Civil Rights Coursework (33/40) - AQA A-Level History
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Coursework essay (including footnotes, appendices and a bibliography) answering the question “The Civil Rights movement had already made significant progress before King” How far do you agree with this view in the context of the years 1865 – 1968?
Received 33/40 marks.
“The Civil Rights movement had already made significant progress
before King” How far do you agree with this view in the context of the
years 1865 – 1968?
Significant progress was made by the Civil Rights movement before Martin Luther King became an
important figure. Key individuals / groups of individuals such as presidents (Lincoln, Grant and
Roosevelt), the Little Rock 9 and Ida B. Wells all made their mark, being involved in crucial events
which assisted in the progression of the movement. Wells, for example, was active for many years,
travelling internationally to shed light on lynching to foreign audiences. She left behind a spectacular
legacy of social and political heroism, once saying, “I felt that one had better die fighting against
injustice than to die a dog or a rat in a trap” 1. Civil Rights groups such as the NAACP and CORE also
assisted in the progression of the movement by bringing cases to court and teaching non-violent
action respectively. This isn’t to say Martin Luther King wasn’t a hugely influential figure in the fight for
Civil Rights. King became a figurehead of the movement, being involved in many protests and
demonstrations. He’s most remembered for his “I Have a Dream” speech, given at the March on
Washington in 1963. Significant progress, however, was indeed made before King’s prominence.
Early signs of progress for the movement can be seen through the actions of presidents. On 1 st
January 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in which he declared that all slaves in
the southern states should be set free. Whilst this Emancipation Proclamation may nowadays be “best
known for what it did not do”2, it was still hugely significant as a starting point of ending slavery and
allowing the Civil Rights movement to begin. After this, in an attempt to ensure slavery would be
completely abolished, Lincoln passed the 13th Amendment on 6th December 1865 after the Civil War.
This Amendment states “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place
subject to their jurisdiction”3. While significant progress arguably didn’t take place through the
amendment, it was significant and a kick-start to the fight for Civil Rights. The 15 th amendment of
1870 furthered this progress. It was passed by Congress in February 1869 and ratified in February
1870 during the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant. The Amendment granted African American men the
legal right to vote. Whilst it arguably didn’t help due to continued white resistance and literacy tests
that soon came into use, the fact the Amendment was passed can be seen as recognition from the
US government that change was needed, making it relatively significant at the time. However, one of
Grant’s most important actions as president was the creation of the Justice Department in 1870 which
he specifically set up in order to prosecute the KKK. Grant, alongside congress passed 3 enforcement
acts in order to protect black people and using the power of these Acts, he crushed the Klan. This is
incredibly important in showing a willingness of the government to intervene and protect African
Americans and their right to life for the first time since the abolition of slavery and therefore deserves
recognition as a sign of significant progress in the early years of the fight for civil rights.
In the 1880s, we can begin to see the emergence of more important figures, including investigative
journalist Ida B. Wells who first came to prominence in 1884 after suing a train car company for unfair
treatment when she was removed from first class despite having a ticket. After her friend had been
lynched, she turned her attention to white mob violence, investigating local lynchings and working to
expose the horrors of the south. She exposed her findings in a pamphlet and wrote several columns
in local newspapers. The Pamphlet from 1892 (see appendix 1) shows a picture of Wells and reads
“Southern Horrors. Lynch law in all its phases”. The use of the phrase ‘southern horrors’ shows Wells
disagreed hugely and wanted this to be stopped no matter what the cost so a determination to expose
this law and expose these horrors to others can be seen. It can therefore be seen that Wells was a
strong Civil Rights leader, as she did not care for any possible consequences that might come with
publishing the pamphlet. This proved there was progress as African Americans were beginning to
take a stand.
1
Wells, I.B. (2020). CRUSADE FOR JUSTICE: the autobiography of ida b. wells. S.L.: University Of
Chicago Press
2
Guelzo, A.C. (2006). Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Simon and Schuster
3
Staff, L. (2018). 13th Amendment. [online] LII / Legal Information Institute. Available at:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiii.
, The tone of anger and disgust along with the emphasis on these horrors therefore add to the value of
the source as it proves Wells to have been strong and driven to achieve her goal of exposing the
lynchings in the south as part of her involvement in the fight for Civil Rights. Wells published this in
order to inform southern people of the barbaric thing going on. The pamphlet is from 1892, the same
year Wells exposed a lynching which led to her being driven out of Memphis after enraging locals.
Because of this, the pamphlet is a reliable source of information and it presents the emotions of Wells
at the time of publishing, rather than years after the lynching happened. Moreover, the fact Wells’ face
is depicted on the source adds a feeling of relatability and a willingness from her to fight rather than
hide behind her words which in turn invites those who want to fight for their rights to join Wells by
giving them a figure to look up to and protest alongside. This shows progress before King since Wells
was already influencing people to join the fight to gain equal rights. She encouraged people to speak
out until they were heard.
Wells continued to fight for civil rights until her death in 1931. For example, in 1913, Wells, along with
Belle Squire, founded the alpha suffrage club. She continued her strong focus on fighting for civil
rights and on white mob violence for over 30 years, travelling internationally to spread her words and
findings. In 1922, Wells published a report on the Elaine Massacre of October 1919 during which
hundreds of blacks and 5 white men where killed. This again shed light on the barbarism shown
towards the African Americans, helping to gain publicity so someone with the power would eventually
be forced to take action. This factor, along with many more significant things she achieved helped to
progress the movement as she showed she’d fight for what she believed was right and continue to do
so until she was acknowledged.
Further evidence of strong figures in the fight came in 1933-39 in the form of Franklin D Roosevelt
and his New Deal. This was a series of programs to solve the problems brought about by the Great
Depression. African Americans benefitted under the New Deal since it aimed to help the poorest in
America at the time. This was a significant event for blacks as they were extremely vulnerable to the
depression since they’d be the first to be dismissed from their jobs; most employers preferred white
workers and black workers weren’t allowed an education which would enable them to get secure,
well-paying jobs. Roosevelt’s appointment of African Americans to 2nd level positions in his
administration was also an important event within the program since it gave them a better job role and
therefore more recognition. Moreover, as a part of this New Deal, Roosevelt signed the Executive
Order 8802 in 1941. The order banned “discrimination in the employment of workers in defence
industries or government because of race, creed, colour or origin” 4. This was significant in the fight for
civil rights as it again presents government recognition of the issue and takes important actions
against racism in certain job positions, making it illegal to discriminate against those of a different
race.
A letter was written from Roosevelt’s secretary (see appendix 3) in March 1933 addressing the
President’s fireside chats. These chats were a series of radio broadcasts by Roosevelt between 1933-
1944. He discussed things like recovering from the Great Depression, the Emergency Banking Act
and the New Deal initiatives. In the source, the secretary refers to how he believed the broadcast
perfectly set out the President’s plans to tackle the many jobs “I and my fellow citizens gave him”.
The source was written in March of 1933, when Roosevelt gave his first ‘Fireside Chat’. This chat was
around the time that the Emergency Banking Act was brought into place. It was also around the time
of the start of the New Deal. The source therefore is valuable since it’s a genuine reaction of the
secretary from the time of the Act and New Deal. The source has an incredibly positive and
complimentary tone to the president as Bando states how Roosevelt’s action ‘commands the respect
of all Americans, it is certainly deserving of it’.
4
National Archives, (2021), Executive Order 8802: Prohibition of Discrimination in the Defense
Industry (1941), [website] Available at: https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/executive-
order-8802#:~:text=It%20declared%2C%20%22There%20shall%20be
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