Steps to Civil RightssSelma march to protest lack of voter registration.

Dred Scott v. Sanford1857

• 1857: Dred Scott, a slave, was taken into free territory by his master. Scott, sues for his freedom.

• “Blacks unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations.”

• “Had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.”

• Scott “was not a citizen…and could not sue in court.”

•

14th Amendment 1868 “All persons born or naturalized in the United States….are made citizens of

the United States. No law…shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens…nor deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, or deny any person….the equal protection of the laws.” • 14th amendment guarantees the bill of rights in the states. Before this is

passed, the bill of rights only applied to federal government.• Before the 14th Amendment, civil rights are guaranteed by the state

constitutions themselves.

15th Amendment 1870

• Rights of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied…based on race, color, or previous servitude.

• Southern states use poll tax, literacy tests and grandfather clause to get around 15th amendment in denying blacks the vote.

1896 Plessy v. Ferguson• This is the case that held “Separate but Equal”

was okay.

• “If the civil and political rights of both be equal, one cannot be inferior to the other civilly or politically. If one race be inferior to the other socially, the constitution of the United States cannot put them upon the same plane.”

• Plessy doesn’t go against 14th amendment because the law is applied to each race equally. Both races are separate according to the Supreme Court at that time.

Grandfather Clause

• If your grandfather could vote, you are eligible to vote. This law was used throughout the south to deny blacks the vote.

• It was repealed in 1915. (Guinn v. U.S., it goes against the 15th amendment)

President Truman signs executive order 9981

• Signed in 1948, this order desegregated the military.

Brown v. Board of Education 1954

• Separate but Equal of “Plessy” is overturned by Brown decision.

• “Separate is inherently unequal” is based on new psychology studies.

• Court bans all segregation in public schools and orders integration “with all due deliberate speed.”

Montgomery Bus boycott1955

• Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to give up bus seat to a white man.

• Martin Luther King and others organize bus boycott.– MLK makes his name here.

• It costs the bus system 65% of its revenue.• Blacks who carpool are arrested.• Dr. King arrested and fined $500 and sentenced to 386 days in jail. • Eight months later the Supreme Court decided that segregation on

buses violate the constitution, order buses desegregated.

Montgomery Bus Boycott ended segregation on the buses by using the power of economics.

Emmitt Till 1955

• Born and raised in Chicago, visiting relatives in Mississippi.• Whistles at a white woman. • Several nights later, he is dragged from the house, beaten, eyes

gouged out shot through the head. He is weighted and thrown in a river.

• His body is later recovered and buried in Chicago.• His murderers are acquitted and later brag about the killing. • Till became symbol of disparity of justice for blacks in the

South.

Emmitt Till verdict Showed the problem of using the system.

Little Rock 91957

• 1955, Little Rock School Board agrees on plan for integrating schools. • Integration to begin in 1957 with just the high school being integrated.• Segregationists block the students from entering the school • Governor Faubus orders the Guard out to protect….the segregationists. • Eisenhower meets with Faubus and warns him to go along with deseg order. • Eisenhower then sends in 101st Airborne to protect….the students. • Faubus closed the four high schools and attempted to lease them to private

organizations so that they could be again segregated. Schools remained closed for a year. They reopen and are desegregated.

• Hatred for blacks rose as a result.

lIttle Rock 9 Would you be this brave?

Sit-In Campaign1960

• Joseph McNeill, a black student in North Carolina, was refused service at Woolworths lunch counter.

• He returned the next day with 3 other students and sat there until they were served. They were abused but not served.

• Similar sit-ins were launched across the nation.

Freedom Rides1961

• Student volunteers called “Freedom Riders” began testing state laws prohibiting segregation on buses and at terminals and railway stations.

• Non-violent demonstrations were met with violence along the way.

University Mississippi Riot 1962

• James Meredith, a black student, enrolled at U.Miss. • Federal Marshalls escort him to campus the first day of classes.• Riot broke out• Kennedy sends in National Guard to quell riots and protect

Meredith.

Birmingham Campaign, Spring 1963

• Sit-Ins, marches and boycotts of city businesses to protest segregation. • Protest march in Birmingham met with police dogs and water canon. • Bull Connor, police chief, enforced racial segregation with force, making

him the international symbol of racism in America. • Connor orders the brutality used by the police, it’s nationally televised.• Millions horrified, turns many whites in favor of civil rights movement. • MLK and others jailed

Letter To Martin Luther King from Group of ClergymenApril 1963

• Numerous denominational clergy write to MLK to protest demonstrations and the use of NVCD (non-violent civil disobedience).

• “An Appeal for law and Order and Common Sense” in dealing with racial problems in Alabama.’

Martin Luther King Letter from Birmingham Jail

• In response to “Letter to Martin Luther King” from Group of Clergymen, King writes a response to this letter from jail in Birmingham.

• He writes it in the margins of a newspaper and smuggled out of jail by his lawyer.