How Did The Montgomery Bus Boycott Impact The Civil Rights Movement

Edward Sukendro

Mr. Anselme

History 10

May 18, 2023

The Montgomery Bus Boycott And Its Effects The Montgomery bus boycott from 1955 to 1956 sparked the Civil Rights Movement when 50,000 African-Americans in Montgomery, Alabama united to challenge the “Jim Crow” laws that had long governed the South. Post-reconstruction, the South had passed many laws restricting the rights of black citizens. These laws imposed the segregation of black people and white people and were enforced in private businesses and also on public transportation in cities such as buses. “Jim Crow” laws became a part of life until they were challenged in 1955 in Montgomery. This was caused mostly by Rosa Parks. Her bravery sparked the Civil Rights Movement nationwide with a boycott of bus services in Montgomery, Alabama. Although other factors contributed to the start of the Civil

Before the boycott, the South’s “Jim Crow” laws were the law of the land and their main purpose was to enforce the segregation of black people and white people. These laws came from the Supreme Court decision of Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. This decision upheld segregation laws under the clause of “separate but equal” and for the next 60 years became commonplace in the Southern United States. Although the clause did say equal, in many cases the colored facilities were in a worse condition than the white ones. In other cases, colored facilities would not even exist. The Civil Rights Movement would get its initial start when the ruling was challenged in Brown