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Running Head: Causes and Effects of The Civil Rights Movement

Causes and Effects

Of the Civil Rights Movement
Salt Lake Community College

By Emily Crawford

Abstract

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Running Head: Causes and Effects of The Civil Rights Movement

The civil rights movement was a huge time in history and there are
many key events that carved the path of freedom for millions of people. The
civil rights movement can be displayed in three concepts, first the ideological
causes which are ideas created that helped others see a goal or see a bigger
picture. Gandhis speech on nonviolence, Martin Luther Kings ideas on civil
disobedience and his I Have a Dream Speech, also the letters from
Birmingham Jail. Next concept is the people that played a significant role in
history, people like Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, and the two presidents at
the time John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Last but not least are the
court cases that occurred helping to advance the civil rights movement.
There are three huge cases, first was Plessy vs. Ferguson, then Brown vs.
Board of Education, and the passing of the Civil Rights Act. Together all of
these ideas, people, and cases were what made the Civil Rights Movement
successful.

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Running Head: Causes and Effects of The Civil Rights Movement

During this time there were a lot of protests, violent and nonviolent.
People working towards equal civil rights used many tactics based off those
of Gandhi. Gandhi had struggled gaining independence from Great Britain, so
he was the first to create non-violent tactics. There were plenty of ways to do
it, for example they did sit-ins, boycotts, and freedom rides. A boycott is
when a large number of people all at once quit going somewhere, using
something, etc. For example the Montgomery boycott was when Rosa Parks
was told to move to the back of the bus so that a white person could have
her seat and she refused to move. After this Montgomery called together a
meeting of the blacks and they decided to boycott public transportation. Sitins were when African Americans would go into a place where they werent
allowed and demand service or stay until they were made to leave. February
1st, 1960 a group of four kids conduct a sit in at Woolworths segregated
lunch counter, they were allowed to stay at the counter but denied service.
This event struck a nerve and triggered many similar nonviolent protests
around the south. Six months later those four students were served food at
Woolworths. Freedom rides were when both blacks and whites rode buses
around the south freely displaying equality. They were sponsored by The
Congress of Racial Equity, and along the way they were either accepted or
attacked by angry mobs. Martin Luther King also took the way he conducted
his protests from Gandhi. King would always urge his participants to forever
conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline.

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Running Head: Causes and Effects of The Civil Rights Movement

Birmingham Alabama was considered the most racist city in the United
States. It was nicknamed bombingham because of the destruction done to
black businesses, homes, and churches. Not many African Americans were
willing to join because they didnt want to risk losing their jobs. Martin Luther

King joined the protests by participating in sit-ins and marches, and quickly
was arrested. Thats when he wrote his speech The Letter from Birmingham
Jail. Only three months later King wrote the I Have a Dream speech. This
is when the March on Washington happened, over 250,000 people got
together to show support for President Kennedys civil rights legislation.
Kennedy ended up asking King to postpone his speech in fear of fights to
break out, but King refused to postpone. The speech first reiterated that
violence is not the answer and that the time of social justice is now and must
be displayed through advocacy and demonstration. A famous line from the
speech is the Negro has come to cash the check of promise of men are
created equal and found insufficient funds. Rosa parks was also a huge
name in the movement because she was just an everyday lady who on day
decided that she didnt want to follow the unjust law that you must give up
your seat to a white on public transportation if you are an African American.
This gave a lot of African Americans the courage they needed to join in on
sit-ins, freedom rides, and so on. The two presidents at the time were John F.
Kennedy and the Lyndon B. Johnson. Kennedy was also to a degree working
towards equality, his time was cut short when he was assassinated two

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Running Head: Causes and Effects of The Civil Rights Movement

months after Martin Luther King was by Sirhan Sirhan. President Johnson
replaced Kennedy and also supported the passage of a good civil rights bill.
The second concept involved the people who influenced the civil rights
movement through their significant acts. First was Martin Luther King Jr., he
was a huge key in the movement, he created organizations, raised money,
and participated in protests with the community. He is most known for his
speeches Letter from Birmingham Jail and I Have a

Dream. He was arrested, mistreated, slandered, etc. but King continued the
fight for equality. Unfortunately it all came to an end when he traveled to
Memphis Tennessee to help sanitation workers on strike. While standing on
the Balcony of his hotel room he was shot by James Earl Ray. Within hours
rioting erupted in over 120 cities.
Court cases helped make huge strides in the advancement of the civil
rights movement. The First case was in 1896, Plessy vs. Ferguson. The court
created the doctrine of separate but equal, establishing legal segregation.
From this Jim Crow laws were made, which created loopholes in laws to
continue a lot of discrimination. In the 1930s The NAACP which was an
organization working against racial discrimination created a campaign to
attack the concept of separate but equal. Next the NAACP along with
Thurgood Marshall started to work towards the desegregation of schools in
the 1950s. The Supreme Court combined several school segregation cases

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Running Head: Causes and Effects of The Civil Rights Movement

in Kansas into one case called Brown vs. Board of Education. Arguments were
heard by the court over a two year period, and they also looked at the effects
of segregation on African Americans. In 1954 Chief Justice Earl Warren issued
the courts decision, which was a unanimous verdict to overturn Plessy vs.
Ferguson and that all schools should be integrated as soon as possible. The
passing of the Civil rights act was important because it banned
discrimination in employment and public accommodations. It was passed on
July 2nd, 1964, and it was also a huge step because President Johnson was on
board.
The speeches, the people, and the court cases are together what
helped advance society and give African Americans the equality they
obviously deserve. We still have a long way

to go, but if it wasnt for everything that happened during the Civil Rights
Movement we wouldnt be where we are today.

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Running Head: Causes and Effects of The Civil Rights Movement

Bibliography
All information was cited from your presentation posted on canvas.