1. The Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1956
Case Study

2. Rosa Parks

3. Enquiry Questions What were the causes and consequences of the MBB?
How important was the MBB in the history of the civil rights movement?
How did MBB help to make Martin Luther King Junior a national figure?
Why did Rosa Park’s refusal to give up her bus seat spark a national controversy?

4. The Amendments
14th Amend: “nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
15th Amend: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

5. Segregated United States
Plessy v. Ferguson: 1896 Supreme Court ruled “separate but equal” did not violate 14th Amendment
Reinforced that blacks were inferior

6. Brown v. Board of Ed. - Topeka
Linda Brown went to run down black school 21 blocks away when there was a white school 4 blocks
1954 The US Supreme Court over turned Plessy v. Ferguson, ending the era of “separate, but equal”

7. Montgomery Bus Boycott
Montgomery is the capital state of Alabama
1950’s: one of the most racially segregated states
70,000 white people 50,000 black
Jim Crow laws continued to enforce segregation in schools, transport, libraries and other public facilites

8. Montgomery, Alabama

9. Majority of black people worked in low-paid/unskilled jobs
50% of black men worked as domestic servants/labourers
60% of women worked in domestic service
Black person’s income was half that of a white persons ($970)

10. 1952: white woman in Montgomery accused a teenage black boy, Jeremiah Reeves of rape
Tried/convicted of rape by all-white jury
NAACP appealed, however Reeves was executed
Angered black people in Mont
Many black women had been murdered by white men

11. None convicted
Seen as an example of legal double standards
Many people thus thought that justice system in Mont discriminated agst. blacks

12. Segregation was a fact in every day life for blacks in Mont
Local law even forbid black people to play cards, dice or dominos with whites
Over 50 churches catered for black people
Leaders preached focused on spiritual needs rather than social or political reform

13. 1955: an event involving segregation on the city’s buses was the starting point of the first organised mass movement of Black American’s in 20th century America

14. Segregation on the buses
Montgomery Law:
Black people sitting on buses could not sit at the front, even if the seats were unoccupied
First four rows reserved for whites
If there were no seats for the whites the blacks had to give up their seat
If a white person sat beside a black person, the black person had to stand

15. ALL bus drivers were white
Yet, 70% of those who used the bus were black
Drivers often humiliated/harassed the blacks
Called them ‘nigger’ or ‘ape’
Women in particular were singled out for abuse

16. Drivers made the black people pay the fare at the front, get off the bus and re-board at the back
They often took off without the black person
Seen as source of amusement for the drivers and white passengers
Caused deep resentment among the blacks

17. Those who did not obey the segregation laws were fined or imprisoned
1955: young black teenager, Claudette Colvin arrested
Refused to give up seat to a white person
Tried/paid a fine
That same year, 18 year old Mary-Louise Smith refused to move for white person

18. Claudette Colvin
Mary Louise Smith

19. Arrested/fined
Mood of black citizens becoming increasingly angry with segregation policies

20. Interview with Colvin

21. Questions Comprehension: In source C who are ‘our people’?
List three of the most urgent needs of our people.
Which needs are (i) political (ii) social or (iii) economic
Why do they want to know ‘What is your stand on these issues?’

22. 5. How are passenger seats assigned in Montgomery, Source B. 6
5. How are passenger seats assigned in Montgomery, Source B? 6. Who was responsible for separating white and black people on the bus? 7. What powers did the bus driver have?