'In the years 1945 to 1953, the campaigns to advance the civil rights of African-Americans made significant progress because of the support of the President”
Assess the validity of this view
This essay question is very common and this answer scored very very highly. It uses a solid structure too...
History A Level American Dream, AQA, America Time line and Key Events, 1945-1980
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Unit 2 - Historical Issues: Periods of Change
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Emma Warren 12.3
'In the years 1945 to 1953, the campaigns to advance the civil rights of African-Americans made
significant progress because of the support of the President”
Assess the validity of this view.
Whilst Truman did support civil rights, the work of NAACP and Thurgood Marshall through
judicial review made more progress for the advancement for civil rights it could be argued. Also,
groups like CORE and The Progressive Voters League also played a much larger role in the
advancement of civil rights than the President. Furthermore, Truman couldn’t do much due to
government opposition. Therefore, it could be argued the statement is ultimately not so valid.
Firstly, President Harry S. Truman did support civil rights suggesting that this view is valid.
This is evident in his “To secure these rights” report of October 1947 which wanted, amongst other
things, the federal government to use its authority to end segregation, lynching to be made a federal
offence, voting rights introduced for African Americans and the FEPC to be made a permanent
future. These were revolutionary demands given South still had de jure segregation and the North
had de facto, indicating he was making significant progress for civil rights. Furthermore, his
commitment to civil rights is clear in his executive orders- banning segregation in the armed forces
and guaranteeing fair employment practices in the civil service. These executive orders set a
precedent about the desire to have equality, advancing civil rights fairly significantly. From these
actions we can infer that Truman clearly made important progress during his years as President, as
he was the first President since Lincoln to address the civil rights issue, suggesting the statement is
wholly valid.
However, the work of NAACP and Thurgood Marshall played a much larger role in the
advancement of civil rights in those years. The NAACP played a pivotal role in the civil rights
movement of the 1950s and 1960s. One of the organization’s key victories was the U.S. Supreme
Court’s 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education that outlawed segregation in public schools.
This was an example for the following entire civil rights movement about what changes could occur
and inspired generations, progressing the civil rights movement immeasurably. Furthermore,
pioneering civil-rights attorney Thurgood Marshall, the head of the NAACP Legal Defence and
Educational Fund (LDF), successfully argued many cases before courts. Marshall, who founded the
LDF in 1940, won a number of other important civil rights cases involving issues such as voting rights
and discriminatory housing practices. Again, these cases improved the lives of African Americans
across America and helped spur the entire movement, suggesting the view is entirely invalid. The
strength and extraordinary influence of the NAACP and Marshall’s work entirely contradicts the
statement, indicating the view is invalid.
Additionally, groups like CORE and The Progressive Voters League also played a much larger
role in the advancement of civil rights than the President’s support. The Congress of Racial Equality’s
activities started with a sit-in at a coffee shop in Chicago in 1942 to protest segregation in public
settings. The event was one of the first such demonstrations in the US and identified CORE as an
influential force in the early civil rights movement. The PVL was established in 1947, with
headquarters In Jackson and branches in Hattiesburg and Cleveland, it promoted itself as a
cooperative enterprise that was non-partisan and non-threatening to whites. Its purpose was civic
education and political participation through motivation and literacy. It enabled African Americans to
have more of a say in politics an area previously absolutely heretic in society. Both groups immensely
aided the early civil rights movement much more than the Presidents attempts to begin to end
segregation, demonstrating that the statement isn’t valid.
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