What Caused The Civil Rights Movement

The Civil Rights Movement began around 1942-1968. The main goal and focus of The Civil Rights movement was the elimination of segregation and for all African Americans to have equal rights and the same opportunities (Gates Jr.). Important leaders that were involved in this movement included individuals such as Dr.King, Malcolm X, and Rosa Parks who all made a huge impact in the movement (Janken). During The Civil Rights Movement many African Americans were mistreated in various ways. For example many civic leaders and general citizens were beaten by police officers for simply trying to vote.

Nearly 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, African Americans still suffered inequality in America. During the 1950s and throughout the 1960s African Americans started a movement for equal rights, known as the Civil Rights Movement. During this time many extraordinary people and events helped African Americans gain rights and equality in American society. On a cold December day in 1955 Rosa Parks boarded a city bus and sat down in the 5th row. After the seats began to fill up the driver of the bus asked Parks and three other African Americans to move to the back to give room for whites.

One struggle that stands out was the Jim Crow Laws. The Jim Crow Laws were created during reconstruction in the south (History.com Staff). The Jim Crow Laws stated that African Americans had to use separate facilities than white people, separate bathrooms, drinking fountains, schools, and many other public places (History.com Staff). This law shows that multiple white Americans still believed that intermingle with other races was wrong. White Americans demonstrated that they were not ready for the change the civil rights movement by creating these laws to limit their interactions with other races.

They marched through Kelly Ingram Park, in a famous stand named the Children’s March. This event helped bring awareness to the situation they faced in Birmingham. Finally, on August 28th, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his I Have a Dream Speech. Through his empowering voice, he brought people together and reinforced his reasons for challenging social order. For example, in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The civil rights movements that occurred in the 1960’s changed American Society forever. Some of the most memorable and polarizing movements and laws include Bloody Sunday, the Fair Housing Act, the Freedom Riders and the Montgomery Bus Riots. These are just a few of the demonstrations and laws that occurred during this volatile time period in American History. Many of these events have been have revisited and taught in American History class throughout students’ high school and college years. These events have been archived in annuals of American History and have their place of importance right along with the Bill of Rights and the 19th Amendment that allowed women the vote.

“One individual can begin a movement that turns the tide of history. Martin Luther King in the civil rights movement [is an example] of people standing up with courage and non-violence to bring about needed changes” (Jack Canfield). The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s was a renewed struggle for equal rights. Despite African Americans being freed of slavery, they were still mistreated and discriminated against. The South was taking great measures to ensure that African Americans could not be equal to whites, such as Jim Crow laws and the literacy test.

The Civil Rights Movement started in 1954 and continued until 1968. The Civil Rights Movement was a strive for the rights and the freedoms that African Americans had been given, but taken away from by things such as the Jim Crow Laws and segregation. The Civil Rights Movement had goals of gaining equal rights but also making the fundamental documents that America had been constructed upon to be true for everyone in America. These fundamental documents include the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

In 1963, the admirable March on Washington was an important catalyst aiding in the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Interestingly enough, African-Americans were not the only people who cared about civil rights, but whites as well, hence the 75,000 whites that took a stance at the March on Washington. The March on Washington tested the dedication of many people around the world as they traveled to the Lincoln Memorial in hope of finalizing the discrimination and segregation of African-Americans. The March on Washington, a non-violent protest against segregation, aided in the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which made African American lives more fair and respected.

Whitney Young was one of the "Big Six" civil rights leaders who organized the event, alongside Martin Luther King Jr., and he spoke to a crowd of about a quarter of a million people about the need for economic justice for all Americans. The March on Washington was also the same event that Martin Luther King Jr. gave his extremely notable “I Have A Dream” speech. The primary goal of this event was to draw attention to the ongoing struggle for civil rights, and to pressure the government to pass laws that would protect the rights of African Americans, particularly in the areas of voting, housing, and

The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) also had a huge impact on the success of the civil rights movement. CORE’s leader during the movement was James Farmer (“Civil”). This organization was both made up of and lead by very ambitious people. CORE was an organization that had a major impact on the civil rights movement during the ‘60s in the United States because they were in charge of the freedom rides in 1961 (“Congress”). The Freedom Riders’ cause by CORE was when people protested for no more segregation in buses or at restaurants (“Congress”).

The history of the United State is one plagued by horrific human rights violation and abuse of African Americans. The Civil Rights movement started in 1954 and ended in 1968. The definition of Civil Rights movement was a mass protest movement against racial segregation and discrimination in the Southern United States. For years African Americans were subjected to mistreatment, violence, and put down by society. In Civil Rights movement African Americans impacted the nation, while marching for freedom caused violence, although Jim crow laws running rapid.

On August 28, 1963, hundreds of thousands of people marched to support freedom. They marched up and down Constitution and Independence avenues in Washington D.C. before the long awaited speech. They wanted to listen to the dream that Martin Luther King Jr. had, and they wanted to be the people to make that dream real. The March on Washington was an important part of the Civil Rights Movement, including the “I Have a Dream” speech. The effects of this event can still be seen today, and have changed how our nation has developed.

“I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character” -Martin Luther King Jr. The civil rights movement was a time period of struggle in the United States that lasted over 100 years. During the civil rights movement, there was segregation in everywhere for instance restaurants,bathrooms, schools, water fountains, and public places. The peak of this movement was in the 1950s and 1960s where many important leaders emerged and events occurred.

There was not any room for patience, only for change. Another captivating speaker is reputable Martin Luther King whom enticed a mass public with influential persuasive language. The iconic “I Have a Dream Speech” delivered at the March on Washington—same march John Lewis presented his speech—utilized a somewhat different approach. King’s speech depicted the life that was yearned for by so many.

Slavery, racism, discrimination and segregation is what our world was built upon. The Caucasian men took the African American men, women, children, and infants from their homelands to use them as their slaves. Their slave owners brought them to the United States to teach them how to be all forms of slaves for their needs. If these slaves where not doing as they were told or caught stealing from their owners, they were beaten with a whip. Slavery was abolished in the year of 1865 when it became a part of the 13th amendment .