Origins of the Civil Rights Movement.pptx

Background to the Civil Rights Movement ppt

1. The situation in the USA that gave rise to the Civil Rights Movement Origins of the Civil Rights Movement

2. Thirteenth Amendment

3. Fourteenth Amendment

4. Fifteenth Amendment Fifteenth Amendment

5. Slavery was abolished during the American Civil War. Most African Americans are descendants of slaves brought from Africa over a 200 year period from the early 1600s to 1800s. In 1862, Abraham Lincoln made his famous Emancipation Declaration. The abolishment of slavery led to the Civil War – Northern States (The Union) vs Southern States (The Confederacy). Lincoln delivered the famous Gettysberg Address in 1863 where he declared all Americans, black and white to be equal.

6. Ku Klux Klan (KKK) After the American Civil War, slaves were freed, but some white Americans, particularly in the South resented this. They were determined to use terror tactics to keep African Americans suppressed. It started in Tennessee in 1865 and reached half a million members. It died down in the late 1870s under government suppression. The KKK re-emerged in Georgia in 1915. It was anti-Black, anti-Catholic, anti-Semitic, anti-Immigrant and anti white people who were sympathetic to African Americans.

7. The KKK was active in the 1950s against the CRM. It introduced a strange practice of burning crosses. The White Knights of the KKK was an important group in the 1950s and were led by Robert Shelton.

8. Many African Americans were killed by the KKK. They called it lynching.

9. Jim Crow Laws These laws were passed by states in the South and aimed at ensuring segregation between black and white Americans. The term was an insulting term for black people, derived from a travelling musician song called “Jump Jim Crow”.

10. More Jim Crow Laws visuals:

11. Plessy versus Ferguson This was a landmark court case that was heard in 1896. Homer Plessy, an African American, was arrested for sitting in a ‘white’ railway carriage in Louisiana. He argued that the 14 th Amendment guaranteed equal rights to to all US citizens. The judges felt that as long as the black carriage was equal to the white carriage, his rights had not been violated. This became an influential case which enable the Southern States to pass many segregation laws.

12. Plessy vs Ferguson continued

13. Visuals on the Plessy vs Ferguson Case

14. The memorial at the site where Plessy was taken off the train.

15. The formation of the NAACP

16. NAACP The NAACP was formed by WEB du Bois and others in 1909. It was a multi-racial organization who used moderate forms of protest like deputations, petitions and letters to government and marches. Their members came from educated, middle class backgrounds. The NAACP challenged segregation laws in courts.

17. African American soldiers returned from WW2 with new ideas about racial integration.

18. Brown vs Board of Education This was a famous court case in Topeka, Kansas in 1954. This was a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court in which they ruled that US state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. It was little Linda Brown who sparked this event when she had to travel a distance to a school for ‘negroes’ when a white school was around the corner. Thurgood Marshall of the NAACP was the chief attorney. Oliver Brown, father of Linda Brown was the first parent on the list, hence the “ Brown”vs Board of Education name. This famous case overturned the Plessy vs Ferguson case, as it was established that schools were separate but NOT equal.

19. Brown vs BOE

20. Thurgood Marshall was the successful chief attorney.

21. A visual showing Brown vs BOE

22. CORE

23. CORE was formed by James Farmer in Chicago when he was only 22 years old. He had two university degrees by the age of 22 in 1942. He was also influenced by Gandhi and FOR (Fellowship of Reconciliation). The plan was to change racist attitudes and end segregation using passive resistance. Many CORE members were white students. Back in 1947 they organised 8 white and 8 black students to ride on interstate buses. They were arrested and sentenced to work on a chain gang.

24. CRM is the umbrella term for numerous organizations all fighting for racial equality. The CRM was made up of black and white Americans who worked together to defy unjust land racist laws. They forced government and the courts to scrap these practices. The forms of protest included - Boycotts - Marches - Sit-ins Mass rallies Deliberate Civil Disobedience

25. Activity