1963 March on Washington
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Civil Rights Movement Facts: Fast Fact Sheet
Fast, fun facts and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
about the Civil
Rights Movement.
When was the Civil Rights Movement? The
modern American Civil Rights Movement began
in 1954 with the
legal case of Brown vs. Board of Education
followed by the 1955 Rosa Parks protest.
It ended in 1968 following the death of Dr.
Martin Luther King and the rise of Black
revolutionaries and race riots.
Who were the presidents during the Civil
Rights Movement Era? There were three
presidents during the Civil Rights Movement
era: Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy
and Lyndon B. Johnson
Who were the leaders of the Civil Rights
Movement?
The peaceful leaders of the Civil Rights
Movement included Dr. Martin Luther King,
Rosa Parks, Thurgood Marshall, Ella Baker and Jesse
Jackson. The revolutionary leaders included Stokely Carmichael, Elijah Muhammad and
Malcolm X.
Civil Rights Movement Facts
for kids: The 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution
African Americans
participated in the Civil Rights Movement to achieve the Civil Rights, detailed in the 14th
and 15th Amendments to the Constitution, that were equal to those of whites.
● The
14th Amendment to the
Constitution (1868) deals with Civil rights and equal
protection, stating that
every person born in the US is a citizen and individual states
must follow due process of law before taking away any citizen's
rights or property.
● The
15th Amendment to the
Constitution (1870) addresses Black suffrage The 15th Amendment
(XV) to the Constitution addresses Black suffrage stating that a
citizen's right to vote cannot be taken away because of race,
the color of their skin, or because they were previously slaves.
The 14th Amendment was ratified on July 9, 1868, just after the
Civil War, during the presidency of Andrew Johnson. The 15th
Amendment was ratified on February 3, 1870 during the presidency of
Ulysses Grant. It took nearly 100 years of protests by African
Americans before the Civil Rights Movement finally emerged in the
1950's and 1960's.
History
of the Civil Rights Movement:
Segregation, Discrimination & Violence
The history of the
Civil Rights Movement witnessed the fight against the discriminatory
Black Codes
and
Jim Crow Laws
of the south that segregated white Americans from black Americans in
housing, education, transport, rest rooms and restaurants. African
Americans were also denied the right to travel freely, marry whites
and the right to vote.
The Black Codes and Jim Crow laws were sanctioned by the federal
government as a result of the Supreme Court decision in the 1896
Plessy vs. Ferguson Case.
African Americans in the south were denied the right to a fair trial
and were subject to lynchings by supremacist groups such as the
Ku Klux
Klan (KKK).
Civil Rights Movement Facts
for kids: Early Organizations to gain Civil Rights
African American
Organizations
emerged to strive against discrimination and gain Civil Rights such
as the
Niagara
Movement and the
NAACP.
The belief in
Black Populism
arose. The
Black Nationalist movement was founded by Marcus Garvey.
The Nation of Islam (NOI) was founded by Wallace D. Fard, later
known as Farrad Muhammad, whose followers became known as the
Black Muslims who taught a distinctive form of Islam based on the
teachings of the Quran. George Houser and James Farmer founded the
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in 1942 that began organizing
sit-ins, as a form of protest against segregation.
Civil Rights Movement Facts
for kids:
The Impact of WW2 on the Civil Rights Movement
During WW2 the
American military was racially segregated and African Americans were
initially assigned to non-combat positions as mess attendants,
stewards, and cooks. The "Double V" Campaign was launched by the
Pittsburgh Courier, a leading African-American newspaper which
encouraged African Americans to participate in winning the war
abroad, while simultaneously fighting for their civil rights at
home. The "Double V" stood for 'Double Victory - victory over
Hitler's racism abroad and victory over racism at home.
Following WW2, and
in response to pressure from civil rights
activists such as W. E. B. Du Bois, A. Philip Randolph and Walter
White, President Harry S. Truman issued
Executive Order 9981 on July 26, 1948
abolishing racial discrimination in the United States Armed Forces.
Civil Rights Movement Facts
for kids:
The Origins of the Civil Rights Movement of 1950's and 1960's
WW2 contributed to the origins of the Civil Rights
Movement in the 1950's and 1960's. The million African Americans who
had fought for their country during WW2, returned home and began to
openly resist being treated as second-class citizens. Membership to
the NAACP increased to 600,000 members by 1946 and the Congress of
Racial Equality (CORE) was established in 1942. By the 1950's
African Americans were ready to protest and protect the rights of
African American citizens.
Summary
of the Civil Rights Movement
The following summary provides a fast overview of the major
events of the Civil Rights Movement for kids. Details of these
famous events during the Civil Rights Movement are provided in this
article.
Summary of the Civil Rights Movement
Civil Rights
Movement: The Civil Rights
Movement fought for equality based on the 14th and 15th
Amendments to the Constitution
Civil Rights
Movement: Brown vs. Board of
Education of Topeka (1954)
Civil Rights
Movement: Rosa Parks was
arrested in 1954 and sparked the Civil Rights Movement
Civil Rights
Movement: Montgomery Bus
Boycott (1955 - 1957) was a major form of peaceful
protest in the Civil Rights Movement
Civil Rights
Movement: Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC) formed 1957
Civil Rights
Movement: The 1957 Little Rock
Nine crisis saw the Civil Rights Movement
demonstrate for equality ineducation
Civil Rights
Movement: Elijah Muhammad
founded the Nation of Islam and the Black Muslims
Civil Rights
Movement: Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was formed 1960
Civil Rights
Movement: The 1960 Greensboro
sit-ins saw the Civil Rights Movement begin protests on segregated lunch
counters
Civil Rights
Movement: The inter-racial
protests of Freedom Riders began in 1961
Civil Rights
Movement: Fannie Lou Hamer
evicted after she had registered to vote (1962)
Civil Rights
Movement: James Meredith and
the riot at "Ole Miss" in 1962
Civil Rights
Movement: MLK Birmingham
Campaign and his letter from Birmingham Jail (1963)
Civil Rights
Movement: The 1963 March on
Washington saw 250,000 people participate in this Civil Rights Movement protest
Civil Rights
Movement: President Kennedy
drafted the Civil Rights bill in 1963 just before his
assassination
Civil Rights
Movement: The Civil Rights Act
of 1964 banned discrimination and ended racial
segregation
Civil Rights
Movement: The Assassination of
Malcolm X (1965)
Civil Rights
Movement: The Selma Freedom
March (1965)
Civil Rights
Movement: The Voting Rights Act
of 1965 safeguarded the right of Black Americans to vote
Civil Rights
Movement: The Watts Riots
(1965) erupted bringing extensive violence and
destruction
Civil Rights
Movement: Black Power (1966)
Civil Rights
Movement: The Black Panther
Party was founded in 1966
Civil Rights
Movement: The Death of Dr.
Martin Luther King (1968)
Civil Rights
Movement: The End of the Civil
Rights Movement (1968)
Civil Rights Movement Facts
for kids:
Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)
Summary and Definition: The NAACP won the legal case of
Brown
vs. Board of education of Topeka, Kansas. The NAACP's chief counsel, Thurgood Marshall led the case that resulted in the
Supreme Court banning the practice of school segregation,
effectively overturning the "separate but equal" doctrine of Plessy
v. Ferguson.
The Birth
of the Civil Rights Movement: Rosa Parks is arrested (1955)
Summary and Definition: The
birth of the African American Civil Rights Movement began on
December 1, 1955 when 42-year-old seamstress Rosa Parks boarded bus
2857 on the Cleveland Avenue, Montgomery City Bus Line in Alabama.
Rosa Parks was told to give up her seat for
a white man, but Rosa Parks refused and was arrested for violating
the city’s racial segregation laws.
Civil Rights Movement Facts
for kids:
Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955 - 1957)
Summary and Definition: The act of civil disobedience by Rosa
Parks precipitated the 13-month
Montgomery Bus Boycott, which was
led by Martin Luther King, Jr. who
had been made the president of the Montgomery Improvement
Association which was organized in response to
protests against the incident involving Rosa Parks. The
Montgomery bus boycott began and was run by Martin
Luther King, Jr. who also negotiated with city leaders for an end of
segregation.
Civil Rights Movement Facts
for kids:
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) formed 1957
Summary and Definition: African American churches began to
play a significant role in the growth of the Civil Rights Movement.
Following the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Dr Martin Luther King became
President of the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in
1957 which aimed at eliminating segregation practices and to
encourage African Americans to register to vote.
Civil Rights Movement Facts
for kids:
Little Rock Nine (1957)
Summary and Definition:
The
Little Rock Nine crisis erupted in 1957 following the
refusal for the admission of 9
African American students to the racially segregated
Little Rock Central High school by Orval Faubus, the Governor of
Arkansas. President Dwight Eisenhower sent in the National Guard to
enforce integration at Little Rock's Central High School in the face
of violent White opposition to the de-segregation of schools.
Civil Rights Movement Facts
for kids:
Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam
Summary and Definition: Elijah Muhammad (born Robert Poole)
was the leader of the
Nation of Islam from 1934 to 1975, advocating black
nationalism that called for the creation of a separate black nation
in America as an alternative to being assimilated by the American
nation. Elijah Muhammad also supported Black separatism, a movement
that aimed to create separate institutions for African Americans.
His most famous disciples included civil rights activists Louis
Farrakhan and Malcolm X. Cassius Clay joined the Nation of Islam in
1964 and changed his name to Muhammad Ali.
Civil Rights Movement Facts
for kids:
The Greensboro sit-ins (1960)
Summary and Definition: The
Greensboro
Sit-ins began in 1960 when four students from North
Carolina Agricultural and Technical College in Greensboro, North
Carolina walked into the F. W. Woolworth store and sat down at the
segregated lunch counter. They were refused service but they kept
their seats. Their Lunch counter protest spread throughout the South
resulting in a massive boycott of stores with segregated lunch
counters.
Civil Rights Movement Facts
for kids:
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) formed 1960
Summary and Definition: The
Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was founded by Ella Baker, a Civil
rights activist who had worked for the NAACP, the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC). The SNCC assisted student activists
and organized 'Sit-ins' throughout the Deep South. Ella Baker also
helped organize the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) and
her name became synonymous with the Black Freedom Movement.
Civil Rights Movement Facts
for kids:
Freedom Riders (1961)
Summary and Definition: The original
Freedom Riders made their first
journey from May 4, 1961 - May 17, 1961 when six whites and
twelve blacks left Washington, D.C.,
on two buses bound for the New Orleans. The purpose of the Freedom
Riders was to test new regulations and court orders banning
segregation in interstate transportation and facilities. The first Freedom Riders
were violently attacked in Alabama but extensive media coverage encouraged hundreds
more Freedom Riders to follow their example.
Civil Rights Movement Facts
for kids:
Fannie Lou Hamer (1962)
Summary and Definition: Fannie Lou Hamer was a civil rights
activist who was evicted from her home on a plantation in Ruleville,
Mississippi when the owner, W.D. Marlow, became aware that she had
registered to vote. In June 1964 Fannie Lou Hamer went on to become
one of the leaders of the Freedom Summer Campaign in an
attempt to register as many African-American voters as possible in
Mississippi, which had historically excluded most blacks from
voting.
Civil Rights Movement Facts
for kids:
James Meredith and the riot at "Ole Miss" (1962)
Summary and Definition: In 1962 there were Mississippi race
riots on the "Ole Miss" campus and the town of Oxford over the first
black student. The riots began when the registration of Civil Rights
activist James Meredith was refused at the segregated University of Mississippi,
known as "Ole Miss". Rioting followed at the campus resulting in the
deaths of two people with at least 75 others injured and spread to
the town of Oxford. On June 5, 1966, James Meredith was wounded in
an ambush as he attempted to complete a peaceful march from Memphis,
Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi but recovered from his wounds and
continued to fight for the Civil Rights Movement.
Civil Rights Movement Facts
for kids:
MLK Birmingham Campaign and letter from Birmingham Jail (1963)
Summary and Definition: Dr. Martin Luther King organized a
massive peace protest in 1963, referred to as the Birmingham
Campaign, in the heavily segregated city of Birmingham,
Alabama. Birmingham was notorious as a
Ku Klux Klan (KKK) stronghold which Martin
Luther King described as the worst city for racism in America. The
Birmingham Peace Protest resulted in violence and. Dr. Martin Luther
King was arrested together with hundreds of other protestors. Whilst
imprisoned MLK wrote his famous
Letter from Birmingham Jail that
advocated civil disobedience against unjust laws.
Civil Rights Movement Facts
for kids:
The March on Washington (1963)
Summary and Definition:
The
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom took place on August
28, 1963 in Washington, D.C. It was the largest
demonstration ever seen in the nation's capital with the
participation of over 250,000 people. The purpose of the March on
Washington was to make demands for civil rights legislation and the
elimination of racial segregation in public schools and jobs. It was
on this occasion that Dr. Martin Luther King made the "I have a
dream" speech, which remains one of the most famous speeches in
American history.
Civil Rights Movement Facts
for kids:
President Kennedy and the Civil Rights bill (1963)
Summary and Definition: Dr. Martin Luther King meets with
President Kennedy who gives his full support to the civil rights movement
and subsequently sent a comprehensive civil rights bill to Congress
on June 19, 1963 banning segregation and discrimination based on
race, nationality, or gender.
Civil Rights Movement Facts
for kids:
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
Summary and Definition:
President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on
November 22, 1963 and the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 was
signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The Civil Rights Act
of 1964 was one of the most important civil rights laws in the
history of the United States, banning discrimination, ending racial
segregation, and protecting the voting rights of women and minority
groups.
Civil Rights Movement Facts
for kids:
The Assassination of Malcolm X (1965)
Summary and Definition: Malcolm X began speaking for the
Nation of Islam in 1952. In 1963 Elijah Muhammad suspended
Malcolm X from the Nation of Islam because he believed that Malcolm
X did not sufficiently support the civil rights movement of the
Black Muslims. In 1964 Malcolm X went on to found the Organization
of Afro-American Unity, which advocated black identity and held that
racism, not the white race, was the greatest enemy of African
Americans. Malcolm X was assassinated on February 21, 1965 by Nation
of Islam members.
Civil Rights Movement Facts
for kids:
The Selma March (1965)
Summary and Definition of the
Selma
March: The First March
from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama, was organized by John
Lewis to highlight the voting issue and took place on March 7, 1965. The
demonstrators were met with violence
from state troopers. There was extensive media
coverage of the event, which became known as "Bloody Sunday".
Protests and demonstrations in support of the marchers were held in
eighty towns and
cities across the US and on 25 March 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led another
march from Selma.
Civil Rights Movement Facts
for kids:
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
Summary and Definition: Immediately following the Selma
Freedom March, President Lyndon B. Johnson sent a voting rights bill
to Congress. The
Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law by President
Lyndon Johnson on August 6, 1965 to safeguard the right to
vote of Black Americans and ban the use of literacy
tests. The law had an immediate impact. By the end of
1965 250,000 new black voters had been registered
Civil Rights Movement Facts
for kids:
The Watts Riots (1965)
Summary and Definition: The
Watts Riots occured between
August 11, 1965 - August 17, 1965 in Los Angeles 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 including the Newark Riots (1967) and the
Detroit Riots (1967).
Civil
Rights Movement Facts
for kids:
Black Power (1966)
Summary and Definition: "Black Power"
was the black
nationalism rallying slogan. The term was coined by Stokely
Carmichael at a rally at
Greenwood, Mississippi, when he launched an
attack on the Mississippi justice system and stated "What we need is
black power". The Black Power movement emphasized racial pride
and social equality with whites through the creation of black
political and cultural institutions.
Civil Rights Movement Facts
for kids:
The Black Panthers (1966)
Summary and Definition: The Black Power movement included
organizations such as the
Black Panthers. The Black Panthers were founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale in 1966
who maintained that little had been achieved by
the reformers in the Civil Rights Movement and that revolution would be the only means to achieve
results in the
liberation of African Americans.
Civil Rights Movement Facts
for kids:
The Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King (1968)
On April 4, 1968 Dr. Martin Luther King was killed by white
supremacist James Earl Ray as he stood on the balcony outside his
room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Refer to the
MLK Assassination.
The End
of the Civil Rights Movement
(1968)
The feuds and rifts among the SNCC, NAACP, SCLC and CORE
contributed to the collapse of the Civil Rights movement. The death of Dr. Martin Luther King, the
violence and destruction of the race
riots and the rise of Black revolutionaries such as the
Black Panthers, effectively ended the Civil Rights Movement.
The
Legacy
of the Civil Rights Movement
The Civil Rights movement gave rise to many achievements
including the passing of Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting
Rights Act of 1965. Although many issues and problems were not
resolved, the Civil Rights movement changed American society and
improved the lives of African Americans providing new hope and
opportunities.
Just forty years after the turmoil of the Civil Rights
era, on January 20, 2009,
Barack Obama became the first black President of the
United States.
Civil Rights Movement
for kids
●
Facts about the Civil Rights Movement for kids and schools
●
Summary of the Civil Rights Movement in US history
●
The Civil Rights Movement, a major
event in US history
●
The Civil Rights Movement
- the people, places, dates and events
●
Fast, fun facts about the Civil Rights Movement
●
The Civil Rights Movement
for kids
● The
Civil Rights Movement for schools,
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