How important was the Montgomery Bus Boycott 1955–56 in

the Civil Rights Movement in the USA?

The Montgomery bus boycott has been seen by historians as one of the most
significant events in the 20th century. It was significant because it changed the
methodology of protest in the civil rights movement and had residence over time. It
was a crucial stepping stone on the journey to attain equality. The Montgomery Bus
boycott 1955-56 was important in the civil rights movement because it began
extremely effective, organized, peaceful protests. It did not only help progress the
black civil rights movement but also began a process of evolving protests for other
organizations.
The Boycott was one of the USA civil rights movement’s first victories. Not
only could the black people in Montgomery ride the buses as equals, but now blacks
in other places could too. The boycott started a movement that opened up countless
opportunities for many blacks to prove that they were not a lower race and should not
be deemed so. It proved that one Jim Crow law was unlawful, thus people began to
wonder if maybe all Jim Crow laws were unconstitutional. The Montgomery Bus
Boycott started a revolution in America that will never be forgotten in the pages of
history.
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a public bus
to make room for a white passenger. She was secretary of the Montgomery NAACP
and had recently returned from a meeting at the Highlander Centre. Rosa Parks was
arrested, tried, and then convicted for bad conduct and violating a local law. After
word of this incident reached the black community, many leaders gathered and
organized the Montgomery Bus Boycott to demand a more humane bus system. Edgar
Daniel Nixon pushed for full desegregation of public buses and to do this, he enlisted
the help of a young Baptist minister named Martin Luther King. King was the
president of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), and he began to
organise the peaceful protest.
The boycott started on Monday, December 5, 1955. Very few blacks rode the
bus that day, but instead walked, cycled or used the arranged car pool (car owners
transporting people to various places in Montgomery). Thus, it was decided to
continue the boycott. The effectiveness of the boycott was due to the fact that the
majority of passengers that rode the buses were black, and without enough passengers
the bus companies experienced immense financial problems. Over ninety percent of
African Americans in Montgomery took part in the boycotts, which reduced bus
revenue by 65%. The Montgomery state officials tried to stop carpools by forcing
local insurance companies to stop insuring the cars used in the carpools. Due to this,
boycott leaders arranged policies with a British insurance market (Lloyds).
After about six months on June 4, 1956, the federal district court ruled that
Alabama’s racial segregation laws for buses were unconstitutional. But, the case was
appealed and the segregation laws were kept until November 13, 1956. The boycott
finally ended on December 20, 1956 after they had attained their goal.
An extremely important cause to its significance was how it eventually led to
the change of laws through two very important acts in the fight against racism; the
civil rights act of 1957 and 1964. These acts entitled any black person to a right to
vote and outlawed any major forms of discrimination against blacks and women (such
as education), leading the USA, into a new era of equality. This meant that there was
no more segregation on the transport, and all states had to abide to the same rules.
Furthermore, the boycott managed to establish a legal precedence through a court case
appeal. After that, they could use this precedence to reinforce other cases, which
helped the movement’s progress immensely. In effect, the black civil rights
movement had managed to undermine segregation and had pierced through year old
traditions, to achieve their freedom.
In addition, it made Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks national figures. It
also highlighted Malcolm X’s violent approach to dire situations which could have
easily been averted with peace. Malcolm X showed his virtues and beliefs through
‘Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his
hand on you, send him to the cemetery.’ He thought the boycott would prove to be
ineffective and that they should have retaliated with aggression.
From the ashes of the boycott, the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership
Conference) and the SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) were born,
in aid of the black civil rights movement. Furthermore, Martin Luther King and Rosa
Parks both reached the world stage and became iconic role models. King received a
Nobel peace prize for his efforts; to which he said as he held it ‘the beauty of genuine
brotherhood and peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold.’
One pivotal reason why the boycott was extremely significant was because of
the way it turned around the situations and hearts of the black people in the USA. It
led the people out of their states of resignation and despair, of the fact that they would
never be equal, and brought them into a feat of optimism. They began to believe that
it was their right to be equal and that nobody should take that away from them. As
Ben Walsh dictates on pg 381 ‘It showed how powerful black people working
together can be.’ This shows the people had the power to fight for their rights and that
it would be better reinforced, if they cooperated together in non-violent protest. The
Montgomery bus boycott was a small victory but was one that would ignite the
strength to fight harder against oppressors. It led to Little Rock, by giving the school
children the courage to fight for their rights, even though they were going into
unmarked territory, and possible death.
Another major reason for its significance was the media and its resonance
through time. Through the media, the boycott drew attention from the south to the
north, exposing various acts of cruelty to the blacks. This resulted in many more
people supporting their cause, including other white followers. This had shown that
the human race could overcome the colours of the skin; as white supporters showed
their disgust to witnessing the inhumane forms of violence committed, by the white
public. In addition, the Montgomery bus boycott has been resonating throughout time,
which also explains why it seems key to the movement. It had filled a permanent spot
in history that had never been forgotten, and was therefore deemed important to the
progress of the civil rights movement, as a whole.
One fundamental reason to why the boycott was so important was the fact that
it changed the methodology of the civil rights movement. It shook the foundations of
violent protests to the core, as it began to teach new techniques of demonstrating
which was equally effective, if not more so. It taught that mass, passive protests could
be more effective because ‘These oppressors may be able to silence one, two, or
maybe even a hundred of us, but never thousands.’ A variety of sit-ins, protests,
speeches, marches, court cases and boycotts, left the white racist unable to counter.
Other organisations from different movements (such as women’s rights) began to
apply these techniques too and also succeeded. This displays how significant the
boycott was, for it had not only changed the history of black rights, but also other
parts of history in different movements. If non-violent protest hadn’t been discovered
and renewed at that time; we may have reached the 21st century with no ounce of the
modern society, which we have today.
However, in some ways the boycott was insignificant compared to the whole
black civil rights movement. For one thing, it didn’t change the attitudes of white
people towards the blacks. They still believed that black people were inferior and had
no right to live. This meant that although the boycott could shift laws to desegregate
the country, a lot more time would be needed to change the racist upbringing of the
people. Martin Luther King acknowledged this and in a response to the President said
‘It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can stop him from
lynching me.’ Additionally, the Montgomery bus boycott was not the first boycott and
nor was it the last. It was one of many that had and would take place in due time.
The Montgomery bus boycott was exceptionally important to the civil rights
movement. It helped enforce laws, which disallowed segregation in the whole of the
USA and it turned Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King into the role models that they
are today. The boycott created new organizations to fight the war against inequality
and brought itself into resonance over time, through the media and in the way that we
all remembered it. On the other hand, it was insignificant in some ways, but that did
not change the fact that without the boycott we would not be where we are today. The
most

It was a vital cog in the mechanics of the history of movements all over the world.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott had implications that reached far beyond the
desegregation of public buses. The protest propelled the Civil Rights Movement into
national consciousness and Martin Luther King Jr. into the public eye. In the words of
King: "We have gained a new sense of dignity and destiny. We have discovered a
new and powerful weapon—nonviolent resistance."

The Montgomery bus boycott was extremely significant because of the fact that
The part that Rosa Parks played was not significant in itself, but was made important
by the fact that she had numerous NAACP contacts. History is made significant by
the way we remember it. We remember her as a hero and therefore, she was a
significant part of this whole scheme.

 Significance – changed movement and methods – protest etc

 Conclusion – pull your arguments together

To this end, they formed the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) and elected King
as its president. That evening 7,000 blacks crowded into Holt Street Baptist Church, where
King inspired the audience with his words: "There comes a time when people get tired of
being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression."

With this speech, King was able to spark the black residents’ collective outrage into a
grassroots movement that would sustain the boycott. The Montgomery Bus Boycott followed
King’s credo of nonviolent resistance, even in the face of a police crackdown and attempts by
white supremacists to undermine the protest. Montgomery police threatened to arrest taxi
drivers giving discount rates to the black riders, and when the MIA arranged carpools, the
police systematically harassed drivers, arresting them for allegedly going too fast or too slow.
Meanwhile, the boycott leaders squared off at the bargaining table with the local officials. The
MIA presented its modest demands for bus seating by race, with no mobile area, and "Negro
routes" with black drivers. They were met with unconditional refusal.

n June a federal court ruled segregated seating unconstitutional, and the case went on appeal
to the U.S. Supreme Court. Meanwhile, King and the MIA leadership went to the Montgomery
court to try to stave off an injunction against the carpools. They were in court when they were
handed a notice from the Associated Press wire announcing the Supreme Court decision that
ruled segregated seating on public buses unconstitutional. King addressed a euphoric crowd
that night, and over the next week celebrities such as singer Mahalia Jackson and New York
minister Gardner C. Taylor came to Montgomery to celebrate. On December 20, 1956, when
the federal ruling took effect, an integrated group of Montgomery Bus Boycott supporters,
including King, Abernathy, Fred Gray, and Glenn Smiley, rode the city buses.

It was significant because this one event inspired others to take place. Not only for
black rights but for woman’s rights, also. This one event inspired other pages of
history to be filled