Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Paree Khandelwal
Contents
Introduction Background
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Vivamus Causesmetus. et
Consequences Conclusion Bibliography
Introduction
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a political and social protest campaign started in 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, and was meant to oppose the city's policy of racial segregation on its public transit system but in all of society, eventually. The struggle lasted roughly a year and led to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that declared the Alabama and Montgomery laws requiring segregated buses unconstitutional along the separate but equal policy of the time.
Rosa Parks, a middle-aged tailor's assistant from Montgomery, Alabama, who was tired after a hard day's work, refused to give up her seat to a white man. After her arrest, Martin Luther King, a pastor at the local Baptist Church, helped organize protests against bus segregation. He was joined by other campaigners for civil rights, including Ralph David Abernathy, Edgar Nixon and Bayard Rustin. The group was convinced by JoAnn Robinson, of the Women's Political Council, that they should start a bus boycott. The idea being that the black people in Montgomery should refuse to use the buses until passengers were completely integrated. King was arrested and his house was firebombed. Others involved in the Montgomery Bus Boycott also suffered from harassment and intimidation, but the protest continued. For 13 months the 17,000 black people in Montgomery walked to work or obtained lifts from the small car-owning black population of the city. Eventually, the loss of revenue and a decision by the Supreme Court on 13th November 1956, forced the Montgomery Bus Company to accept integration. The following month the buses in Montgomery were desegregated. Eventually, the loss of revenue and a decision by the Supreme Court on 13th November 1956, forced the Montgomery Bus Company to accept integration. The following month the buses in Montgomery were desegregated.
Background
In the 1950s the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) Suspendisse elementum rhoncus velit. was involved in the struggle to end Nulla turpis metus, faucibus nec, segregation on cursus in, tortor. dignissim at, buses and trains. In 1952 segregation on inter-state railways was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. This was followed in 1954 by a similar judgment concerning interstate buses. However, states in the Deep South continued their own policy of transport segregation. This usually involved whites sitting in the front and
blacks sitting nearest to the front had to give up their seats to any whites that were standing. African American people who disobeyed the state's transport segregation policies were arrested and fined. On 1st December, 1955,
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Newspaper article about the Montgomery Bus Boycott. This source is reliable because it is a newspaper article about coloured people starting to boycott. It is a primary source. Nettbabe Forum. November 1995. Available from: November 1995. Available from: http://nettababe.blogspot.com/2010_09_01_archive.html
Causes
Key Cause: Social/Personal
The key cause of this event is the arresting of Rosa Parks for sitting on the whites-only section of a bus while she was riding back from work. Parks was ordered to enter at the back of the bus. As she was heading to the back of the bus, the bus driver drove off without her. On that day, Parks promised herself that she would never again ride a bus driven by James F. Blake, the offending driver. On Thursday, December 1, 1955, Parks was sitting in the front-most row for black people. When a Caucasian man boarded the bus, the bus driver told everyone in her row to move back to create a new row for the whites. At that moment, Parks suddenly realized that she was again on a bus driven by Blake. While all of the other black people in her row obeyed, Parks refused, and was arrested for refusing to give up her seat for a white man. Found 5 guilty on December 5, Parks and was arrested for refusing to give up her seat for a white man. Found guilty on December 5, Parks was fined $10 plus a court cost of $4, but she appealed. NAACP leader E.D. Nixon had been planning to start a boycott like this and used her arrest to cause the Montgomery Bus Boycott. As a result, Rosa Parks is considered one of the pioneers of the civil rights movement.
First page of Rosa Parks police report. This source is reliable because this is the actual copy of the police report. Wikimedia Commons. Rosa Parks Police Report Page 1. December 2, 1995. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rosaparks_policereport.jpg
Second Page of Rosa Parks police report. This source is reliable because this is the actual copy of the police report. Wikimedia Commons. Rosa Parks Police Report Page 2. December 2, 1995. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rosaparks_policereport.jpg
E.D. Nixon with other NAACP members. Second Page of Rosa Parks police report. This source is reliable because this a photograph clicked by a NAACP member named Troy Davis. Davis, T. The NAACP. November 1995. Available from: http://nettababe.blogspot.com/2010_09_01_archive.html
Consequences
Consequences
Pressure increased across the country and on June 4, 1956, the federal district court ruled that Alabama's racial segregation laws for buses were unconstitutional. However, an appeal kept the segregation intact, and the boycott continued until, finally, on November 13, 1956, the Supreme Court supported the district court's ruling. This victory led to a city rule that allowed black bus passengers to sit almost anywhere they wanted, and the boycott officially ended December 20, 1956. The boycott of the buses had lasted for 381 days. The Montgomery Bus Boycott also had results that reached far beyond the desegregation of public buses and provided more than just a positive answer to the Supreme Court's action against racial segregation. The Montgomery Bus Boycott echoed throughout the United States and sparked the national Civil Rights Movement. The boycott resulted in the U.S. civil rights movement receiving one of its first victories and gave Martin Luther King, Jr. the national attention that made him one of the prime leaders of the cause. The key consequences of the Montgomery Bus Boycott are: 1) The value of using the Supreme Court ruling to oppose segregation was further practiced. 2) States could no longer apply their on their own laws of segregation on public transport. 3) Non-violence was shown to be an effective way of direct action in civil rights campaigns. 4) Blacks of all social classes found out that they could work together for each others good. 5) Important new leaders were highlighted and were named as national figuresespecially Martin Luther King, Jr. 6) The black civil rights movement had been given a powerful boost.
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Conclusion
I think the Montgomery Bus Boycott was a very important event in the progress of the Civil Rights Movement because: 1) It was a huge protest, involving all social groups in the black community. 2) It lasted for a long time and showed a lot could be achieved with a non-violent protest. 3) It produced an outstanding leader, an important new organisation, and a new philosophy. 4) It drew the attention of the north to the system of segregation in the south, and exposed the unreasonable behavior of many southern white people. This was helped by the growing influence of TV in the 1960s. 5) In company with the recent Brown decision, it raised the question of federal response to illegal acts of segregation and discrimination in the south.
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Bibliography
Books
1. ROSANOWSKI J., OCONNEL P., MURDOCH T., 2000. Black Civil Rights in the USA. 2nd ed. New Zealand: Pearson Education 2. PATERSON D., WILLOUGHBY D., WILLOUGHBY S., 2001. Civil Rights in the USA, 1863-1980. Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers.
Websites
1. WALES J., 2001. Montgomery Bus Boycott. [online]. Huntsville, AL: Donal, J. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgomery_bus_boycott [Accessed 28 October 2011] 2. WALES J., 2001. Rosa Parks. [online]. Huntsville, AL: Donal, J. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_parks [Accessed 28 October 2011] (first and second police reports of Rosa Parks)
3. SIMKIN J., 1997. Montgomery Bus Boycott. [online]. Cupertino, CA: Walker A. Available from: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAmontgomeryB.htm [Accessed 28 October 2011]
4. ALABAMA, 1999. Montgomery Bus Boycott. [online]. Montgomery, AL: Alabama State. Available from: http://www.alabamamoments.alabama.gov/sec55ps.html [Accessed 29 October 2011] 5. MOULTON A., PHILLIPS N., STYZA S., 2004. Montgomery Bus Boycott. [online]. Denver, CO: Center for Life Long Learning & Design (L3D). Available from: http://l3d.cs.colorado.edu/systems/agentsheets/New-Vista/bus-boycott/ [Accessed 29 October 2011] 6. SMITH K., 2002. Montgomery Bus Boycott. [online] Bridgeport, CN: Fawcett M. Available from: http://http.www.blackhistory.com/cgi-bin/blog.cgi?blog_id=60926&showimg=1&cid=54&club_id=0 [Accessed 29 October 2011]
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