Civil Rights Movement Facts
for kids
The following fact
sheet contains interesting information, history and
facts on the Civil Rights Movement for kids.
Civil Rights
Movement
Facts for kids
Civil Rights
Movement
Facts - 1: The 14th and 15th
Amendments to the Constitution addressing Civil Rights
and Black suffrage were the basis of the Civil
Rights movement to ensure the rights of
African Americans were equal to those of whites.
Civil Rights
Movement
Facts -
2: The legal case of
Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka
banned the practice of school segregation, overturning
the 1896 "separate but equal" doctrine of Plessy
v. Ferguson.
Civil Rights
Movement
Facts - 3: Rosa Parks was arrested in
1955 for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a segregated
bus in
Montgomery, Alabama. The protests and demonstrations that followed
effectively began the Civil Rights Movement from the mid-1950's to
the late 1960's
Civil Rights
Movement
Facts - 4: The actions of Rosa Parks led
to the Montgomery Bus Boycott
which lasted for eighteen months between 1955
- 1957.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was run by
Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. to end segregation on the
Montgomery buses.
Civil Rights
Movement
Facts - 5: The
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) was formed in 1957
and Dr Martin Luther King became president of the SCLC which aimed
at eliminating the practice of segregation and to encourage African
Americans to exercise their Civil Rights and register to vote. The
Civil Rights Act of 1957 was
passed into law to ensure that all African Americans could
exercise their right to vote.
Civil Rights
Movement
Facts - 6: The 1957
Little Rock Nine crisis occured when nine black students were refused admission to the racially
segregated Little Rock Central High school. President Dwight
D. Eisenhower sent in the National Guard to
enforce integration in the face
of violent white opposition to the de-segregation of schools.
Civil Rights
Movement
Facts - 7: Elijah Muhammad became the leader of
the
Nation of Islam that advocated black nationalism,
black separatism and the creation of a separate black
nation in America. The most famous follower of Elijah
Muhammad was Malcolm X and its members were referred to
as Black Muslims. Cassius Clay became a minister of the
Nation of Islam in 1964 and changed his name to Muhammad
Ali.
Civil Rights
Movement
Facts - 8: The Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was formed 1960
by Civil Rights activist
Ella Baker. The purpose of the SNCC was to assist student activists
and organize 'Sit-ins' throughout the southern states. Ella Baker
later became a leader of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) and
her name became synonymous with the Black Freedom Movement.
Civil Rights
Movement
Facts -
9: The 1960 Greensboro sit-ins by
students in North
Carolina resulted in a massive boycott of stores with
segregated lunch counters.
Civil Rights
Movement
Facts - 10: The black and
white Freedom Riders began their bus rides in May 1961
to test whether transport was integrated or segregated. The
first Freedom Riders were
violently attacked but the media coverage it attracted encouraged hundreds
more Freedom Riders to follow their example.
Civil Rights
Movement
Facts -
11: In 1962 Civil
Rights activist, Fannie
Lou Hamer, was evicted from her home because she had registered to vote..
She went on to become
one of the leaders of the 1964 Freedom Summer Campaign that
aimed to get as many African-American voters as
possible to register to
vote in
Mississippi
Civil Rights
Movement
Facts - 12: The failed attempt by James
Meredith to
register at the segregated University of Mississippi led to Mississippi race riots on the "Ole Miss"
campus and the nearby town of Oxford resulting in two deaths
and 75 injuries.
Continued...
Civil Rights
Movement
Facts for kids
Facts
about the Civil Rights Movement Facts for kids
Our interesting
article on
Civil Rights
Movement Facts continues below. The history
of the Civil Rights Movement is told in a
factual sequence consisting of a series of short facts
providing a simple method of relating the
history and the important events
and people who feature in the Civil Rights Movement.
Civil Rights
Movement
Facts for kids
Civil Rights
Movement Facts - 13: Dr. Martin Luther King led a massive peace
protest in 1963, called the
Birmingham Campaign, which ended in violence when demonstrators were
attacked by white supremacists. MLK was arrested and wrote his
famous Letter from Birmingham
Jail.
Civil Rights
Movement Facts - 14: The
March on Washington for
Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963 attracted over 250,000 people
protesting for civil rights legislation and the elimination of
racial segregation in jobs and public schools. Martin Luther King
made the famous "I have a dream" speech to the crowds who had
gathered.
Civil Rights
Movement Facts - 15: Martin Luther King met with President John
Kennedy who gave his full support to the civil rights movement. JFK
sent a comprehensive civil rights bill to Congress on June 19, 1963
banning segregation and discrimination based on race, nationality,
or gender but was assassinated on November 22, 1963 before it was
signed into law.
Civil Rights
Movement Facts - 16: The
Civil Rights Act of
1964 was
passed during the administration of President Lyndon B.
Johnson. The 1964 Civil
Rights Act banned discrimination, ended racial
segregation, and protected the voting rights of minority
groups.
Civil Rights
Movement Facts - 17: Malcolm X had been
excluded from the Nation of Islam by
Elijah Muhammad. In
1964 Malcolm X founded the Organization of Afro-American
Unity, which advocated black identity but held that
racism, not the white race, was the greatest enemy of
African Americans. Malcolm X was assassinated by Nation of Islam members on February 21, 1965.
Civil Rights
Movement Facts - 18: The first
Selma
March, organized by SNCC leader John Lewis, was held on
March 7, 1965 to highlight the voting issue. The march
was met with extreme violence at the hands of state
troopers and the incident became known as "Bloody
Sunday". The first Selma Freedom March was
followed by widespread demonstrations across the U.S.
and on 25 March 1965
Martin Luther King continued the protest by leading
another march from Selma.
Civil Rights
Movement Facts - 19: Following the
Selma Freedom March, the
Voting Rights Act
of 1965 was signed
into law on August 6, 1965. The purpose of the the Voting Rights Act was
to safeguard the right to vote of Black Americans and
banned the use of literacy tests in the voting process.
Civil Rights
Movement Facts - 20: The
Watts Riots
erupted in Los Angeles on Wednesday, August 11, 1965 and
resulted in 34 deaths, over 1,000 injuries, nearly 4,000
arrests, and the destruction of property valued at $40
million. Other race riots followed in 1967 including the
Newark Riots and the Detroit Riots.
Civil Rights
Movement Facts - 21: Stokely Carmichael
coined the black nationalism rallying slogan, "Black Power" at a 1966
rally in Greenwood, Mississippi. The Black Power
fist salute was made by the African-American athletes John Carlos and Tommie Smith during their medal
ceremony at the 1968 Mexico Olympics.
Civil Rights
Movement Facts - 22: The Black Panther
Party which was founded in 1966 by Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton who were impatient
with the progress made by the peaceful reformers in the Civil Rights Movement.
The Black Panther Party maintained that that violent
revolution would be the only means to achieve success in
the liberation of African Americans.
Civil Rights
Movement Facts - 23: The peace loving
preacher Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated by white supremacist James Earl
Ray on April 4, 1968.
News of the MLK Assassination shocked the world and in the U.S. it
fueled the growth of the Black Power movement and the
Black Panther Party. Violent riots broke out in major
cities across the United States terrifying the
nation.
Civil Rights
Movement Facts - 24: The End of the Civil Rights Movement
began with the death of Dr. Martin Luther King. This, together with the
destruction and violence of the race riots and the
actions of Black revolutionaries such as the
Black Panthers, effectively ended the Civil Rights Movement.
Civil Rights
Movement
Facts for kids
Facts
about
the Civil Rights
Movement
For visitors interested in the facts and history of
the Civil Rights
Movement
refer to the articles on
Black Segregation
History,
Black History
for kids and
The Civil Rights Movement
Civil Rights Movement Facts
for kids
● Facts about the Civil Rights Movement Facts for kids and schools
● Summary of the Civil Rights Movement Facts in US history
● The Civil Rights Movement Facts, a major
event in US history
● Civil Rights Movement Facts
- the people, places, dates and events
● Fast, fun facts about the Civil Rights Movement Facts
● The Civil Rights Movement Facts
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