The document summarizes key events and organizations in the civil rights movement in the United States from 1896 to 1963. It discusses important Supreme Court rulings like Plessy v. Ferguson, which upheld racial segregation, and Brown v. Board of Education, which overturned it. It also outlines the formation of civil rights groups like the NAACP, CORE, SCLC, and SNCC and their roles in protests and legal challenges against racial discrimination and segregation, especially in the areas of public education, transportation, and voting rights. Major events discussed include the Montgomery Bus Boycott led by Martin Luther King Jr. and the Freedom Rides organized by CORE to test desegregation of interstate buses and facilities.

1. USA revisionuntil 1963
Supreme Courtcase PlesseyvsFerguson (1896) ruledthatblackscouldbe “separate but equal” (segregationok)
‘JimCrow’ lawswere inplace in the southto ensure thatsegregation(separatefacilitiesforblacksandwhites)was
inplace.
CORE – Congressof Racial Equalitywassetup inthe 1940s, but became more popularinthe 1960s.
NAACP– National Associationforthe Advancementof ColouredPeople. Hada membershipof600,000 by 1946,
Thurgood Marshall was a leadinglawyerforthisgroup.
SCLC – SouthernChristianLeadershipConferencefoundedin1957 to try to improve conditionsforblackAfrican
Americans.
Brown vs Topeka 1954. Lawyersfromthe NAACP(ledbyThurgoodMarshall) wenttothe Supreme Courttotry to
endsegregationineducation.Ittook 18 months,but in 1954 ChiefJustice Earl Warrenof the Supreme Court gave a
judgementthat“separate butequal hasnoplace”in America(he had ruledagainst segregation).
By 1957 more than 300,000 black childrenwere attendingformallysegregatedschools.
By 1957 2.4 millionblackSouthern childrenwere still beingeducatedin Jim Crow schools.
White CitizenCouncilswere setup to oppose this ruling(Brown vs Topeka)
More than 100 Southern senators andcongressmen signedthe SouthernManifestoopposingthe demandsof
Brownvs Topeka(desegregationineducation).Manyof these were DemocraticPartysenators(Dixiecrats) andwere
goingdirectlyagainsttheirownparty’sofficialviews.
1954-1956 saw 450 laws and resolutionspassedinthe Southernstates in an effort to stop the desegregationof
schools.
In 1956 Autherine Lucy was acceptedto the UniversityofAlabama – many white studentsrioted.She was
forbiddento enterthe university.
1957 - Little Rock High School accepted9 black African American students to studythere.The governorOrval Fabus
didn’twantto accept them,neitherdidmanyof the white citizensof Little Rock.Fabususedthe national guardto
stopthementeringthe school. Eisenhowersteppedinandusedthe National Guard and the army to protectthe
blackstudents. 8/9 finishedthe year.GovernorFabusclosedall the schoolsthe yearafterto stop anymore black
studentsattendingpreviouslywhite onlyschools.The Supreme Courtforcedthemtoreopenin1959.
1955 – The MontgomeryBus Boycott startedafterRosa Parks refusedtogive uphersetto a white man.The NAACP
startedto plana court case to challenge the segregationlaws.MartinLutherKingbecame involvedinorganisingthe
boycott.About 20,000 people joinedthe boycott and 7,000 people came toa rallyand speechbyMartin Luther
King.Kingemphasisedthatthere wouldbe noviolence.RosaParkswasfined$10 and made to pay $4 costs.The
MontgomeryImprovementAssociation(MIA –setup to run the boycott) thendecidedtokeepthe boycottgoing
until theirdemandswere met.The boycottcontinuedwithblacktaxi companiesgivingpeople liftsforasl ittle as10
cents.Anold lawwasusedto make the minimumtaxi fare 45 cents (toomuchfor the poorerblack citizenstopay),
nowchurch groupsorganisedtheirowngroupsof drivers. The MontgomeryWhite City Council grewto 12,000
membersby March 1956. Martin Luther King’sHouse was firebombed.90 leadingfiguresincludingMartin Luther
Kingwere arrested.MIA wonthe case inthe federal courtbut the cityof Montgomeryappealedtothe Supreme
Court. On 13th
November1956 the Supreme Court upheldthe decisionofthe Federal Court and ruledsegregation
of the busesillegal.
1957 Civil Rights Act (PresidentEisenhower) - firstCivil Rights legislationfor82 years. It wasaimedat encouraging
blackpeople tosignupto vote.A secondAct in1960 emphasisedthatpeople couldbe prosecutedforattemptingto
stopsomeone registeringtovote,orvoting.
1955 – Emmett Till murderedby the KKK (Ku Klux Klan) forflirting(possibly) withawhite woman. The murderers
were found not guiltyby the all white jury despite theirbeingclear evidence againstthem.

2. 1960 – Greensborositin at a branch of Woolworths.4 blackstudentsdemandedtobe servedata white only
counteron the firstday.27 more students joinedthemon the seconddayand 80 more by the third. By the 5th
day
there were 300 students.Eventuallyarrestedfortrespassthe studentsall boycottedthe shop.The dropinsales
causedsegregationthere toend.
SNCC- StudentNonViolentCo-coordinatingCommittee wasfoundedinNorthCarolinaandworkedonusing
peaceful protesttoencourage desegregation.Itplayedamajorrole inthe FreedomRides,MarchonWashington
and ‘FreedomSummer’.
December1960 – The Supreme Court ruledthat all bus stations and terminalsthat servedinterstate travellers
shouldbe desegregated.
CORE decidedtocheckthat the SouthernStateswere doingthisbyhavingaseriesof ‘FreedomRides’tothese bus
stationsandterminals.
1961 (May) – the first freedomride leftWashingtonDC
14th
May 1961 – The Anniston bomb(in Alabama) saw one of the FreedomBusesfirebombed.Thiswasmade worse
by eventsinBirminghamlaterthatdaywhen theywere attackedbyanangry mob.
December1961 – MembershipofCORE reaches52,000
300 freedomriderswere imprisonedinthe city of Jackson.
22nd
September1961 the Interstate Commerce Commissionissueda regulationthat stoppedany busescarrying
interstate passengersfrom usinga segregatedbus stop. As a resultthe Southern bus stopswere forcedto
desegregate.
June 1962 – the Supreme Courtupholdsafederal courtdecisiontoallow JamesMeredithtostudyatMississippi
University. PresidentKennedysent320 US marshals to escort Meredithtothe campus. There were riots,2 people
were killed,166 marshals and201 demonstratorswere injured.Thisbecame knownasthe ‘Battle of Oxford’.
Kennedywasforcedtosendmore than2,000 troopsto restore order. 300 soldiershadto remainon campus until
Meredithreceivedhisdegree 3 years later.
The Albany Movement1961-62: The arrest of several hundredfreedomridersin1961 ledto increasedprotests,
attendedbyMartin LutherKing.However,the local parksetcwere closedtopreventthe protestersfromusingthem
whichmeantthat the protestswere unsuccessful asidefromassmall increase inthe numberof blacksregisteredto
vote.Segregationinschoolsinparticularremained.
The VoterEducation project – staffedmainlybySNCCmembersitwasfocusedonincreasingthe numberof Black
AfricanAmericanvoterswhowere registeredtovote.There wasanincrease of 650,000 voters,butthere wasstill a
lotof oppositionespeciallyfromthe KKKandWhite CitizensCouncils.