Thurgood Marshall, Roy Wilkins, A. Philip Randolph, Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin L. King, Jr., among others, have become household names as pioneers of the Civil Rights Movement. Mention of Thurgood Marshall immediately conjures in mind the historic United States Supreme Court Case, Brown vs. Board of Education. A. Philip Randolph immediately reminds us of the “Second Emancipation Proclamation”, Executive Order 8802 which gave thousands of Negroes access to jobs in manufacturing plants receiving contracts from the defense department during World War II. Rosa Parks is inextricably associated in the minds of millions with the Montgomery Bus Boycott. And who cannot think of Dr. Martin L. King together with the March on Washington and his famous
Frederick Douglass was one of the most important and famous African Americans in America. He had an great impact on society, politics, and the life of blacks. Frederick Douglass was a prominent abolitionist, writer, reformer and orator. He was born into slavery, but escaped and against great odds became the voice for many people. He was an advocate for human rights and the anti-slavery movement. He not only a strong supporter black's rights, but also of the rights of immigrants, women, and Native Americans.
Why is W.E.B. Du Bois important to civil rights?He was the founder of the Niagra movement. He was one of the founders of the NAACP. He focused on Pan-Africanism in all governments.
From 1896 to 1924, America went through a period known as progressivism in which people of all walks of life banded together to oppose conservatism and reform society. Progressives generally believed that government is necessary for change, however; it had to more significantly embody the ideals of democracy. Some of the specific changes that progressives wanted were regulating railroads, a direct election of senators, graduated income tax, limited immigration and eight-hour workdays. By supporting these changes, the progressives hoped to promote and expand democracy and thus give the people more power. One of the goals of the progressives was to address the wealth gap and reduce income inequality by transferring power to the people through
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”- Thomas a. Edison
During John Lewis’s early life, the Montgomery Bus Boycott inspired him to get into the civil rights movement. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a protest based off of Rosa Parks refusing to get up for a white person. She was arrested and put into jail; her arrests sparked the
“Pray not for your mom and pop, they’ve gone to heaven. Pray you can make it through this hell,” the often-forgotten civil rights leader, Reverend George W. Lee said at a conference about racial tensions in the south. Lee was not only a very important person to his community but also the entire civil rights movement in the United States that lasted from 1954-1968. Few documents exist on Lee and his life, so in order to inform people of these, it is necessary to discuss his upbringing, his political activism, and his assassination.
Without the step of the Boycott, not as much attention would have been brought nationally. The Montgomery Bus Boycott stimulated activism in the South and gave King national attention as a rising leader. “A turning point in the life of Martin Luther King was the Montgomery Bus Boycott which he helped to promote. His boycott also became a turning point in the civil rights struggle – attracting national press for the cause.” (cite) Following up from the quote, it truly speaks the powerful impact the boycott made by hooking national attention for the movement for civil rights making it successful. The Montgomery Bus Boycott had three main parts to moving towards equality. One of the last major moves that the Montgomery Bus Boycott achieved was having segregation established illegal. “The city, of course, appealed the ruling, but on November 13, 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the federal court 's ruling, declaring segregation on buses unconstitutional. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was officially over.” (Cozzen 1). The boycott lasted 381 days and finally gained African Americans partial equality by making it illegal for buses to segregate blacks and whites. Montgomery Bus Boycott was definitely a major part to earning of civil rights. A couple years after the big step towards equality would be one of the biggest days that America would remember
After the success with Brown v. Board of Education the segregation battle continued with public transportation. Despite segregated seating on public buses, bus drivers in Montgomery forced African Americans out of their seats for white individuals. If they did not obey the bus driver had the legal right to arrest their orders. Brown v. Board of Education opened doors to challenge the issue of segregation in many other areas as well, such as public transportation. Even though the U.S District Court ruled segregation on public buses as unconstitutional, the city of Montgomery decided to appeal the courts decision to the U.S Supreme Court and continued with public bus segregation. Martin Luther King Jr. along with other MIA leaders decided to start a boycott in order to get the U.S
How far do you agree that the key factor influencing Richard Nixon’s election as President in 1968 and 1972 was the popularity of his policies on the Vietnam War? 30 marks
W.E.B Du Bois was man of accomplishments. He was a very important African American leader in the United States during the late nineteenth centuries. He felt strongly that his fellow members should not be treated unequally in terms of education and civil rights. For many young African Americans in the period from 1910 through the 1930s, Du Bois was the voice of the black community. Born black, Du Bois was the true leader of bringing equality to his fellow African Americans.
History, but is was longest. Prior to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Reverend T.J. Jemison lead a bus boycott in Baton Rouge, but it lasted only two weeks. In addition to the boycott in Baton Rouge, there were more bus boycotts, but they did not last long enough to make an impact. Many people had an impact on the movement before the Boycott 1955 such as Jackie Robinson, Emmett Till, and Harry Truman, who all either supported the Civil Rights Movement or were victimized by the harsh ways of racists. Also, leading up to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, many things sparked anger and frustration in African Americans such as widespread inequality, and extreme
It had been a very exciting day. Thousands of cheerful people lined the streets waiting for a glimpse as the much beloved president, John F. Kennedy. The crowd roared in excitement as the motorcade passed by. JFK, the Governor of Texas and Mrs. Kennedy all rode in the motorcade, waving to the enormous crowds. At 12:30, there was a loud bang, preceded by another. First the governor was shot, and then the president. At that moment, Mrs. Kennedy was filled with unbearable pain, which was shared by the whole entire nation. The governor made it out alive, but at 1:00 pm on November 22, 1963, at the Dallas Parkland Hospital, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was pronounced dead.(History.com) JFK’s assassination was extremely unjust due to his great contributions to the ending of segregational laws and other problems this country faced at that period in history. The fact that this man had the audacity to eliminate such a key figure in American politics is shocking.
Troy Jackson effectively convinced the reader that the people of Montgomery did in fact influence King to be a national leader for civil rights. The way Jackson “[humanized] Martin Luther King Jr., without diminishing his greatness”, along with the surplus of quotes and evidence, added to the credibility of his argument that ultimately convinced us (Walton 3).
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi once said, “Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man.” What Gandhi is saying is that nonviolence is a stronger force than using destructive tools like guns or explosives. He is saying you can achieve your goals without the need to use violence like harming innocent people or causing chaos and havoc. Historical figures like Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela used non-violence civil disobedience Although non-violent civil disobedience is the best way to bring change to an unjust system, it is not always successful.