The Beginning of the Civil Rights Movement
The Beginning of the
Civil Rights Movement
Michelle Brown
The Beginning of the Civil Rights Movement
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s were a profound turning point in American History. African American’s had been fighting for equality for many years but in the early 1950s the fight started to heighten, from Rosa Parks, to Martin Luther King Jr., to Malcolm X, the fight would take on many different forms over the span of two decades, and was looked at from many different points of view.
The Beginning of the Civil Rights Movement
For most historians the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement started on December 1, 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to give her seat to a white person on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. This is when the rise of the Civil Rights Movement began; however, there were several previous incidents which helped to lead up to the movement. In 1951, the “Martinsville Seven” were all African American men tried by an all white jury in the rape of a white woman from Virginia. All seven were found guilty, and for the first time in Virginia history, were sentenced to the death penalty for rape. (Webspinner, 2004-2009). In this same year the African American students at Moton High decided to strike against the unequal educational treatment. Their case was later added to the Brown v Board of Education suit in 1954. (Webspinner, 2004-2009).
In June 1953, a bus boycott was held in Baton Rouge, LA. After the bus drivers refused to enforce Ordinance 222, an ordinance which changed segregated seating on buses so that African American’s would fill the bus from the back forward and whites would fill it from the front back on a first come first serve basis, the Ordinance was overturned. Led by Reverend Jemison and other African American businessmen, the African American community decided to boycott the bus system. Later in the month Ordinance 251 was put in place, allowing a section of the bus to be black only and a section
Civil Rights Movement
Michelle Brown
The Beginning of the Civil Rights Movement
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s were a profound turning point in American History. African American’s had been fighting for equality for many years but in the early 1950s the fight started to heighten, from Rosa Parks, to Martin Luther King Jr., to Malcolm X, the fight would take on many different forms over the span of two decades, and was looked at from many different points of view.
The Beginning of the Civil Rights Movement
For most historians the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement started on December 1, 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to give her seat to a white person on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. This is when the rise of the Civil Rights Movement began; however, there were several previous incidents which helped to lead up to the movement. In 1951, the “Martinsville Seven” were all African American men tried by an all white jury in the rape of a white woman from Virginia. All seven were found guilty, and for the first time in Virginia history, were sentenced to the death penalty for rape. (Webspinner, 2004-2009). In this same year the African American students at Moton High decided to strike against the unequal educational treatment. Their case was later added to the Brown v Board of Education suit in 1954. (Webspinner, 2004-2009).
In June 1953, a bus boycott was held in Baton Rouge, LA. After the bus drivers refused to enforce Ordinance 222, an ordinance which changed segregated seating on buses so that African American’s would fill the bus from the back forward and whites would fill it from the front back on a first come first serve basis, the Ordinance was overturned. Led by Reverend Jemison and other African American businessmen, the African American community decided to boycott the bus system. Later in the month Ordinance 251 was put in place, allowing a section of the bus to be black only and a section
References: Adams, R. (2009) Martin and Malcolm, Two 20th Century Giants. Retrieved on September 27, 2009, from http://www.black-collegian.com/african/mlk/giants2000-2nd.shtml Chew, R. (1995-2008) Martin Luther King, Jr. Civil-Rights Leader, 1929 – 1968. Retrieved on September 27, 2009, from http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96jan/king.html McElrath, J. (2009) Martin Luther King’s Philosophy on Nonviolent Resistance, The Power of Love. Retrieved on September 27, 2009, from http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/martinlutherking/a/mlks_philosophy_2.htm Webspinner. (2004-2009) We’ll Never Turn Back History & Timeline of the Southern Freedom Movement. Retrieved on September 27, 2009 from http://www.crmvet.org/tim/timhome.htm