Civil Rights Movement In The 1950s And 1960s

The 1950s and 1960s had one of the most successful movement for equal rights, the Civil rights movement. Started by African Americans to hopefully improve their life in the aspects of education, freedom, and public treatment.

The Civil rights movement has a long history that started off slow, but boomed in the early to mid nineteen hundreds. The first time African Americans had gained any sort of right was the era of Reconstruction. The fifteenth amendment prohibited the practice of denying colored people the right to vote, the fourteenth stated that all born regardless of race in the United States were citizens, and the thirteenth abolished slavery. These amendments were nullified by southern states implementing black codes, which were racist

This was the first real push to the civil rights movement because it allowed African Americans the right to a fair trial and equal accommodations in public places. However, it was soon nullified by extreme segregation in the form of the Jim Crow laws. There were places that African Americans could not use the restroom, sit at the bar, or even enter on certain days. The movement laid dormant for African Americans, while white woman attained the right to vote, and the child labor laws are enacted. But by the 1940s, they would make a serious

Before Jackie’s baseball career, he served as a second lieutenant from 1942 until 1944 in Texas. During his stay he refused to move to the back of a segregated bus and was arrested, this was a precursor to Rosa Parks, even before this man hit the major league fields he was making an impact on the revival of the civil rights movement. Soon after his discharge from the military Branch Rickey, president of the Brooklyn Dodgers, recruited Jackie. Being the first African American in major league baseball meant Robinson had to endure lots of race and skepticism. However, he ended up becoming one of the best paid players in the whole league, along with being rookie of the year in 1949. He helped pave the way for many other African American Athletes such as Satchel Paige, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron. But Robinson didn’t inspire just these three ball players, he inspired a new generation to strive for racial