7th Grade
Nov. 2011
How did the Civil Rights Movement Change America?
Research Paper
Amber Paschal Young
Henderson Middle School
Thesis This paper will explain how the civil rights movement changed America. The civil rights movement occurred to ensure African American rights, and plummeted during the 1950s and 1960s. if this movement wasn’t successful, the world would be way different than it is today.
The civil rights movement was the time in America in which African Americans and other minorities fought for equal rights. During this movement, many people dedicated their lives to end segregation and discrimination in order for America to be like it is today. Through mostly non-violent protests and courageous leaders, schools, public places, and public transportation soon became integrated. This movement occurred to ensure African American rights. It started in the 1800s but plummeted during the 1950s and 1960s. The civil rights movement was one of the largest movements in the 20th century.
There were many boycotts, sit-ins, and lawsuits that greatly impacted the movement, such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which ended segregation on public transportation, the Greensboro sit-ins, which ended segregation in a local diner in North Carolina, and the Brown versus Board of Education, which ended segregation in schools.
In 1951, a seven year-old named Linda Brown had to walk one mile to her school, even though there was a white school only seven blocks away from her home. Oliver Brown, Linda’s father and over a dozen other parents tried to put their children in local white schools, but were turned down because of their skin color, and were told to attend one of the few schools for African Americans. Brown was turned down by the school, so he went to the NAACP or the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The NAACP hired lawyers to fight for African American children in the