1955 While visiting family in Money, Mississippi, 14-year-old Emmett Till, an African American from Chicago, is brutally murdered for flirting with a white woman four days earlier. His assailants–the white woman’s husband and her brother–made Emmett carry a 75-pound cotton-gin fan to the bank of the Tallahatchie River and ordered him to take off his clothes. The two men then beat him nearly to death, gouged out his eye, shot him in the head, and then threw his body, tied to the cotton-gin fan with barbed wire, into the river.

Rosa Parks, a seamstress, is arrested for refusing to give up her seat and move to the back of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. 1955

In response, the black community of Montgomery organize a boycott of all buses in the city. Lasting over a year, the Supreme Court eventually ruled that it was unconstitutional to segregate whites and blacks on buses.

1957 Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus orders the National Guard to deny access to 9 black students attempting to attend Little Rock High School. Eventually these students are given “Little Rock Nine.”

Acting as Commander in Chief, President Eisenhower placed the Arkansas National Guard under his control and sent the army in to escort the nine students into the school. This shows the President using his power to enforce a Supreme Court decision (Brown v Board)

1963 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. emerged as a leader in the Civil Rights Movement CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE and NON VIOLENT PROTEST (Thoreau, Gandhi) Goals: Desegregation of America, extension of full equality for all citizens, and for blacks and whites to peacefully co-exist

1963 Young people, both black and white, practiced non violent protests for equal rights Freedom Riders-rode down South to register blacks to vote Sit in-stay at a restaurant until you are served Boycotts-refusal to use or buy something

After the assassinations of Malcolm X (1965) and Dr After the assassinations of Malcolm X (1965) and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1968), some civil rights activists took a more violent approach to gain rights The Black Panther Party was formed in 1966-promoted Black Power/Nationalism, also for blacks to arm and protect themselves against the police/government

CIVIL RIGHTS LEGISLATION Civil Rights Act of 1964 Protected voting right for all Americans Opened public facilities Commission established to protect equal jopb opportunities Civil Rights Act of 1968 Fair Housing Act

Legislation Continued 24th Amendment (1964) Abolished poll tax in federal elections Voting Rights Acts of 1965 and 1970 Ended literacy test Provided for federal examiners to register voters in areas denying African-Americans the right to vote Attorney-General allowed to take legal action against states using a poll tax on state level elections