Rosa Parks is known for playing a key role in the start of the Civil Rights Movement. On December 1, 1955 Parks was on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama and she refused to give up her seat to a White American. She was taken into custody, but not before word got around of her arrest, giving hope to Black Americans. With one act of defiance, Rosa Parks started a rebellion. During the 1950s to 1960s there was a Civil Rights Movement. In this time period Black Americans were free but had to abide by multiple rules, causing racial tension. Black Americans had their own bathrooms, water fountains, entrances into buildings, schools, bus stops, and more (Rosa Parks). They also had a hard time finding well paying jobs and were usually faced with harassment …show more content…
The Montgomery NAACP had been planning a bus boycott for some time and they were just waiting for the right person who was courageous and able to face the backlash of the White Americans. Four other Black American women had been previously arrested for challenging the segregation laws of buses (Schudson). The NAACP organized a bus boycott on the day of Parks’ trial, deciding not to take the bus and choosing instead to walk or carpool. The bus boycott was a huge success, and the NAACP decided to continue till a real change had occurred. This led to sit-ins, marches, campaigns and, finally, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 later on. The boycott lasted 381 days or a little over a year (Wesleyan University). It ended on November 13, 1956, but only when the U.S. Supreme Court stated that the Alabama state and Montgomery city bus segregation laws were in violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Throughout the year of the bus boycott, the Montgomery bus system suffered greatly as 70% of Americans who took the bus were Black Americans. Parks became known as “The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement,” and she went on to spread awareness with regard to ending segregation (Rosa