The Civil Rights Movement in 1955 Essay - 1725 Words

The Civil Rights Movement refers to the political, social, and economical struggle of African Americans to gain full citizenship and racial equality. Although African Americans began to fight for equal rights as early as during the days of slavery, the quest for equality continues today. Historians generally agree that Civil Rights Movement began with the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 and ended with the passing of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. Despite the 14th and 15th constitutional amendments that guarantee citizenship and voting right regardless of race and religion, southern states, in practice, denied African Americans the right to vote by setting up literacy tests and charging a poll tax that was designed only to disqualify them†¦show more content†¦Milam, were quickly arrested and charged with murder. They admitted to the kidnapping of Till but claimed that they released Till afterwards. An all-white jury heard the evidence against Bryant and Milam and found them not guilty for murder. The trial resumed one month later, and Bryant and Milam were not even indicted for kidnapping. The brutal killing of the African American boy received large amounts of media coverage. The process of the whole trial was reported in magazines such as Time, Newsweek, New Republic, and the Nation, just to name a few. While most magazine articles gave similar information about the main story and the trial, they differed more notably in what supporting information to disclose and how facts were interpreted. For example, an article in Newsweek, published after the murder trial of the Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, notices a peculiar statistical fact about the political power of the people in Tallahatchie County. It says that there were 11,000 white people and 19,000 black people in the county, but not a single African American out of the 19,000 was registered to vote (Newsweek, â€Å"The Place† 24). Published on the same date, an article in the Time magazine not only acknowledges the absence of a single black voter in the county, but it appeals for sentiments by quoting the Tillâ €™s mother’s caution to Till that he should â€Å"be careful†¦to humble himself to the extent of getting down on his knees† because he did not know the reality ofShow MoreRelated The Civil Rights Movement (1955- 1965) Essay1262 Words   |  6 Pages Civil Rights Movement in the United States, was a political, legal, and social struggle to gain full citizenship rights for African Americans and to achieve racial equality. The civil rights movement was a challenge to segregation, the system of laws and customs separating blacks and whites. During the civil rights movement, individuals and organizations challenged segregation and discrimination with a variety of activities, including protest marches, boycotts, and refusal to abide by segregationRead More African- American Civil Rights Movement of 1955-1968 Essay1437 Words   |  6 PagesAmerican Civil Rights movements, which stretched from 1955 to 1968, aimed at restoring the rights of the African – American people and liberating them from the social and racial discrimination. This movement changed the social and political structure of the United States. The main catch was that the movement accomplished successful results following the ‘nonviolent resistance’, establishing the fact that the Christian religion believed in peace and equality. Birth of the Civil Rights Movements: UnitedRead MoreEssay on The African-American Civil Rights Movement 1955-19582790 Words   |  12 PagesThe civil rights movement in the United States was the start of a political and social conflict for African-Americans in the United States to gain their full rights in the country, and to have the same equality as white Americans. The civil rights movement was a challenge to segregation, the laws and ordinances that separated blacks and whites. This movement had the goal to end racial segregation against the black Americans of the United States. Many different acts and campaigns of civil resistanceRead MoreHow Far Was Peaceful Protest Responsible for the Successes of the Civil Rights Movement Int He Years of 1955-64?1324 Words   |  6 PagesHow far was the peaceful protest responsible for the successes of the civil rights movement in the years of 1955-64? During 1955-64 USA was still going through racial inequality between whites and blacks. Black campaigns such as Student non-violent coordinating committee, felt that the civil rights movement was too slow and hence needed something to boost them up in order to succeed what they first rose up for, which was desegregation and equality for all. King was a highly charismatic and a giftedRead MoreImpact Of Emmett Till On The Civil Rights Movement1210 Words   |  5 PagesEmmett Till sparked the Civil Rights Movement/ The Civil Rights Movement On August 28, 1955, a 14 year-old African American boy, named Emmett Till, was brutally murdered after being accused of flirting with a white woman four days earlier. Emmett’s murder caused outrage across the nation, thousands of people attended Emmett’s open casket funeral on September 3, 1955, and pictures of his deformed, decomposing body spread across the US. Emmett’s Mother urged the world to look at her son’s beatenRead MoreThe Civil Rights Movement Essay1190 Words   |  5 Pages The Civil Rights Movement The 13th amendment, passed on the first of January, 1865 abolished slavery throughout America. Although African Americans were considered free after this amendment was approved, they still had a long and arduous struggle to absolute freedom. Before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, segregation in the United States was frequently used throughout many of the Southern and Border States. Schools, bathrooms, libraries, and even water fountains were segregated. Though there wereRead MoreThe Montgomery Bus Boycott And The Civil Rights Movement1045 Words   |  5 PagesBus Boycott started on December 5, 1955, and ended on December 20, 1955 (Montgomery Bus Boycott, 2010). During this time period, Jim Crow laws had just become prohibited. However, Jim Crow laws were the way of life in the South, so even though they were prohibited they were still in full action and strength. Jim Crow laws were laws that enforced racial segregation in the South between the end of Reconstruction in 1877 and the beg inning of the Civil Rights Movement in 1954 (Urofsky, 2015). Racial segregationRead MoreEssay about Lasting African Conributions to American Society890 Words   |  4 Pagesunconstitutional. Because of the court’s decision, it helped accelerate the Civil War. Because of the Supreme Court’s decision, the Northerners that once tolerated slavery as long as it stayed in the South knew that they must act quickly to keep slavery from expanding to the western territories. The Scott v. Sanford case helped solidify both sides that slavery could not coexist in the United States (Cozzens, 1999). In early civil rights arguments, the U.S. Supreme Court heard the 1896 case of Plessy v.Read More Researching the History of the Civil Rights Movement Essay1258 Words   |  6 PagesWhile there are many histories of the Civil Rights Movement (including books and online sources) that I might have consulted, I deliberately restricted my search to three sources?Facts on File, The New York Times Index, and The Reader?s Guide to Periodical Literature?in order to assess how magazine and newspaper coverage of the time reported events that we now understand as historically significant. One of the first things I discovered was that ?Civil Rights Movement? wasn?t a heading in the Times Index:Read MoreEssay on The Civil Rights Movement1014 Words   |  5 PagesAfrican-American Civil Rights Movement. Specifically, the focus will be on the main activists involved in the movement such as Martin Luther King Jr and Rosa Parks and the major campaigns of civil resistance. The Civil Rights Movement refers to the movements in the United States aimed at outlawing racial discrimination against African Americans and restoring voting rights in Southern states.African-Americans were able to gain the rights to issues such as equal access to public transportation, right to vote