A brief document about the History of The Civil Rights Movement 1

History of The Civil Rights Movement

Axel Rosas Anaya 201

Colegio San Patricio

A brief document about the History of The Civil Rights Movement 2

Resumen

The Civil Rights Movement was a time dedicated to activism for equal rights and treatment

of African- Americans in the United States. During this period, many people rallied for

social, legal and political changes to prohibit discrimination and end segregation. Many

important events involving discrimination against African- Americans led up to the era

known as the Civil Rights Movement. The enslavement of Africans is perhaps the biggest

example of inhumanity in United States history. The abolishment of slavery did not change

the issues that allowed discrimination to continue. Many great leaders came about from the

Civil Rights movements such as, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr, President John Kennedy

and President Lyndon Johnson. It takes the courage and dedication of people to get positive

changes in a country.

Key Words: segregation, enslavement, abolishment, discrimination, Africa-Americans

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The Slavery on the era.

The affects from the slavery era brought upon the civil rights movement. As soon as

the United States was discovered people used African- American’s for forced labor.

According to Jacobs, “During the four centuries of the Atlantic slave trade, an estimated 11

million Africans were transported to North and South America.” The vast majority of these

people were brought to North and South America against their will. They were often abused

both mentally and physically and they were even separated from their families. The reason

why most slaves could not stay with their families is because slaves had no say in where they

lived or who they worked for. If someone would abuse them, there was nowhere they could

go for help because they had no rights. It was even illegal for them to learn how to read and

write. The reason for this is people knew if they had an education there was a better chance at

a revolt. Slavery did not exist in the northern Part of the United States and Canada; as a

result, many slaves would often try to escape to the north were they had a better chance of

living a humane life. The people who were against slavery would sometimes try to help

African- American’s escape slave life. The Underground Railroad is a prime example of

people helping African- Americans escape to the north. According to Brooks, “The

Underground Railroad had no track and no locomotives; it was, instead, a system set up by

opponents of slavery in the antebellum United States to help slaves escape to free states,

Canada, and other locations, around 75,000 slaves were freed.” People knew the government

would not change policies if they just stood around. People took action regardless of the fact

that if they got caught helping African- Americans escape to freedom, they could have been

sent to jail or even killed. Not only was slavery inhumane, but think of all the great minds we
A brief document about the History of The Civil Rights Movement 4

lost because of slavery. If slavery did not exist I would bet everything I have that we would

be a more advanced society.

Freedom in The Civil War.

The United States Civil War was the framework of giving freedom to African-

Americans. The American Civil War was the result of decades of tensions between the north

and south. According to Hickman, “After the1860 election over the next several months

eleven southern states seceded and formed the Confederate States of America.” President

Lincoln wanted to preserve the union; as a result, the civil war began. The first two years of

the war it looked like the south was going to win. The battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg in

1863 changed the tables. In April of 1865 the south surrendered; thus, making the north

victorious. This war led to many social changes in the United States. The 13th amendment

was established in order to abolish slavery in the United States. Also, the 14th amendment

extended legal protection regardless of race. Furthermore, the 15th amendment abolished all

racial restrictions on voting. Many states found loopholes not to enforce the 14th and 15th

amendments. President Lincoln was assassinated on April 15 1865; thus Vice President

Andrew Johnson became president. President Johnson favored the south; as a result, he did

not do much if states went against the amendments. Johnson was such a bad leader congress

attempted to impeach him, but were unsuccessful. One can argue that if President Lincoln

was not assassinated the country would not have gone through as much turmoil and African-

Americans might have gotten civil rights much sooner.

First signs of change.

On July 26, 1948, President Truman issued Executive Order 9981 establishing

equality of treatment and opportunity in the Armed Services. According to Maxwell, “Harry
A brief document about the History of The Civil Rights Movement 5

S. Truman signed Executive Order 9981, which began an arduous process that would, over

the next 17 years, fully integrate the nation’s military.” This like the health care bill. It could

not be changed overnight because it needs to get phased in over a certain time period.

Many events lead to the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In December of

1955, Rosa Parks, started a major progressive movement. According to McGuire,” Rosa

Parks refused to give up her seat to a while man on a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Her

defiance of Jim Crows law violated a city ordinance. Parks was arrested, convicted, and

fined.” After the word spread of Rosa Park’s arrest, there was a large backlash against the

Montgomery Bus Company. For one year people boycotted the bus company and refused to

ride it, until they changed their policy. The people wanted public transportation desegregated.

African-Americans were paying to ride the bus, just as the whites were. All they wanted was

to be treated fairly whenever they took a ride on the bus. They did not want to have to give

their seat up simply because they were African-Americans.

Governments set up committees in order to dissect domestic problems of inequality

within the workforce. According to Donald, Presidential Studies Quarterly, “The President’s

committee on equal employment opportunity headed by Vice President Johnson investigated

seventeen hungered complaints of discrimination in employment.” This committee was

established to ensure people would not be discriminated against in the workplace. The

committee, run by Vice President Johnson investigated seventeen hundred complaints.

Through their research, they came to the conclusion that seventy percent of the complaints

were true. While the research helped build a framework of the problem, employment of

African- Americans still remained low until the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
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Many court cases may way for a civil rights act, one being Brown vs. the Board of

Education. According to Cozzens, “The Supreme Court struck down the “separate but equal”

doctrine of Plessey for public education, ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, and required the

desegregation of schools across America.” This landmark case made it illegal for public

schools to discriminate against people just because they were black. It paved the way for

more social change in the United States.

The NAACP.

The NAACP was founded in February of 1909; they are widely recognized has the

greatest grassroots organization for civil rights. This organization led many marches to

Washington D.C. during the 1960s. During the marches they would demand change. The

organization did its best to recruit women and young people. The young people were the

future and if they got involved more civil rights laws would get passed.
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References

(n.d). Civil Rights Movement, https://www.adl.org/education/resources/backgrounders/civil-

rights-movement

(n.d). The Civil Rights Act of 1964: A Long Struggle for Freedom,

https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/civil-rights-act/civil-rights-era.html

(n.d). The Civil Rights Movement And The Second Reconstruction, 1945—1968,

https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/BAIC/Historical-Essays/Keeping-the-

Faith/Civil-Rights-Movement/

Kenneth R. (n.d). The Civil Rights Movement: 1919-1960s,

http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/freedom/1917beyond/essays/crm.htm

David L. (n.d). Civil Rights Movement,

https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1463/civil-rights-movement