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What Was The Role Of The Civil Rights Movement In The 1930s And 1940s

1753 Words8 Pages

For fifty years, scholars have debated the importance of the political, legal, and social actions that occurred during the 1930s and 1940s. The debate centers on whether these actions contributed to the overall success of the civil rights movement. The dominant narrative presented by scholars asserts the actual significant period of the movement occurred with the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 and ended following the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Their reasoning for this assertion, the non-violent protest movements of boycotts, sit-ins, and marches occurring from the mid-to-late 50s and early 60s resulted in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The passage of these Acts corrected the wrongs created by the Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, which ended the influence of Jim Crow Laws and segregation in the South. Since the dominant narrative focuses primarily on the 1960s for the successes achieved by the movement, is there enough historiographical analysis supporting …show more content…

Throughout his narrative, he discusses the differing interpretation of historians in their study of this movement. Fairclough main focus centers on three differing stages of the movement: the early beginnings in the 1930s and 1940s, the effects of the early Cold War years and the anticommunist movement, and the effects of the non-violent protest movements of the 1950s and

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Throughout the American 1960’s there was a Civil Rights Movement. This movement gained a lot of traction within a short amount of time through many people. There were two leaders with opposing tactics but had the same goal reined in the movement. One leader was Martin Luther King with the tactic of Nonviolent Civil Disobedience and integration. The second leader was Malcolm X with the tactic to fight back and to have the communities better themselves by being separate.

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Africans Americans weren’t getting much respect or equality with the whites since 1619, the year when the first African slaves were shipped to Virginia. In 1954, the civil rights movement of African Americans to achieve equal rights such as, housing, jobs and education. Many other events during the civil rights movement timeline, 1954-1968, made the movement stronger. Such as the Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat and got arrested in 1955, which started the Montgomery bus boycott by Martin Luther King Jr.

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During 1954 to 1968, African Americans and whites alike were fighting for the rights of African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement. Throughout America, protesters used different tactics to earn their freedom. Some used violence, while others chose a non-violent path. Non-violence overall was more effective than violence during the Civil Rights Movement. Furthermore, bus boycotts are an efficient strategy that was used in the 1950s to 60s.

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During the 1960’s, the Civil Rights Movement was a big topic and controversy with all of the United States. It was quite clear that African Americans did not get treated the same way that whites did. It had been ruled that it was constitutional to be “separate but equal”, but African Americans always had less than the whites did. For example, the schools that they had were run down, and had very little classrooms, books, and buses. Martin Luther King had a large role in the Civil Rights Movement, as did Malcolm X, and others.

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The tactics used civil rights movement of both the 1950’s and 1960’s were different helped them succeed in different ways. During the late 1950s the tactics that were used were political, while in the early in 1960s they used social and political tactics to get their goals achieved, but in the late 1960s the tactics that were used were primarily economic and social, In the 1950’s, the civil rights movement was very successful because activist showed the level of racism and segregation in the south. The tactics and resistance made in this time period helped achieve desegregation because and the resistance that the activists dealt with just made them become more aware in the media and hopefully spread nation wide.

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During the civil rights movement from 1945-1968, activists and the federal government took the action they thought to be most effective to reach their specific goals. Many activists took the ways of protests, like boycotting public transportation, to show their dissatisfaction with the current laws and regulations in place. The federal government often times relied on the passage of laws, including the Civil Rights act of 1964, to end segregation. The use of politics to express the concerns of both parties was a way for the government and the people to work together. The civil rights movement brought challenges that were faced by activists, and the federal government through the seperate ways of protesting and the passage of laws, along with

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In this paper, I will focus on the Civil Rights Act of 1964. I will provide the history, the important people involved in the establishment of the Civil Rights Act, the events that led to the act, and the reactions from the people, mostly Southerners, after the act was established. In the year of 1963, Blacks were experiencing high racial injustice and widespread violence was inflicted upon them. The outcry of the harsh treatments inflicted upon them caused Kennedy to propose the Civil Rights Act.

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The 1960’s is different because the movement was led by Martin Luther King Jr and his colleagues, compared to the numerous leaders with different strategies and goals in the previous decades. Martin Luther King detailed in a prison cell in Birmingham, Alabama a goal of “Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bound” (Document B). With clear goals of creating a more open and equal society, this was easily communicated to fellow African Americans and people of all groups. Therefore, with this goal, people can hope and join in the movement making it a success during the 1960’s, compared to the unclear messages of previous decades. Furthermore, Martin Luther discusses the goal, to overcome their differences as exhibited by police and civil actions against African Americans in 1963 (Document C).

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Ultimately this hope gave many African Americans the motivation to start and participate in the civil rights movement. As a result of the Montgomery bus boycotts, “the Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s order to end segregation on city buses” (Cravens). Therefore, blacks were now protected by the law to be allowed to sit wherever they please on public transportation. However, the most important law passed which finally brought the civil rights efforts to fruition was the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This act “prohibited racial discrimination in public accommodations, public facilities, and the use of federal funds” (Civil Rights Movement,

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The 1960’s was a time of great conflict and tension for America. Lyndon B. Johnson was elected president in 1963, and many social issues were dividing the United States at this time. The fight for equal rights for every citizen, not just white males, caused many riots, protests, and distress for the country. The Vietnam War was taking place on the other side of the world, but was severely affecting Americans back in the States. It lead to the Anti-War Movement, which still affects America on foreign relations today.

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Violent protest and nonviolent protest in Civil Right Movement In American history, the period of the 1960s always was considered a decade of great social change. This is the era that the group of lower class or color skin became stronger and more confident to assert themselves even though white people still dominated every aspect of American society. During this period, American Civil Rights Movements emerged everywhere, such as Native-Americans Movement, Women’s Movement, Latino Movement, and especially African Americans Movement. By that time, there are many varieties of actions that civil rights activists waged to seek to end racial inequality and secure rights in political, social, and economic for African Americans.

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The history of America is as much the history of freedom and triumph as it is the history of the segregation and oppression of African Americans. The acquisition of Civil Rights was not just contained in the movement of the 1960’s, but was a road that had spanned the entirety of the era after the end of Southern Reconstruction. If President Hayes had not agreed to remove Federal soldiers from the South, the Civil Rights movement would not have happened during the 1960’s, but would have happened much earlier. During the time of reconstruction, the rights of the newly freed African Americans was constantly in jeopardy, and it was an ongoing struggle for the fair treatment that was promised by the Constitution. When the North lost southern influence,

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Many countries concurred with Luther King and agreed with his ideas because he made a difference for African-Americans and took a stand against racism. Yet the question today, over forty years later is: Was the African-American civil rights movement an overall success? Or is it the same now as it was back in 50’s and 60’s? For the purpose of this assignment the author will explore the literature and discuss the notion that racism and equality has changed as a result of the civil rights movement.

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However, they faced difficulty in attaining this goal of equality due to retaliation and violence. This resistance to desegregation was instrumental in revealing racial tensions and the irrational ideology of white supremacists. After analyzing how the Montgomery bus boycott has had significant political and cultural effects on American history, it is safe to conclude that this event should be included within the new textbook. The political and cultural changes that arose from this event acted as a catalyst for the civil rights movement and resulted in national and international attention to the civil rights struggles going on in the United States during this

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