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Summary Oxford in Search of History, ISBN: 9780199056903 History
Summary study book Oxford in Search of History of Jean Bottaro - ISBN: 9780199056903 (IEB and GED)
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Civil Society Protest 1960-1990s:Civil Rights:
• Rights that are enjoyed by all citizens of a country.
• Revolve around the basic needs of life
• Equality
• Desegregate public places and schools
Summarised into four freedoms:
1. Freedom of Speech- includes freedom of the press
2. Freedom of Worship- practice the religion of your choice
3. Freedom from Want- basic needs= shelter, water, food, clothing – didn’t have in WW2
4. Freedom from Fear- of being under attack or being threatened- would return to normal
↳ Didn’t have any of this during WW2- MAD, Destruction of Hitler
2 more Freedoms:
1. Freedom of Assembly- the right to gather, discuss, protest against any grievance
2. Freedom to Vote- everyone has a say in democratic government. African Americans and Women
couldn’t.
• Many freedoms seem obvious and taken for granted= in many societies, citizens didn’t enjoy these
rights
• Discrimination, racism, sexism, denied many freedoms.
Civil Society:
• A grouping that is separate from the government and business. Struggle for control between the
state and its people it governed and it was the function of civil society to challenge the power of the
state. (STATE VS CIVIL SOCIETY)
• Included: Non-government organisations (NGOs- trade unions, civic organisations, student
movements), voluntary organisations and social and political movements that protect civil rights.
• About ordinary people standing together against the state/ government.
• 1950s: Roar
• 1960s: Action- engaged in fights to secure these rights for themselves. Popular mass protests.
• Take action when unfair and unjust.
↳ Protest marches
↳ Demonstrations
↳ Civil disobedience = deliberately breaking laws
↳ Strikes
• Usually non-violent action to put pressure on authorities/ influence public opinion.
To what extent did the African Americans achieve equality in civil rights in the 1950s-1960s:
• 1964: 1st Civil Rights Act passed
• After American Civil War(1861-1865) slaves believed freedom was in the grasp and would be able to
re-enter USA as full and equal citizens.
• Congress passed amendments to the Constitution that protected these freedoms.
1. 1865: 13th Amendment – abolished slavery
2. 1868: 14th Amendment- made African Americans full US citizens, equal citizens, equal protection
under the law
3. 1870:15th Amendment- right to vote could not be denied on account of race, colour, previous
conditions of servitude
,Nature of Racial Discrimination in USA after freeing slaves:
• Civil Rights- rights belonging to individual citizens
↳ Guaranteed by 13th, 14th, 15th Amendment to the US Constitution and by subsequent Acts of
Congress.
↳ Included- liberties, equal protection of the laws and freedom of discrimination.
↳ BUT- discrimination against black Americans specifically in Southern States continued
↳ Southern States- violence to stop black Americans from voting. Introduced income and literacy
qualifications for voting, which discriminated against black people.
↳ 1900: most Southern States passed “Jim Crow” laws which segregated blacks and whites in terms of
schools, housing, jobs, public gatherings Laws intended to restrict social contact between blacks and
whites and limit their freedom and opportunities.
How equal were people:
• 1900s: racial prejudice was common
• 1939-1945(WW2): steps taken to prevent racial discrimination in the army and in employment
• 1940s- fight for civil rights started
• After WW2: there was an increase in awareness- fight grew
• African Americans fought in the war and returned home, nothing changed- lives still difficult and
dominated by racial prejudice and discrimination, through to the 1950s particularly in Southern
states- encouraged people to win equality
↳ Civil Rights Movement/CRM was born.
• 17 states= Jim Crow Laws= segregated everyday facilities
• African Americans given the right to vote but various practices prevented them from voting= threat
of violence, intimidation, lynching
• Police officers failed to stop attacks on black people and they very often took part in them. White
juries acquitted whites accused of killing blacks.
• African Americans faced official and legal discrimination in education(universities closed to black
people), employment, socially, politically, economically.
• Racism and segregation= whole country
• 1960s:African Americans were in the minority.
• 1954: US government ruled against segregation, they did nothing to enforce it- African Americans
treated as second class citizens.
,US Government first allowed by President Harry Truman- Separate but Equal:
• 1946: Truman set up Presidents’ Committee on Civil Rights
• 1947: Presidents’ Committee on Civil Rights made a proposal for extensive reforms which included
an end to segregation law and to outlaw lynching. US congress, didn’t accept this. US forces were
integrated as Truman couldn’t do this without approval of the Congress. 1930s: National Association
for the Advancement of Coloured People(NAACP) lawyers brought cases to court to show the school
were unequal and this impacted negatively on the education of African Americans.
• One case: Brown vs Board case of Topeka(Kansas) that was heard by the Supreme Court in 1952
argued against ‘separate but equal’
↳ 1954: judge agreed with NAACP lawyers and declared that segregation in schools was against the
law= launched the CRM
↳ Ruling= start of protest rolling, while segregation in schools was illegal it was still everywhere else in
society- struggle grew.
Why did African Americans challenge discrimination actively from the 1960s:
• 1960s: platform had been created to launch ideas
Three Main Factors:
1. Education:
• Despite inequality, African Americans realised the value of education and become lawyers, doctors
and teachers
• Howard University in DC became an important symbol of academic success and achievements for
black people. Many of its graduates become leaders in challenging racism- Thurgood Marshall(“Mr
Civil Rights”) led legal campaigns against segregated schools.
2. Organisation:
• African Americans realised needed to be organised to fight discrimination.
• 1909: Central Organisation- National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People(NAACP)
which was supported by the church was formed- challenge cases of discrimination and create
awareness
3. Leadership:
• Individuals provided leadership and direction.
• Preached messages and divisions arose amongst supporters, all had MAIN AIM= end discrimination
and inequality.
Varied Leaderships:
• Booker T Washington: former slave, believed blacks should accept segregation and their existing
conditions but said black should work gradually for change. Criticised for accommodating white
racism.
• WEB Du Bois: believed black people should have access to higher education. Help NAACP and edited
the newspaper “Crisis”. Believed in activism and challenging the law.
• Marcus Garvey: Jamaican, encouraged “Black Pride”(beginning of “black nationalism”) and helped
the African Americans set up their own businesses. Believed blacks should develop and celebrate
their own separate identity from white people. Supported by working class.
• Martin Luther King Junior: Minister, mass following because of his charisma and ability to reach
people through persuasive speeches(orator). Took strong leadership from the time of the
Montgomery Bus Boycotts- considered 1st action of CRM- actions= non-violence movement.
, Beginning of CRM:
CRM?
• Massive campaign of civil disobedience and protest in the USA in the 1950s and 1960s.
• Aim: guarantee constitutional rights denied to African Americans.
• African Americans with sympathetic whites, engaged in civil campaigns that involved
persuasive(peaceful) and active(violent) resistance.
Origins of CRM:
• African Americans had been freed from slavery during the American Civil War(1861-1865).
• For a short while of the Civil War, new laws were passed which gave them political rights, including
the right to vote.
• These rights were gradually taken away when conservative whites regained political control in the
southern states of the USA.
• They passed laws which which took away the voting rights of African Americans and enforced strict
segregation laws were followed.
• Extremist white group Ku Klux Klan, used violence and terror to make sure these segregation laws
were followed.
• Many African American were conscripted into the army and after WW2 wanted to fight for change
and end segregation
Involvement in Civil Rights:
King and SCLC’s involvement:
• 1956: Montgomery Bus Boycott
• 1960: Sit-ins
• 1963: Birmingham
• 1963: March on Washington
• 1965: Voter registration in Selma
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