The plaintiff having admitted…that his ancestors were imported from Africa and sold as slaves, he is not a citizen of the State of Missouri according to the Constitution of the United States, and was not entitled to sue in that character in the Circuit Court.”

• The Constitution of the United States recognises slaves as property…”

• Dredd Scott v. Sandford – 60 U.S. 393 (1856)

BUT THEN THERE WAS A WAR…

• After the Civil War, America went through a period

of reconstruction.

• Radical Republicans

pass the Civil Rights

Act of 1866 and

Reconstruction Act of

1867

CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1866

• Gave citizenship to ALL males in the U.S. “without

distinction of race or color, or previous condition of

slavery or involuntary servitude.”

RECONSTRUCTION ACT OF 1867

• Temporarily split the south into 5 military districts.

• Governments with universal male suffrage were

organized. (Based on 13th Amendment)

• Required states to ratify 14th Amendment to rejoin

the union.

• The 15th Amendment was also passed…

THE AMENDMENTS:

• 13th Amendment: (1865) freed the slaves

• 14th Amendment: (1868) gave former slaves equal

rights, citizenship, & due process

• 15th Amendment: (1870) give former slaves the right

to vote

• Way to remember: Free (13) Citizens (14) Vote (15)

EFFECT ON THE SOUTH

• Many white Southerners

were angry with the civil

rights that they felt were

imposed on them by the

federal government.

KKK

• The Ku Klux Klan was started. The KKK is an

organization that promotes hatred and

discrimination against specific racial and religious

groups.

• When opponents of

reconstruction gained

power in the south, they

imposed de jure

segregation, or

segregation imposed by

the law, by creating

laws that discriminated

against African

Americans.


• Protected all Americans, regardless of race, in their

access to public accommodations and facilities

such as restaurants, theaters, trains and other public

transportation, and protected the right to serve on

juries.

THE FALL OF CIVIL RIGHTS IN THE LATE 1800S

• In 1877, new President Rutherford B. Hayes removed

troops from the south.

The Result?

• Jim Crow laws were passed that

separated African Americans and

whites in everyday life and culture.

• Poll taxes required voters to pay a tax

for the ability to vote.

• Literacy tests required voters to

answer questions by reading

questions and writing the answer

(illiterate former slaves were unable to

complete the test)

• Grandfather Clauses limited voters to

those whose grandfathers had voted

before 1867.

THE FALL OF CIVIL RIGHTS IN THE LATE 1800S

• The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was not enforced.

• The Supreme Court declared the Civil Rights Act unconstitutional in 1883.

• “When a man has emerged from slavery, and, by the aid of beneficent legislation, has shaken off the inseparable concomitants of that state, there must be some stage in the progress of his elevation when he takes the rank of a mere citizen and ceases to be the special favorite of the laws, and when his rights as a citizen or a man are to be protected in the ordinary modes by which other men's rights are protected.”

• Civil Rights Cases - 1883

PLESSY V. FERGUSON (1896)

• Enforced into Federal Law the idea of “separate but equal,” where African-Americans would have entirely separate facilities from people who were white.

• “Legislation is powerless to eradicate racial instincts or to abolish distinctions based upon physical differences, and the attempt to do so can only result in accentuating the difficulties of the present situation. If the civil and political rights of both races be equal, one cannot be inferior to the other civilly or politically. If one race be inferior to the other socially, the Constitution of the United States cannot put them upon the same plane.”

• -Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896.

BOOKER T. AND W.E.B.

Booker T. Washington W.E.B. Dubois

-Head of the Tuskegee Institute, a

school for teachers in Tuskegee,

Alabama.

-Called African Americans to “pull

themselves up from their own

bootstraps” by working hard and

building up their reputations as

hard workers and honest citizens.

-Gave vocational training, which is

training to do a specific job.

-Held a Ph.D. from Harvard

University.

-Argued that African-Americans

should not need to accommodate

the whites of the South.

-African Americans should

demand full and immediate

equality, and not limit themselves

to vocational education





Alabama.




building up their won reputations

as hard workers and honest

citizens.




University. Professor at Atlanta

University












Alabama.




building up their won reputations

as hard workers and honest

citizens.




University.








NIAGARA MOVEMENT

• Started by W.E.B. Du Bois

• Name from original meeting location: Niagara Falls.

They wanted to meet on the

New York side of the Falls,

but were denied

accommodations, so they

were required to go to the

Canadian side, where they

had no problem finding a

place to meet.

NIAGARA MOVEMENT

• Demanded that African-

Americans have the

right to vote.

• Demanded that African-

Americans not be

forced to be separated

in public transportation

and elsewhere.

• Demanded that they be

able to enjoy the things

that White people enjoy

NAACP

• In 1908, a riot happened in Springfield, Illinois, when

a crowd wanted to lynch two African-American

prisoners in the city jail.

• When the crowd found out that the prisoners had

been removed to safety, there was a riot against

the city’s black residents which resulted in two

people dying and 40 homes burned.

NAACP

• White reformers saw the need to take an active role. They joined with the Niagara Movement to form the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

• NAACP aimed to help African Americans be “physically free from peonage [forced, low-paid labor], mentally free from ignorance, politically free from disenfranchisement, and socially free from insult.”

URBAN LEAGUE

• As many African-Americans moved from rural areas to

cities to find work, the Urban League was formed was

formed to advocate for the rights of those who were

poorer workers.

• Helped families buy clothes and books

• Sent children to school

• Helped factory workers and maids find jobs.

THE MODERN CIVIL RIGHTS ERA

AMERICA STILL DIVIDED IN 1950S

• De jure segregation, segregation by

law, was still in existence.

• Plessy v. Ferguson’s “separate but equal

doctrine” was present throughout

American culture

• De facto segregation, or segregation

by culture or tradition, was present

when laws were not in place.

• Example: African-Americans had difficulty getting housing in many neighborhoods.

• WWII brought stirrings of the Civil

Rights movement.

• FDR banned discrimination in defense

industries.

• African-Americans who fought for our

safety abroad would not tolerate discrimination at home.

• In 1947, Jackie Robinson brought

integration (bringing together of

African-Americans and whites in

society) to baseball.

BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION

• The courts began to help in

the Civil Rights movement.

• Brown v. BOE was brought by

Thurgood Marshall, an African

American lawyer from NAACP.

(Marshall would later become

a Supreme Court Justice)

BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION

• The opinion, written by Chief Justice

Earl Warren: “Does segregation of

children in public schools solely on

the basis of race . . . Deprive the

children of the minority group equal

education opportunities? . . . We

believe it does. . . [I]n the field of

education, ‘separate but equal’ has

no place.”

• Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

LITTLE ROCK

• Little Rock planned to integrate it’s schools

• Nine African American students volunteered

• Governor opposed integration and called out

Arkansas National Guard.

LITTLE ROCK

• President Eisenhower sent troops to Little Rock to

enforce the Brown v. BOE decision.

• Troops escorted

the students to

and from school

every day for the

entire school

year.


• Established Civil Rights division of

Justice Department.

• Allowed federal officials to prosecute

those who conspired to deny or limit

the right to vote

• U.S. Civil Rights Commission was

created to investigate the infringement

of the rights of voters.

• As the first Civil Rights bill passed since

Reconstruction, the passage of this law

showed the Federal Government was

becoming more committed to the

cause of Civil Rights.

President

Eisenhower signs

the Civil Rights Act

of 1957 into law

EMMETT TILL

• Emmett Till was a 14 year old boy

from Chicago visiting family in

Mississippi in August of 1955.

• Till reportedly flirted with a white

cashier at a grocery store on

August 24

• Four days later, two white men, Roy

Bryant and J.W. Milam, kidnapped

Till, beat him, and shot him in the

head.

EMMETT TILL

• Milam and Bryant shoved Till’s body in the river, but it

was found 3 days later.

• Till was only identified because of the ring on his

finger.

• He was sent back to Chicago, where his mother

opted for an open casket funeral where thousands of

people came to pay respects.

• Till’s mother wanted to “let the world see what

happened, because there was no way I could

describe this. And I needed somebody to help me

tell what it was like.”

EMMETT TILL

• Back in Mississippi, Milam and Bryant were charged

with murder. They went to trial in September of 1955.

• They were found not guilty by an all male, all white

jury after 67 minutes of deliberation.

• In January of 1956, Bryant and Milam admitted they

did the crime, and told the story to Look magazine

for $4,000

• The murder of Emmitt Till ignited the Civil

Rights movement

MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT

• December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, an African-

American woman, refuses to give up her seat to a

white passenger on a bus.

• Parks was arrested

MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT

• Within days, civil rights activists in Montgomery

organized a one day bus boycott

• The boycott was a way to express disapproval of

Parks’ arrest.

THE NEXT DAY…

• The day after the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a

meeting was held by the Montgomery

Improvement Association (MIA).

• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. addressed the group

• King was a Baptist Minister

• He gave an inspirational speech

• He was chosen to lead the MIA

SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE

• Started by Martin Luther King, Jr.

and Ralph Abernathy.

• The goal was to continue the

struggle for civil rights.

• Largely made up by southern

ministers.

• Advocated for non-violent

resistance to injustice

NON-VIOLENT PROTESTS

• Greensboro Sit-In: Feb 1, 1960. Four African American college students ordered doughnuts and coffee at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, NC. Waitress refused to serve them.

• The students sat on stools at the lunch counter until the restaurant closed. This was a sit-in.

• News of the sit-in spread, and others did the same around the country.

NON-VIOLENT PROTESTS

STUDENT NONVIOLENT COORDINATING COMMITTEE

• Created by young African-Americans with a goal to

create a grassroots movement that involved ALL

classes of African Americans in the struggle to

defeat white racism and obtain equality.

BOYNTON V. VIRGINIA (1960)

• Segregation on interstate buses and in waiting

rooms was illegal.

CONGRESS OF RACIAL EQUALITY (CORE)

• Founded at the University of Chicago in 1942.

• Pioneered the use of non-violent resistance. • Staged many different protests:

• Freedom Rides: Riders set off on two separate buses from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans. The riders defied codes of segregation (example: Sat at front of bus and used white restrooms). • One of the buses was firebombed in

Alabama, while the riders of the other bus were attacked by a white mob in Birmingham.

INTEGRATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI

• James Meredith was a Air Force veteran who wanted to enroll at Ole Miss in 1962.

• Meredith won a federal court case that said he was allowed to enroll (Medger Evers was critical in this effort)

• The Governor of Mississippi tried to block Meredith’s enrollment.

• Federal Marshals were sent to protect Meredith.

• September 30: A riot erupted. 2 people were killed.

• Meredith enrolled the next day and graduated in 1963.

BACK TO BIRMINGHAM…

• Spring, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. and the SCLC

focus on Birmingham for their major Civil Rights

campaign.

• Why? Because it had a reputation as the most segregated

city in the South.

CAMPAIGNS IN BIRMINGHAM

• Stage #1: sit-ins and protest marches (marches

made to express opposition to segregation policies)

KING ARRESTED

• City officials received a court order blocking the

demonstrations.

• King marched on Good Friday, in violation of the

order, and was arrested.

• From jail, King wrote his Letter from a Birmingham

Jail.

EXCERPT FROM LETTER FROM A BIRMINGHAM JAIL

• “For years now I have heard the word ‘wait!’ It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This ‘Wait!’ has almost always meant ‘Never.’… Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, ‘Wait.’ But… when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park that has been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children… Then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait.

• Martin Luther King, Jr. “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” 1963.

• After King released from jail, frequency of

demonstrations increases.

• Public Safety Commissioner T. Eugene Bull Conner

used police dogs and fire hoses to break up the

protests.

• The images from the marches were seen

throughout the country.

• President Kennedy made a moving TV address on

June 11, 1963, and called for sweeping Civil Rights

reform.

MARCH ON WASHINGTON

• August 26, 1963. Massive demonstration in Washington, D.C. that brought together major civil rights groups, labor unions, and religious groups.

• More than 200,000 demonstrators.

• Peaceful protest. Rally near Lincoln Memorial.

• King makes his now famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

AFTER THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON…

• September 15, 1963,

bomb explodes in

Sixteenth Street Baptist

Church, killing 4 young

girls.

• November 22, 1963,

John F. Kennedy is

assassinated. Lyndon B.

Johnson becomes

President.


• Civil Rights Act of 1964 is passed while

Johnson is President.

• Banned segregation in public

accommodations

• Gave Federal Government ability to

compel state and local school boards to desegregate schools

• Federal Prosecutors had the ability to

prosecute people who violated civil rights

• Outlawed discrimination based on race,

color, sex, or national origin.

• Established affirmative action, which is a

policy of giving special consideration to

minorities and women to make up for past

discrimination

FREEDOM SUMMER

• Summer of 1964

• Major campaign to register African-Americans to vote in Mississippi.

• Three volunteers murdered before the campaign even began.

• Formed Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, and advocated to become recognized as the only Democratic Party in Mississippi. They were unsuccessful, but gained delegates

MARCH ON SELMA

• Martin Luther King, Jr. and SCLC organized

a campaign in Selma, Alabama.

• Confrontation

• March 7, 1965: “Bloody Sunday”

• State troopers attacked the marchers.

• The attack was televised, outraging Americans

• President Johnson called for a strong voting

rights law.

• Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed.

• Banned literacy tests.

• Empowered federal government to oversee

voting registration.

24TH AMENDMENT

• The 24th Amendment was ratified in 1964 and

banned the Poll Tax

AFTER VOTING RIGHTS ACT PASSED…

• Race riot exploded in Watts

neighborhood of Los Angeles.

• Violence, Looting, and Arson

spread

• It took days for the National

Guard to restore order.

• Other riots happened in places like Newark, NJ and

Detroit, MI.

• President Johnson established the Kerner

Commission to investigate the causes of the riots.

• Conclusion: Racial discrimination stood as the single most

important cause of violence

MALCOLM X

• Alternative to Martin Luther King, Jr.

• Was a member of the Nation of Islam, a religious sect led by Elijah Muhammed. • Views included no drugs or alcohol, and

separatism, or separation of whites and blacks.

• Advocated for a more militant approach than MLK

• Malcolm X was a prominent minister of Nation of Islam, but broke away.

• Was shot and killed in February 1965.

• Three members of the Nation of Islam were found guilty of the murder.

STOKELY CARMICHAEL

• Advocated black power. How did

he define it?

• ‘‘When you talk about black power

you talk about bringing this country

to its knees any time it messes with

the black man … any white man in

this country knows about power. He

knows what white power is and he

ought to know what black power is’’

• African Americans should

collectively use their economic and

political muscle to gain equality

BLACK PANTHERS

• Organization that created armed patrols that

protected urban neighborhoods and people from

police abuse.

• Also served free breakfasts to African American

children who were in need.

• Made “Afro” and the term “black” popular.

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. ASSASSINATED

• King continued to use non-violent methods to gain peace despite the call for “black power.”

• King made a speech on April 3, 1968 in Memphis, TN in which he said: “Like anybody, I would like to live a long life, but I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will.”

• The next day, while standing on the balcony of his motel, King was shot and died soon after.

CIVIL RIGHTS UNDER LYNDON JOHNSON

RECAP

• The following were passed under President Johnson:


• Civil Rights Act of 1964 is passed while

Johnson is President.

• Banned segregation in public

accommodations

• Gave Federal Government ability to

compel state and local school boards to desegregate schools

• Federal Prosecutors had the ability to

prosecute people who violated civil rights

• Outlawed discrimination based on race,

color, sex, or national origin.

• Established affirmative action, which is a

policy of giving special consideration to

minorities and women to make up for past

discrimination

24TH AMENDMENT

• The 24th Amendment was ratified in 1964 and

banned the Poll Tax

VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965

• Banned literacy tests.

• Empowered federal government to oversee voting

registration.

WHAT ELSE HAPPENED DURING JOHNSON’S PRESIDENCY?

• President Johnson’s

goals shaped his Great

Society program.

• The legislation of the

program aimed to

achieve a quality of life that Johnson thought all

Americans should enjoy.

WAR ON POVERTY

• Johnson declared an

“unconditional war on poverty.”

• Johnson was able to get a tax

cut on the middle class and

add $1,000,000,000 in provisions

to do the following:

• Train the jobless.

• Educate the uneducated

• Provide healthcare for those in need

ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY ACT

• Passed in 1964

• Created the Job Corps to train young men and

women age 16-21 in the skills they needed to

acquire better jobs

• Created Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) to

serve impoverished communities to solve the

economic, educational, and medical problems of

America.

MEDICARE

• 1965: Medicare created.

• Provided basic hospital insurance for Americans in

the Social Security system who were age 65 and

older.

WARREN COURT

• Led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, the Warren Court

was the most liberal in American history.

• Their decisions supported civil rights, civil liberties,

voting rights, and personal privacy.

• Miranda vs. Arizona: accused criminal had to be

informed of their Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights

before being questioned.

civil rights in the u.s. - mr. young's class! · • literacy tests required voters to answer...

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