HISTORY ASSIGNMENT

THE CIVIL RIGHTS

MOVEMENTS IN THE USA

LONDIWE QWABE
GRADE 12
MBEKAMUZI HIGH SCHOOL
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction 2

2. Background 3-4

3. Body 5-6

4. Reflection 7
5.
6. Conclusion 8

7. Bibliography 9

INTRODUCTION
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What forms of civil rights protests occurred in the United States of America
between 1950-1970. Civil Rights include the right to participate in a civil society
without discrimination and oppression.

The Civil Rights movement in the United States of America was a fight for social
justice by black minority who wanted equal rights as the white majority in the law
system of America. The mass movement in the southern states of America was
rooted from institutionalized racism through slavery which took place before the
20th century, and even though slaves had been emancipated after the American
Civil War and people of colour granted basic civil rights, the struggle for African
Americans based in these southern states was in fact not over yet as they still had
to fight against legalised segregation.

The different forms of civil rights protests which occurred in the United States of
America between 1950-1970. I will be answering questions that have been
formulated for this topic such as:
1. which of the events between the period of 1950-1970 initiated social change in
America,
2.the impact these events had on the American society.

In 1960, there were tremendous of social ferment that was responsible for agitation
and protest. Through direct protest, many African Americans, women, and
homosexuals were able to gain recognition and break down the walls of
discrimination and segregations. Out of the numerous elements that arose in the
1960s, there are three movements that truly affected the American society. Firstly,
the rise of the civil rights movement was greatly influenced by racial discrimination
of coloured people in the South. Secondly, the women’s movement aimed to
convince the society that women can achieve and maintaining higher waged job like
males. Lastly, the gay rights movement aimed to gain acceptance and stop
discrimination of homosexuality. The most significant effect on the development of
American society was the women’s movement and how they expanded their
economic and political opportunities. The common goal among African Americans,
women, and homosexuals was to obtain their equal rights as citizens of America
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BACKGROUND

The US Civil Rights movement’s roots go back to slavery in America.

1. which included the kidnapping and forced labour of black people on the
plantations of the white population in the southern states. As a protest for
civil rights slaves would rebel against their owners by deliberately ruining
supplies and equipment, slowing down work, faking illness and escaping
plantation farms to flee to the Canadian border through a secret network of
safe houses linking the south of the US to Canada

2. After decades of unrest over slavery in the southern states a civil war broke
off in 1861 due to the southern states huge concern about their economy
and how it was in danger as it relied on the labour of black enslaved people
to plant crops, cotton, and tobacco. The northern states opposition to slavery
posed a great threat to southern states as they believed that they weren’t
allowing them to fulfil their cause which they believed was to preserve their
long-held traditions and institutions which included slavery.

3. The war ended in 1865 and the 13th Amendment also published during
that year which stated that slavery and any other forms of forced labour
were abolished in all parts of America. Even though slavery had been
abolished, the rights of former slaves were still not recognised and African
Americans still faced racial segregation and were denied equal rights, laws
like the Jim Crow laws which were laws of segregation and discrimination
against African Americans didn’t permit them to participate in the national
elections process and forced them to racially segregated transport,
education, housing, and other facilities. The US Civil Rights mass
movements were started to fight against these social injustices and restore
universal suffrage of the black African American society in the southern
states of the US.
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The Civil Rights Movement was a time when minorities banded together to stand up
for racial inequality. Many African Americans faced discrimination from white people,
causing a series of protests throughout the country, including the Walk on
Washington, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and other demonstrations to show the
country of the injustices. During this time, the active voices that demanded to be
heard came from a wide variety of people.
The mixture of individuals that stood up, spoke, and fought for their rights allowed
for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the favourable rulings in many
Supreme Court cases. Of the many stand-out leaders of the time, Dr. Martin Luther
King Junior acted as the most influential civil rights activist, this is due to his
continuous promotion of nonviolence and peace.
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BODY

Civil Rights movement began with the Montgomery bus boycott after Rosa Parks
was arrested for failure to give up her seat to a white man on 1 December 1’55. If
all seats were occupied Jim Crow laws stated that black passengers were to give up
their seats to white passengers, this was regarded as Jim Crow.
When Rosa Parks was asked to stand, she responded with, I don’t think I should
have to move. Rosa Parks was then arrested and fined, this then triggered African
Americans in Montgomery, Alabama to organise a bus boycott lead by Reverend
Martin Luther King who was part of the Montgomery Improvement Association.
This was the first mass protest of the Civil Rights Movement.
It involved 42 000 people and lasted for 381 days; this non-violent protest also had
a negative impact on the municipal bus service economically. The Montgomery bus
boycott was a success for African Americans as the Supreme Court later ruled out
segregation on buses during November 1956 which resulted in the integration of all
city buses after bus companies had lost about 75% of their revenue during the
boycott. The Montgomery bus boycott influenced young African Americans to
approach Civil Rights Movement with non-violent protest action. Following up the
Civil Rights Movement was the first sit in, in Greensboro, North Carolina on 1
February 1960.
Four male black students sat down at a segregated <whites only lunch counter in
Woolworth’s and refused to leave even after they were refused service. Police arrived
on the scene but couldn’t take any form of action as the four students weren’t
showing any signs of provocation. They sat down until the store closed. When they
came back the next day to continue protest, they arrived with more local students.
This continued until 5 February, 300 students had joined in on the protest at
Woolworths and other local businesses with the same policies as Woolworth’s.
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Due to heavy television coverage this movement did not only begin to spread across
the south but the north as well. Both black and white students participated in the
non-violent protest the segregation policies set for parks, beaches, libraries, and
hotels. Many were arrested for trespassing, disorderly conduct and disturbing the
peace, but their voices didn’t go unheard as in July, Woolworth’s and other
establishments did change their segregation policies. The Greensboro movement
and its use of nonviolence also influenced the freedom riders.
Though segregation on buses was no longer a thing after the Montgomery bus
boycott, Southern states still practised it. Freedom riders were white and African
American activists who participated in freedom rides, these were bus trips through
the south of America in 1961 to protest segregated bus terminals. Freedom Rides
were organised by the Congress of Racial Equality to test a decision made by the
Supreme Court in Virginia to rule out segregation in transportation from November
1960. The first freedom riders were a group of 7 African Americans and 6 white
people, their plan was to get onto a Greyhound bus on May 14, 1961, in
Washington DC and to arrive in New Orleans, Louisiana on 17 May for the seventh
anniversary of the ruling out segregation in public schools. The group was able to
draw attention to themselves as they travelled through Virginia and North Carolina,
they showed opposition to these segregation policies by trying to make use of
whites only restrooms and lunch counters at bus stations in Alabama, South
Carolina and other.
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REFLECTION

The lesson that I took from the Civil Rights Movement was that peaceful protests
are often the most effective form of protesting. Peaceful protests are effective for two
reasons. The first reason is that they garner sympathy and support. According to
the Library of Congress, the success of the moment can largely be attributed to
leaders that embraced the idea of nonviolence.

Secondly, in a nonviolent demonstration, protesters are taking the high ground and
matching their noble ideas with noble actions. I explained, with detail, how a
specific event, individual, group, and/or idea correlates to the lesson. In Martin
Luther King Junior’s famous speech at the March on Washington, he urged his
audience to protest without violence. “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for
freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred” he told the protesters.
“We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.”
This speech inspired thousands of African Americans to engage in nonviolent
protests. Many of the most famous civil rights protests were conducted without
resorting to violence, such as the Freedom Rides, the Childrens’ Crusades, and the
sit-ins that took place across America. These correlate to the lesson because they
were some of the most effective protests of the movement, largely due to their
nonviolent nature. I applied this lesson to some challenge in current society,

This is the most convincing movement because people’s lives were at stake. During
this movement a lot happened far as beatings, murders, and even challenging the
Supreme Court and president, which created some very famous court cases. This
would be more moving than others because some of the events were costing people
their lives, reputation, pride, and more, just to fight for something they wanted or
loved. For example, a woman by the name of Fannie Lou Hamer went to register to
vote one day; after doing so, on the way home she was arrested and beaten until
she was exhausted (University). To most people in today’s time would be horrified
over this because this woman was beaten for no reason, well, no reason for today’s
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world. Also, many famous court cases arose during this movement when people
started to challenge the court system; because, of the unequal rights between
whites and blacks

Conclusion
In many respects, the civil rights movement was a great success. Successive, targeted
campaigns of non-violent direct action chipped away at the racist power structures that
proliferated across the southern United States. Newsworthy protests captured media
attention and elicited sympathy across the nation. Though Martin Luther King Jr.’s
charismatic leadership was important, we should not forget that the civil rights cause
depended on a mass movement.
In other respects, the civil rights movement was less revolutionary. It did not fundamentally
restructure American society, nor did it end racial discrimination. In the economic sphere
there was still much work to be done. Across the nation, and especially in northern cities,
stark racial inequalities were commonplace, especially in terms of access to jobs and
housing. As civil rights activists became frustrated by their lack of progress in these areas,
the movement began to splinter towards the end of the 1960s, with many Black activists
embracing violent methods. Over the subsequent decades, racial inequalities have
persisted, and in recent years police brutality against Black Americans, in particular, has
become an urgent issue. As the protests triggered by the murder of George Floyd in May
2020 have demonstrated, many of the battles of the 1960s are still being fought.
Though King and other members of the civil rights movement failed to achieve their broader
goals, there can be no doubting their radical ambitions. As Wornie Reed, who worked on the
Poor People’s Campaign, explains in this interview, King was undoubtedly a ‘radical’
activist, even if the civil rights movement itself never resulted in a far-reaching social
revolution.
Out of all the movements in history, the Civil Rights Movement would have to have the most
powerful argument and the most moving. This is this most convincing or moving movement of
all because people’s lives were at stake. This movement is a specific leader because it was an
event in history that had a dramatic change on the world and what has made it how it is in
today’s time. Also, the Civil Rights Movement is a specific event because of the events that
took place during this movement. Some of the areas that were targeting for reform were equal
rights between blacks and whites. This movement would have to be both powerful at the time
it occurred and still powerful today. Without the Civil Rights Movement our country would
still be living in hatred toward each other between the whites and blacks.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
 URL: https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/us-civil-rights-movement-1942-
1968/
Author: Stephen Zunes and Jesse Laird
Published Date: January 2010

 URL: https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/american-civil-
war-history
Author: History.com Editors
Published Date: October 15, 200’

 URL: https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/the-greensboro-sit-in
Article Title: Greensboro Sit-In
Author: History.com Editors
Publisher: A&E Television Networks

 URL: https://www.thoughtco.com/men-of-the-civil-rights-movement-45371
Author: Femi Lewis
Last Updated: 5 September 2020
Article Title: The 8Big Six’ organisers of the Civil Rights Movement

 Title of book: New Generation History Learners Book Grade 12

Author: Carol-Anne Stephenson; Thembi Mbansini; Fiona Frank; Roshnie
Pillay; Jabu
Hlongwane
Publisher: New Generation Publishers
Published Date: 15 June 2007