A-level History, Paper 3, Sample Answer, GRADE A
You get 3 answers in 1
Civil Rights in America
SAME ANSWER for:
1. "To what extent did African Americans achieve equality by 1964?" Just write the stuff in black
2. "To what extent did African Americans achieve equality by 1965?" Just write the...
To what extent did African Americans achieve equality by 1964, 1965 (for 65 add black and blue)
1968 (for 68 add black, blue and red)?
To some extent historians could argue that equality for African Americans had been achieved by
1965 more so than any period before due to the ending of legal segregation, the appointment of
African Americans to positions of power and the voting act. However, it could also be argued that
equality for black Americans had never been achieved as there was considerable economic
discrimination, beginnnings of a white backlash and the impact of Vietnam.
PART ONE: Evidence of progress
By 1965, perhaps the biggest step towards equality was the ending on legal segregation.
Segregation in education was ended with the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
(1954) landmark Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate
public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional and decided in Brown II for
integration to occur “with deliberate speed”. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson
decision of 1896, which allowed state-sponsored segregation. This therefore shows a change in
attitudes towards equality which was particularly welcomed by a local chapter of NAACP in
Arkansas who were responsible for recruiting a group of black students in 1947 who enrolled at an
all-white central high school which became known as the ‘Little Rock Nine’ which became a pivotal
moment in the Civil Rights movement.
Segregation on public transport was first challenged by Rosa Parks (Dec, 1955) who refused to give
up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. The success of a one day boycott led to
a yearlong boycott and in fact inspired similar boycotts across the segregated southern states such
as Florida and Texas. It also established Martin Luther King as a figurehead for the civil rights
movement as well as encouraging blacks to make further use of the legal system. The segregation
on public transport was further challenged by an interracial group who would ride in the heart of
the south sitting in the opposite races seat which became known as the ‘Freedom rides’. It
occurred in 1960 during the presidential election, as civil rights activists wanted to pressure the
Kennedy administration to support their cause and enforce existing laws. When the riders
continued into Mississippi, they encountered a heavy police presence and no violence but they
were arrested in Jackson and sent to prison which led more riders to be sent to the south. Over the
course of the next few months, 300 riders were arrested and sentenced in Mississippi. Ultimately,
the Freedom Riders won their battle as, consequently, Kennedy got the Interstate
Commerce Commission to enforce the ban on segregation in interstate travel.
Segregation in public facilities was challenged by the Greensboro sit ins in February 1960 where
black students who were frustrated at the fact even though they sent their dollars in the
department stores, they were still treated as second class. The students would go in waves and sit
specific in white-only lunch counters. The sit-in movement spread to 69 cities across the southern
states. The economic pressure on businesses caused many towns to desegregate. Martin Luther
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