Name Date CHAPTER 17, LESSON 3
Summary: Civil Rights
The Movement Begins
Find and underline each
Nearly 100 years after the Civil War, the civil rights of vocabulary word.
African Americans were limited by state laws and civil rights noun, the rights
discrimination. Some civil rights are the right to vote, the and freedoms that
right to equal treatment, and the right to speak out. countries guarantee their
In the early 1950s, segregation was legal. Many Americans citizens
desegregation noun, ending
believed it should not be. African Americans went to court the separation of people
to end segregation. In 1954, the Supreme Court ordered the by racial or ethnic group
desegregation of public schools. nonviolent protest noun, a
An Alabama law said that African Americans had to sit at way of bringing change
without using violence
the back of the bus. In 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa
Parks refused to move to the back of a bus. She was
arrested. Her church organized a protest. African Americans
boycotted the buses until buses were desegregated. This was REVIEW What was the
the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Martin Luther King Jr. goal of the Montgomery
Bus Boycott? Underline the
helped lead the boycott. He believed in nonviolent protest. sentence that tells about the
He wanted people to fight back using peaceful actions. In boycott.
1956, the Supreme Court said that segregation on buses REVIEW What did the
was illegal. march on Washington do to
help the civil rights
Civil Rights Victories movement? Draw a box
In 1960, African Americans held sit-ins in 54 cities. They sat around the sentence that
tells how the march on
at lunch counters that only served food to white people. Washington affected people
They would not leave until they were served. In 1963, in America.
Congress was discussing a bill to end segregation. Martin
Luther King Jr. and other leaders organized a protest march
in Washington, D.C., to show support for the bill. The march
on Washington got Americans to pay attention to the civil
rights movement.
President Lyndon Johnson worked with Congress to pass
the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It banned segregation in
schools, at work, and in public places. The Voting Rights Act
of 1965 guaranteed citizens of all races and ethnic
backgrounds the right to vote.
In 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was shot. People from all
backgrounds continued the struggle for civil rights.
Resources for Reaching All Learners
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