Preview

How far was peaceful protest responsible for the successes of the civil rights movement in the years 1955- 1964?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
769 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How far was peaceful protest responsible for the successes of the civil rights movement in the years 1955- 1964?
How far was peaceful protest responsible for the successes of the civil rights movement in the years 1955 - 1964?
Peaceful protest in the years 1955 to 1964 helped the civil rights movement little by little through the use of forcing the government to implement legal change. The laws that were passed mostly ended segregation in public places such as the law passed in 1956 that banned segregation of busses. This law was a result of the Browder vs. Gayle case that revolved around Aurelia Browder who refused to give up her seat to a white person, this stemmed from the Montgomery Bus Boycott of the previous year. She was backed up by the NACCP and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court who ruled in her favour and thus making segregation on all bus services illegal. Peaceful protest also helped to gain the support of white people in power and ordinary white people, therefore putting more pressure on the government to make the demands of black people a reality. However peaceful protest was not very good at making de-jure legation into de-facto reality as it was very easy to ignore these laws due to wide spread racism and corrupt police forces. There were also other factors at work that were responsible for the success
The Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955 primary aim was force the bus companies to desegregate their busses. They did this by displaying the economic power of the black population. They did this by walking or carpooling to their destination instead of paying for the bus. The boycott lasted a whole year, which was a massive achievement in itself due to the high level of logistical planning needed to avoid using the bus services daily, and by the end it could be said that they accomplished their goal as nearly all black people managed to live without the bus meaning that the bus companies lost 65% of their income. Due to this the boycott drew much media attention witch was important as it broadcast their cause to a wide audience. However no laws were

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Chapter 13 Questions

    • 270 Words
    • 2 Pages

    How was Freedom Summer of 1964 different from earlier southern civil rights struggles of the 1960s?…

    • 270 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Why did the simple actions of one lady in 1955 prove to be so significant in transforming the fortunes of black people in their campaign for civil rights in America in 1950s?…

    • 1418 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The protest united a vast group of African Americans who were passionate in combating racial discrimination and inequality. In fact, the demonstration was one of the first large scale ones, and as mentioned in a letter by Virginia Durr, it was “the first time that a whole [black] community [had] ever stuck together this way and for so long” (Document D). In addition, the larger assistance aided in lessening the consequences of not taking the buses. 42,000 African Americans did not use the public transport for two months but found alternatives and help from the drivers willing to carpool (Document C). What was vital in making the Montgomery Bus Boycott successful was it being a peaceful demonstration. From the start, the boycott urged participating African Americans to not resort to any act of violence. As said by Martin Luther King, Jr., “democracy [gave them the] right to [peacefully] protest” and even though they would inevitably face trials, they must endure and remain determined (Document…

    • 326 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    How far were the forces opposed to civil rights responsible for the failures of the civil rights movement in the 1960s?…

    • 1584 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Why did the Montgomery bus boycott succeed? In December 1995, a bus boycott began, it all started with a black woman named Rosa parks. Even though she is not the first African American this happened to, it all started when she bought a ticket on the bus to go home after a long day’s work. A white man got on the bus and the driver asked her to move, she refused and were arrested.…

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the Civil Rights Movements, the NAACP firmly maintained their non-violent approach (accompanied by Martin Luther King) and majorly inspired countless Civil Rights protests, court cases and law changes (it is believed that the NAACPs contributions and achievements were overshadowed by Martin Luther King’s campaigning). Since its establishment in 1909, the NAACP has contributed largely to the success of many history changing civil rights movements throughout the US. Some of the most influential of these include: 1913- opposed president Woodrow Wilsons introduction of ‘Jim Crows’ laws of segregation into the federal government; 1935- legal fight was won by Thurgood Marshall and Charles Houston, allowing an African American student to attend the University of Maryland; 1940- founding of NAACP Legal Defence and Educational Fund, Inc.; 1948 Morgan vs. Virginia court case- Court bans states from having laws that sanction segregation facilities in interstate travel by train or bus; 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education court case- successfully de-segregated public schools (led by Thurgood Marshall); 1955-56 Montgomery Bus Boycott- non-violent protest which resulted in the de-segregation of public transport- Martin Luther King also emerged during this protest along with his organization, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; 1960 Greensboro- youth of NAACP launched ‘sit-ins’ (sitting at and taking up all of the seats at counters of various diners) which led to 60 stores de-segregating their counters- also led to the development of the Student Non-violent Co-ordination Committee (SNCC); 1963- NAACP pushed for Equal Opportunity Employment act; 1964- 55years after the formation of NAACP, Civil Rights Act was passed by Congress; 1965- Voting Rights Act was passed. Due to the NAACPs…

    • 748 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott was the result of many people withholding precious money from bus companies. The collective efforts of keeping off of the buses made it difficult for the bus companies to operate. Three of the most important parts to the boycott were the leaders, the people who would boycott, and more work and helping opportunities for…

    • 511 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Peaceful protesting was only doing so much, the alternative of Black Power had begun to flourish in the late 60’s because it demanded respect through violent, attention-grabbing approaches that were created to actually change segregation and equality. The 1950’s and early 60’s were eras driven by the consumer culture, the US was extremely wealthy, the automobile industry was booming, suburban lifestyle had grown, television became extremely popular, and the general view of America was good (to say the least). The only ‘bad’ aspect of the US was inequality and the unrecognized rights (Blacks deserved). The US originally opted for saving justice and peace amongst Black communities in civil and non-violent ways, but there was limited execution. In 1954, for example, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled segregation in public schools unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education. This landmark case began a series of significant Civil Rights movements with regards to desegregation and equal rights. The early 60’s brought upon new perspectives and the idea of peaceful resolution was one of…

    • 1158 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    COM10

    • 1055 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Civil Rights Movement was a social revolution that had been an important part of the United States for decades, but it wasn’t until the 1960’s that the movement actually began to actively affect the daily lives of Americans. Previously, the Civil Rights advocates had been attempting to simply integrate themselves into the whole of America as a result of the discriminatory mindset of many whites and the unfair treatment of blacks, but this goal shifted dramatically during the sixties as the movement pushed forward. These early integration attempts included non-violent methods such as sit-ins, demonstrations in Birmingham, and the March on Washington, yet even though the protesters were persistent and used non-violent methods to accomplish this early goal, much of America still refused to listen. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act outlawed segregation in public accommodations, which was monumental to the Civil Rights Movement because it shattered the Jim Crow system. The year after, the Voting Rights Act was passed which prohibited racial discrimination while voting. However, even with the ability to fairly vote and with discrimination outlawed by the Civil Rights Act, blacks still found themselves in a lesser position than most whites in society and began to strive for higher goals than just integration. Once they had more or less achieved desegregation, many blacks wanted to advance their goal beyond desegregation and into black power. Because of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the goals and strategies of the Civil Rights Movement shifted from non-violent civil disobedience to more militant methods in favor of self-defense and black power even though there was a scarcity of white support.…

    • 1055 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    On August 28. 1983, a group of over 200,000 people supported and attended the March on Washington. (www.history.com). This statistic demonstrates the fact of how impactful the March on Washington was and how many people were on the same side. The speeches in this assembly are some of the most famous and well known speeches that are still remembered today. There are many events of the Civil Rights Movement that changed our daily lives, including speeches and court cases, and there are key people who were involved in them . Some of the major events included the Brown v. Board of Education (1954), he Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-1957, the Greensboro Sit-ins (1961), March on Washington (1963), the 24th Amendment being passed (1964), and the…

    • 1754 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The events and outcomes of the bus boycott are significant in assistance to the civil rights movement. It was the introduction of direct action and non violence, the beginning of Martin Luther's campaign in the movement and the achievements.…

    • 573 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    How far do you agree that the opposition to the Civil Rights Movement did more to help the movement than to hinder it?…

    • 576 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    How far do you agree that opposition to the civil rights movement did more to help the movement than to hinder it?…

    • 676 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The civil rights movement was greatly influenced by Martin Luther King Jr. and his nonviolent methods. Although this method was very successful in the south, it did not have the same effect in the North. When, Dr. King went north, supporters noticed that the nonviolent protests did not have an affect in stopping the violent. Riots of Watts as stated in Document 1 showed that this was not the way to fix the issue. The riots in the movement paved a way for a new movement known as the Black Power movement. This movement stressed the importance of African American sticking together and protecting each other against the violence. Malcolm X’s preaching’s been a new influence that everyone began to follow (Document 2).…

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    • SCLC’s Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956) led to desegregation of buses in Montgomery and the NAACP’s legal case les to the establishment that segregation on buses was illegal (de jure)…

    • 587 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays