Chapter 18: The Civil Rights Movement 1945-1975

Section 1: Early Demands for Equality (pages 580-587)

I. Segregation divides America
African Americans were still treated as _________________________________ citizens after World War II
Their heroic effort to attain racial equality is known as the civil rights movement. They took their battle to the
street, in the form of____________________________protests, held boycotts, and turned to the courts for a
legal guarantee of basic rights.
A. Despite their service in World War II, segregation at home was still the rule
for African Americans.
De jure segregation

De facto segregation

B. World War II set the stage for the rise of the modern civil rights movement.
1. Discrimination in the defense industries was banned in 1941.
2. Truman desegregated the ________________________ in 1948.
3. _______________________________ became the first African American to play major league baseball.
4. CORE was created to end racial ._________________________
C. African American veterans were unwilling to accept discrimination at home after
_____________________________________________ overseas.
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II. Brown v. Board of Education

A. In 1954, many of the nations school systems were segregated.

1. The NAACP decided to challenge school segregation in the _____________________courts.

2. African American attorney _____________________________________led the NAACP legal team
in Brown v. Board of Education.
B. Written by Chief Justice Earl Warren, the Brown v. Board of Education decision said:
1. Segregated public education violated the ________________________________Amendment.
2. Separate but equal had no place in public education.

C. The Brown v. Board of Education ruling was significant and controversial.

1. In a second decision, Brown II, the courts urged __________________________________ of the

decision with all deliberate speed across the nation.
2. About 100 white Southern members of Congress opposed the decision; in 1956 they endorsed The
______________________________________ to lawfully oppose Brown.
C. The Brown decision also met resistance on the local and state level.
1. In Little Rock, Arkansas, when _____________________African American students tried to enter
Central High, the governor had the National Guard stop them.
2. President Eisenhower had to send in troops to _____________________________________decision.
III. Federal and State Government Clash

A. Some civil rights activists took direct action.

1. In Montgomery, Alabama, _________________________was
arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white person.

2. This sparked a ___________________________ to integrate public

transportation.
The black community walked or carpooled to work rather than take
_________________________________________.

IV. The Montgomery Bus Boycott

A. The Montgomery bus boycott launched the _____________________ civil rights movement.
B. Martin Luther King, Jr.s inspiring speech at a boycott meeting propelled him into the
_________________________ of the ________________________________ civil rights movement.
1. The black community continued its bus boycott for more than a ____________________despite
threats and violence.
2.

In 1956, the Supreme Court ruled that segregated busing was _______________________________
and the boycott ended.

C. The bus boycott was a tremendous and exciting victory for African Americans.
1. It proved that they could work together and _________________________ change.
2. It inspired King and Ralph Abernathy, another Montgomery minister, to establish the
________________________________________________________(SCLC) to continue the
nonviolent struggle for civil rights.
D. But even with these victories, discrimination and segregation remained widespread.
Section 2: The Movement Gains Ground (pages 589-596)
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I. Student Activists Make a Difference

Through victories in the _______________________and the success of sit-ins and other
___________________________________ protests, African Americans slowly began to win their battle for
civil rights. But it was the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 that signaled a dramatic change in race relations
by ______________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________.
A. Student activists engaged in nonviolent civil disobedience to create change.
1. Students staged __________________________.
2. Students formed their own organization, the ________________________________________________
_______________________________________________(SNCC), to continue to work for equal rights.

II. Riding for Freedom

A. Students also organized ______________________________ to protest segregation on the interstate
transportation system.
1. The Supreme Court had already ruled that segregation on _________________________________
and waiting rooms was illegal.
2. Freedom riders tested the federal governments willingness to _______________________________
___________________________.
3. Some of the buses and riders were attacked by angry ______________________________________.
4. President Kennedy intervened, ordering police and state troopers to protect the riders and mandating
the desegregation of the _____________________________________.

III. Protests and Confrontations Intensify

A. In September 1962, Air Force veteran ______________________________
tried to enroll at the all-white University of Mississippi.
1. The ______________________________________________ ordered
the school to desegregate in 1962.
2. Mississippis governor resisted, creating a stand-off between the ________________________
government and the _______________________ government.
3. When Meredith arrived on campus, a ____________________ensued; two men were killed in the
fighting.
B. Once again, President Kennedy intervened, assigning _____________________________________ to
protect Meredith.
1. Meredith graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1963. He later obtained a law degree from
Columbia University.
2. Tragically, civil rights activist __________________________________________, who was
instrumental in helping Meredith gain admittance to Ole Miss, was murdered in June 1963.
C. In the spring of 1963, civil rights leaders focused their efforts on the Souths most segregated city
Birmingham, Alabama.
1. Initially, the protests were ____________________________, but they were still prohibited by the city.
2. City officials used _______________________________ and fire _________________________against
the protestors.
3. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., himself was __________________________ for violating the prohibition.

D. Reaction to the Birmingham protests was overwhelming.

1. Shocked Americans _______________________________that President Kennedy take action to end
the violence.
2. Calling it a ____________________________, Kennedy proposed sweeping civil rights legislation.
3. Civil rights leaders held a ________________________________________ to pressure the
government to pass the Presidents bill.
IV. The Movement Marches on Washington
A. On August 28, 1963, hundreds of thousands of people from all around the
country gathered in Washington, D.C., to demonstrate.

1. As millions more watched on television, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.,

stood before the Lincoln Memorial and delivered his unforgettable
_______________________________________ speech.
B. In September 1963, less than three weeks after the march, a bomb exploded in the ____________________
that headquartered the SCLC in Birmingham. Four young African American girls were killed.
V. Congress Passes the Civil Rights Act of 1964
A. On November 22, 1963, President Kennedy was ____________________________________.
1. Vice President _______________________________________ assumed the presidency.
B. Johnson continued to work for passage of Kennedys civil rights legislation.
C. The legislation passed in the House of Representatives, but faced even more opposition in the Senate.
1. A group of Southern Senators blocked it for 80 days using a ____________________________.
2. Supporters put together enough votes to end the filibuster.
D. In July, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law.
1. Banned segregation in __________________________________________________________.
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2. Gave government the power to ________________________________________schools.

3. Outlawed discrimination in ________________________________________.
4. Established the ______________________________________________ Opportunity Commission.
Section 3: New Successes and Challenges (pages 600-608)
I. The Pushing for Voting Rights
Even after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed, conditions did not improve _________________________ for
most African Americans. Impatience with the slow pace of change led to ________________________behavior.
Riots occurred in many cities. After Martin Luther King Jr.s _________________________________, more
civil rights legislation was passed, but new challenges also arose.
A. In 1964, many African Americans were still denied the right to vote.
1. Southern states used ________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________ to prevent African Americans from voting.
2. The major civil rights groups decided to end this injustice.
B. In the summer of 1964, the SNCC enlisted 1,000 volunteers to help
African Americans in the South _________________________________.
1. Three campaign volunteers were __________________________, but
other volunteers were not deterred.
2. From this effort, the Mississippi Freedom Democratic party (MFDC)
was formed as an alternative to the _________________________
state Democratic party.
3. The campaign was known as _________________________________.
C. A MFDP delegation traveled to the
______________________________________________________
hoping to be recognized as Mississippis only Democratic Party.
1. MFDP member ________________________________________________testified on how she lost
her home for daring to register to vote.
2. Party officials refused to seat the MFDP, but offered a compromise: two MFDP members could be
at-large _______________________.
a. Neither the MFDP nor Mississippis regular Democratic delegation would accept the
____________________________________.
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D. In March 1965, Rev. King organized a march on Selma, Alabama, to pressure Congress to pass voting
rights laws.
1. Once again, the ________________________________ marchers were met with a violent response.
2. And once again, Americans were _______________________________by what they saw on
national television.
E. President Johnson himself went on television and called for a _________________________________.
F. The Voting Rights Act of ________________________ was passed.
1. Banned __________________________tests
2. Empowered the federal government to oversee voter registration and elections in _______________
_______________________________ against minorities
3. Extended to include ________________________________voters in 1975
G. President Johnson also called for a federal voting rights law. The _______________________________
to the Constitution, which banned the ____________________________, was ratified.
1. At the same time, Supreme Court decisions were handed down that limited racial ______________
___________________________ and established the legal principle of one man, one vote.
II. Frustration Explodes into Violence
A. The Voting Rights Act stirred growing African American participation in politics. Yet life for African
Americans remained difficult.
1. ______________________________________________continued to plague Northern urban centers.
2. Simmering anger exploded into ______________________________ in the summer of 1967.
3. Watts in Los Angeles; Newark, New Jersey; and Detroit, Michigan, were the scene of violent
_____________.
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B. Johnson appointed the __________________________________ to determine the cause of the riots.

1. The Commission found that ______________________________
racial discrimination was the single most important cause of violence.
2. The commissions findings were controversial. Because of
American involvement in the
______________________________________, there was little money
to spend on the commissions proposed programs.
III. New Voices for African Americans
A. In the mid-1960s, new African Americans leaders emerged who were less interested in
nonviolent protests.
1. One was ________________________________, a minister in the __________________________,
which called for African Americans to break away from _________________ society.
2. He led the Nation of Islam until 1964.
He was _________________________
in 1965.
B. The Black Panthers was a
______________________ group organized
to protect blacks from
____________________________abuse.
1. The Black Panthers became the
symbol of
_________________________ militant African Americans.
created ____________________________ programs and protested attempts to restrict their right to
________________________________.
C. Several SNCC leaders urged African Americans to use their ___________________________to gain
equality.
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IV. Martin Luther Kings Final Days

A. Although he understood their __________________, King continued to __________________nonviolence.
B. He created a _______________________________________ to persuade the nation to do more to help the
poor.
1. He traveled to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968 to promote his cause and to lend support to striking
____________________________________workers.
C. Martin Luther King, Jr., was __________________________ on
April 3, 1968, in Memphis.
V. Significant Gains and Controversial Issues
1. increased ____________________________opportunities for
African Americans

2. an African American man was appointed to the _____________________________________.

3. __________________________________many schools and colleges
4. eliminated ____________________________ segregation
5. knocked down __________________
and __________________________
barriers
5. banned ______________________
discrimination

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