The Civil Rights Movement

It is important to understand that the Civil Rights Movement started way before the 1960's.  After the end of the Civl War, the United States entered a time of "Reconstruction."  During this time, the south created what were known as Jim Crow Laws.  The Jim Crow south segregated African Americans from the rest of society.  This website is a great summary of what Jim Crow was all about, including essays that explain how the Jim Crow laws led up to the actual movement of the 1960's. 

**Pay attention to the essay included in From Terror to Triumph: Historical Overview

Most people think that Brown v. Board of Education was a single court case the dealt only with the school system.  This site points out the importance of this particular case, and shows ALL of the cases that were involved.  Some things to think about while looking at this site:

1. What were the names of the different cases involved in Brown v. Board of Eduacation?

3. Who were the two lawyers that were in charge of this case?

4. How do you think that this case shaped the future of the Civil Rights Movement?  What did it do for people who were in favor of Civil Rights?

Many people today do not even know what the name Emmett Till means.  Emmett Till was a boy who was from Chicago, Illinois who travelled down South to spend some time with his reletavies in Mississipi.  One day, he was accused of whistling at a cashier who was a white woman.  He was kidnapped and bruttally murdered.  This website explains the events of the case and the importance of everything that came from it.  Emmett Till was a very important cause of the Civil Rights Movement.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was one of the first events that took place that could be considered part of the Civil Rights Movement.  This event took place only a couple years after the Emmett Till incident.  There is a numerous amount of things that came out of the boycott.  Rosa Parks became one of the most remembered individuals of the movement because of her actions.  However, there were a lot of other important people that were introduced because of this event.  One of those individuals was Martin Luther King Jr.  Make sure that you look through this site and pay attention to the individuals that helped with the boycott. 

What was the Montgomery Bus Boycott?

What was the organization that formed to help Rosa Parks?

The Greensboro Sit-ins was the first of many sit-ins.  They spread all over the country and eventually over seas.  This website does and outstanding job of introducing the "Greensboro Four," as well as the significance this event had during and after the Civil Rights Movement.   There are newsclips and media that allows the viewer to understand what was going on during this particular event.

This website developed by CORE (one of the prominent organizations of the Civil Rights Movement) does a great job of describing what the march stood for. 

Who were the key organizers in this March?

What speech is famously known that was given during this march?

How many people gathered in Washington to hear MLK Jr. talk about the Civil Rights Movement?

Although many people followed MLK Jr.'s belief of non-violence, many people also followed Malcolm X's idea of freedom by any means necessary. The Black Panthers organized during the Civil Rights Movement under the leadership of Bobby Seale and Huey Newton.  The party had a program set-up with particular goals to accomplish.  They also had a strict set of rules set in place that each member was supposed to follow.  Their militaristic style of presenting themselves has had different views.  Familiarize yourself with the groups ideas, beliefs, its history, and major players that participated in the group. 

This is a site that allows the viewer to see a number of different photos that were taken throughout the Civil Rights Movement.  Some of the pictures have links that give more information about what is going on during the time the picture was taken.  This is great for the visual learners to get a sense of the different things that were going on during this time. 

Are there any images that stand out to the viewer that give the best sense of the Civil Rights Movement?