The Civil Rights Movement
Plessy vs. Ferguson
Throughout American history
different races have been treated unfairly. Native Americans were forced
to move off their lands to reservations. Japanese-Americans were
imprisoned during World War II. Africans were brought to America as
slaves. It is the African Americans who have had to fight the hardest
for equality.
In 1857 the Supreme Court ruled
that Dred Scott was property and not a citizen. Another Supreme Court
case took place in 1896. Homer Plessy was told that the only place he
could ride on the train was in the black only car. He refused to sit
there. The case ended up in court. The ruling was that the Constitution
gave only political rights and not social rights. This means that
African Americans had the right to vote but not the right to sit where
they wanted on a train. The Supreme Court went on to say that laws
could not take away people's racial feelings or physical differences.
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In the South, the Jim Crow Laws
kept African Americans from mixing with whites in public places such as
stores, hotels, and public transportation. |
In 1910 the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was formed. This
organization tried to bring about equal rights.
Admiral Chester W.
Nimitz pins the Navy Cross on Doris Miller,
Pearl Harbor, May 27, 1942 |
After World War II, some
improvements could be seen in the United States for the African American
population. Some African Americans were hired in management jobs and
could have careers in law and medicine; however, the majority of the
African Americans still lived in slums. |
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In the 1950's Presidents
Truman and Eisenhower tried to make changes. They ordered all public
places to be integrated. Some people obeyed these orders while
others did not.
Online Quiz
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