How Did The Birmingham Campaign Contribute To The Civil Rights Movement

The Birmingham Campaign of the Black Civil Rights Movement in 1963 was a monumental event caused by many various events, activities and people. The campaign in Birmingham, Alabama had multiple long-term and short-term causes, and its consequences changed the United States enormously, for both the people and the future of the country.

The Civil Rights movement in Birmingham, Alabama was caused overall by the long-term racial discrimination and segregation across America, particularly in the South. African-Americans in the country had been there as early as 1619, brought to the United States as slaves or indentured servants. For many years, they were trapped as slaves to whites, denied their own human rights and forced to work their lives away

Campaigns such as the failure of peaceful protest in Albany, a heavily segregated city in the South, taught leaders of the movement such as Martin Luther King how to tackle future campaigns and what ideas should be implemented at Birmingham. Protests in Albany began in the early 1960s, when black students began voting registration drives, petitions and polls trying to bring about change regarding segregation. They called in Martin Luther King, who was regarded highly as a hero and a leader for the civil rights movement, to assist in encouraging and persuading people to become involved in the protesting. He led a march of 287 African-Americans through the town in an example of his famous peaceful protesting, and they were all arrested ‘peacefully’ too. Laurie Pritchett, the local head of law enforcement, treated the black prisoners from the protests in a kind and dignified way, and had the media report on how polite and peacefully he was treating the prisoners. This shut down any hope for change, as the dramatic and typically violent reaction Martin Luther King and protesters required and were expecting to make a difference simply did not come. The lack of change angered protestors, who said Martin was ‘taking over’ and ‘becoming too involved’ in what had initially been their campaign. This resulted in violence and anger from African-Americans, who had hoped this campaign would make a difference in Albany. Therefore, peaceful protest in Albany had failed, and this particular civil rights campaign could not succeed. The failure of the peaceful protesting in Albany was a direct short-term cause of the upcoming Birmingham Campaign, because it showed protesters how to execute other events, and taught them that they should target places they would receive a