2026

CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

Riya Bhawan
MARIST BROTHERS LINMEYER
3/6/2026
RIYA BHAWAN
How did the Civil Rights Movement emerge?
• CRM → emerged in the US during the 1950s & 1960s in reaction to the Jim Crow Laws in the
American South & stressed patience as long as it took to achieve justice
• These laws humiliated black Americans by:
o Restricting them to inferior schools
o Making them use separate entrances from white Americans into sports stadiums, cinemas &
theatres
o Preventing black Americans from accessing swimming pools & beaches
o Making it difficult for black Americans to exercise the right to vote
• In Southern States (Alabama, South Carolina & Arkansas):
o Black Americans → use separate facilities (ticket offices & toilets)
▪ Sit in last few rows at the back of the bus & enter thru a separate entrance
• CRM was made up of black & white Americans who worked together to:
o defy unjust, racist laws
o force courts & govt to scrap these practices
• It was a largely middle-class movement → aimed at ending segregation in:
o Education & transport facilities
• CRM included:
o Christian churchgoers → made up a large proportion of its members
o Most participants → middle-aged adults who saw themselves as respectable & decent
▪ Shared liberal values → rights of the individual to dignity, freedom of movement &
speech
▪ The right to vote → important because black Americans were intimidated to prevent
them from voting
• CRM focused on:
o Smaller towns & cities & rural areas of the American South
o Their approach → passive resistance & reject violence
o Civil rights campaigners → break racist laws & go to jail rather than paying fines/bails
o CRM believed that all Americans has civil/natural rights to “life, liberty & the pursuit of
happiness”
o Ghandi introduced a form of passive resistance 1→ satyagraha
▪ An approach of non-violent deliberate disobedience of unjust laws to shame
oppressors into scrapping these Acts
▪ Seen as a form of moral pressure → appealed to people’s sense of kindness &
decency
o Civil Rights campaigners → victims of violence & badly injured/killed
▪ Forbidden from using any form of violence even in self-defense
▪ It was an extraordinary form of protests → concept of turning the other cheek
• Form of protests (moderate, liberal, & middle class forms of protests)
o Boycotts o Deliberate Civil
o Marches Disobedience
o Sit-ins o Lobbying petitions
o Court cases o Mass rallies
o Letters to newspapers
• Wanted integration of all facilities & institutions & wanted the govt. to uphold their
rights as citizens
• Educated, articulate & relatively well-off black Americans → well represented in CRM
Acronym What was the name in full? Established
NAACP National Association for the Advancement of Coloured 1909
People
CORE Congress of Racial Equality 1942
SNCC Students’ Nonviolent Coordinating Committee 1960

1
Passive Resistance – confrontation without any violence/force
RIYA BHAWAN

What were the reasons & origins of the CRM in the USA?
• Most of these Southern states declared their independence & seceded to form the
Confederate States of America in 1861 with their own flag & govt
o The Northern states considered this a rebellion
▪ Called themselves the Union, & engaged in bloody fighting
▪ The Unionist forces in the North were much stronger than the
Confederate forces in the South & defeated them
• 1862 → Lincoln made his famous Emancipation Proclamation, declaring:
o All the slaves in the South to be free
o Abolition of slavery was the official aim of the Unionist forces
o The 13th Amendment of the US Constitution then made slavery illegal
o Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (Nov. 19 th, 1963) → all Americans, black & white =
• The Ku Klux Klan (KKK):
o Some white Americans → determined to use terror tactics to keep black
Americans suppressed
o Wore white sheets & conical hats to hide their identity
o They lynched black people with the intention of spreading terror
o 1865 → reached half a million members but died down by the late 1870s under
heavy govt. suppression
o Re-emerged in Georgia in 1915 → more professional organisation
o Attracted 15% of Americans
o It was anti-Catholic, anti-Sematic & anti-immigrant
▪ Attacked white people who were sympathetic to black Americans
▪ Burned crosses as a Christian symbol
o During the 1950s → revived in isolated groups in the American South
▪ Oppose the CRM
• Jim Crow Laws:
o Aimed at ensuring segregation bet. black & white Americans
o 1896 → Supreme Court ruled in Plessy v Ferguson that separate but = facilities
for black & white people were both legal & constitutional
▪ Homer Plessy → arrested for sitting in a “white” railway carriage in
Louisiana
▪ He argued that the 14th Amendment guaranteed = rights to all US citizens
▪ Judges felt that as long as the “black” car was equal in all respects to the
“white” car → his rights had not been violated
▪ Influential → enabled the Southern states to pass 100s of segregation
laws
RIYA BHAWAN

The formation of NAACP (National Association for the

Advancement of Coloured People) in 1909?
• William Edward du Bois, Ida B Wells & Henry Moscowitz formed the NAACP (Feb 12th,
1909)
o Multiracial organisation
o Used moderate forms of protest → deputations, petitions, marches etc
o Members → middle-class, educated backgrounds
o No. boosted by returning black American soldiers
▪ Became angry → treated with contempt by most white Americans
▪ Had to accept inferior, separate facilities & had to show deference to
white Americans
▪ Faced discriminatory practices & started calling for a Double V campaign
• Victory in the war & victory at home → ending segregation
• Increased interest in the NAACP
• Under pressure from veteran black American soldiers → Harry
Truman passed Executive Order 9981 which required = treatment
in the armed services regardless of race on July 26th, 1948
o Challenged segregation laws in courts
o Responsible for:
▪ Brown v Board of Education
▪ Topeka, Kansas decision in 1954 → supported bus boycott in
Montgomery, Alabama → sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks in 1955
▪ Assisted 9 black American learners → challenge segregation at a school
in Little Rock, Arkansas 1957
• James L Farmer → Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in Chicago
o Inspired by AJ Muste & Mahatma Ghandi → used passive resistance to oppose
British colonial rule in SA & India
o George House, a white student, initially shared leadership with Farmer
▪ Planned to change racist attitudes & end segregation using passive
resistance
o 1947, CORE organised 8 black & 8 white volunteers to ride on an interstate bus
into North Carolina
▪ Bus services were segregated → arrested at Chapel Hill, convicted &
sentenced to work on a chain gang 2
▪ First Freedom Ride 3 of the Civil Rights Movement

2
Chain gang – prisoners who are chained together while they carry out heavy manual work
3
Freedom Ride – form of protest against segregation by black & white people → rode on buses together
RIYA BHAWAN

What was the role, impact & influence of Martin Luther King
Jnr on the US CRM?
• The role of Martin Luther King Jnr on the US CRM:
o King had a profound impact on the US CRM → shaped it into a more religious,
Christian movement
o He formed his own organisation: Southern Christian Leadership Conference
(1957)
▪ Harnessed the considerable power of the church, particularly black
congregations
o Gave it a spirit of sacrifice & spirituality → enabled members to triumph over
adversity
• Influence of Martin Luther King Jnr on the US CRM:
o He was a vital leader of the US CRM → not prepared to be a figurehead
o He led by example & was arrested many times
o The SCLC → launch the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in
1960 → provided funding & guidance
o Famously made the “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington DC 1963
• Influence of passive resistance & Ghandi on Martin Luther King Jnr:
o He realised that while passive resistance was effective, he had much to learn
o He was influenced by Ghandi’s teachings through Bayard Rustin → incorporated
these into his organisation the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR)

What were the forms of protest through civil disobedience?

• Montgomery bus boycott:
o Thursday, Dec 1, 1955 → Rosa Parks was sitting on bus no. 2587 heading home
o During those days → black people entered the buses through a door near the
back & sat in the back seats up to the middle
▪ Of all front seats were filled & a white person needed a seat, a black
passenger had to give up their seat & stand
▪ Did not matter if the person was elderly/pregnant
o Rosa Parks → member of the NAACP was told to move
▪ She refused & was arrested for breaking Montgomery’s segregationist
laws
o Edgar Nixon →President of Alabama’s NAACP called for a bus boycott
o Jo Ann Robinson → head of Women’s Political Council
▪ Formed to fight for women’s rights & civil rights
▪ Organised the printing of 35 000 pamphlets calling black passengers to
refuse to board the buses
o Dec. 5, 1955 → bus boycott coincided with a court case against segregation
o What did black people do:
▪ Walked to work
▪ Thumbed lifts
▪ One rode on a donkey every day
o This continued until the Supreme Court ruled that Montgomery’s segregationist
laws were unconstitutional & ordered buses to desegregate on Dec. 20 th, 1956
o The next day the boycott was called off
RIYA BHAWAN

• Little Rock Arkansas:

o 1954 → Supreme Court ordered schools to desegregate → failed to enforce
immediate change
o Sept 4th, 1957 → 9 black students attempted to enrol in Central High School,
Little Rock, Arkansas
▪ Governor, Orval Faubus, ordered the Arkansas National Guard to stop
them
▪ A mob threatened the black students
o Sept 23rd, Little Rock Nine tried to enter the school again
▪ A mob gathered outside the school & the mayor removed them for their
own safety
▪ Mayor contacted Eisenhower who sent federal troops to enforce the
Supreme Courts ruling & protect the Little Rock Nine
o Sept 24th, Little Rock Nine were escorted to school by the 101 st Airborne Division
o 1958 → Faubus closed all public schools for black & white children & planned to
reopen them when students would be educated separately
o Federal courts declared Faubus’ actions unconstitutional & 1959 → schools
reopened
• Sit-ins:
o Feb 1st, 1960 → 4 black students at the North Carolina Agricultural & Technical
College sat down at the lunch counter in Woolworths
o Many chain stores had such lunch counters & none of them served black
Americans
o The owner, Clarence Harris →ordered his staff to leave the 4 protestors but not
serve them
o The next day → the original 4 were joined by 27 other protesters
o Feb 4th, 1960 → 300 protesters gathered
o The store was closed down for 2 weeks & the protest spread to other states
o Most protests were peaceful, but occasionally violence broke out
o The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was formed in April 1960
▪ Ella Barker from the SCLC helped co-ordinate sit-ins
o July 26th, 1960 → Greensboro Woolworths store finally desegregated its lunch
counter
• The Freedom Rides:
o Buses that travelled between states were completely segregated so were all
facilities: waiting rooms & restrooms
o CORE → decided to launch a passive resistance campaign against these bus
companies
o Farmer & 11 other volunteers boarded a bus in Washington DC (May 4 th, 1961)
▪ Sat in pairs of white & black passengers & travelled through American
South
▪ They were attacked in Anniston, Alabama → Greyhound bus was
firebombed
o This did not stop the Freedom Riders
o Over 60 Freedom Rides were organised in the months that followed
o 450 Freedom Riders
o Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was ordered by Robert Kennedy to
desegregate all interstate bus services & facilities on Nov. 1 st 1961
RIYA BHAWAN

• Birmingham Campaign:
o April 1963 → King decided to target Birmingham, Alabama (epicentre of white
racism)
▪ Many black Americans’ homes & churches were destroyed by explosives
o King launched a boycott aimed at white racist shop owners & demonstrations in
the town until it was full desegregated
o Black American men, women & children → marched through the town every day
King was arrested
o He wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” on April 16th, 1963
o King was worried that the campaign was losing monument → many activists had
been threated with losing their jobs if they were arrested
▪ He appealed to black youngsters at school & university to take their
place → Children’s Crusade4
o Police dogs, batons and high-pressure water hoses were unleashed on marching
children who withstood this abuse
▪ American public was shocked at such brutality
▪ Police arrested 2543 protesters bet. May 2nd & 7th, 1963
o White shop owners & businessman announced that they would desegregate all
facilities, hire black Americans as clerks & salespersons within 60 days & would
release demonstrators without bail IF King called off the protests
• March to Lincoln Memorial:
o June 11th → Kennedy made the speech to the nation on the creation of a civil
rights bill (CRB)
o The Washington March for Jobs & Freedom took place on Aug. 28 th, 1963
o Approximately 200K black & 50K white protestors travelled to Washington DC to
march from the Washington Memorial to the Lincoln Memorial
o Protestors called for better job opportunities, racial equality & the passing of the
CRB
▪ Crowd was peaceful, sang protest songs & listened to various speeches
▪ Most memorable: King’s “I Have a Dream” speech → led to great
increase in support for CRM
• Freedom Summer:
o Black & white civil rights campaigners travelled to Mississippi → open freedom
schools to help black people register as voters
o Process of voter registration → difficult in southern states:
▪ Black people had to write literacy tests to register
o Freedom schools taught basic literacy, black history & pride
o As a result, 60K new voters were registered
▪ Violent reaction: churches were bombed, Freedom summer
campaigners were murdered
o July 1964, Lyndon B Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act

4
Crusade – A religious struggle/war
RIYA BHAWAN

• Selma Montgomery March:

o Selma Montgomery → black people had tried to unsuccessfully register to vote
▪ Only 1% of the black population could vote
o Jimmy Lee Jackson → killed in Marion Alabama during a protest
▪ Dr. King called for a march from Selma to Montgomery on March 7th, 1965
with a distance of 90km
o The march was banned by Alabama Governor George Wallace, but the protestors
continued
▪ Police on horses attacked the protestors with batons and teargas
o A second march was planned for the 9th of March → banned
o When marchers were confronted by the police → knelt down, prayed & returned to
Selma
o March 16th → a federal judge declared the march legal & March 21 st 25K protestors
marched out of Selma to Montgomery
▪ It took 5 days
o August 6th, Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law
• Results/Significance:
o Sit-ins → brought a degree of success
▪ Schools & stores were desegregated in some towns
o Freedom Rides → Robert Kennedy ordering the end of segregated interstate
transport in 1961
o March on Birmingham succeeded in drawing nation public attention to the problem
of racism in the south
▪ Kennedy pressured the Governor of Alabama to desegregate Birmingham
o Courage of protestors encouraged others to become involved in the struggle
o Black & white people joined a massive campaign of nonviolent civil disobedience →
demand desegregation of public facilities
▪ Persisted despite violence & intimidation by southern authorities & white
racists
o 1964 → Civil Rights Act was passed
▪ Barred segregation & discrimination in employment & in all public facilities
o 1965 → Voting Rights Act outlawed obstacles to voting
o HOWEVER:
▪ Not all black people were satisfied with achievements of the CRM
▪ Those who lived in inner-city ghettos believed that non-violent tactics of the
CRM did nothing to help
▪ They turned to the Black Power Movement