Harry Truman & Integration of U.S. Military and Federal Government

• July 26, 1948 Signed Executive Order 9981 integrating the United States Military

Jackie Robinson• Born Cairo, GA• First African

American during the Modern Era to play Baseball in the Major League.

The Origins of the Movement

• Supreme Court had declared segregation LEGAL (Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896 – “Separate but Equal”)– Jim Crow Laws in the South– De Facto Segregation in the North (by

custom and tradition)

Churches Get Involved

• African American churches played a key role in the movement (became a place for forums, planning meetings, organizing volunteers for campaigns, etc.)

• Martin Luther King, Jr. led the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

Non-Violent Protests

Sit-insMarches

Freedom Rides

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

• Student organization that led many of the sit-ins

• More aggressive (but not violent) because they were younger, had no families to support, and could take more risks

Freedom Riders

• Teams of African Americans and white Americans traveled to the South to integrate bus terminals

• Met with violence• Made the national news and shocked

many Americans

Group Work

Complete the document based question packet in groups of 3 or 4.

Major Court cases• Plessy v. Ferguson• Established the doctrine of “Separate but

Equal” that allowed segregation.

Major Court Cases• Brown v. Board of Education• Established that the policy of “Separate but

equal” was unconstitutional.• Overturned Plessy decision!

Little Rock, Arkansas - 1957• Governor Orval

Faubus• Central High School• Refused to allow

African American students in.

Eisenhower & Little Rock, Arkansas• President Eisenhower sent U.S.

troops to Little Rock (Central High School) to enforce the law.

Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”

• The letter he wrote from jail explained why victims of segregation, violent attacks, and murder found it difficult to be patient.

“I Have a Dream Speech”

JFK’s Assassination

• Kennedy was a supporter of Civil Rights Legislation.

• After his death, President Lyndon Johnson felt that, in order to honor JFK’s memory, he needed to get Kennedy’s legislation passed

The Civil Rights Act of 1964

• Gave the federal government broad power to stop racial discrimination in the segregation in public places and in the workplace.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965

• Civil Rights Act did little to guarantee the right to vote

• The Voting Rights Act of 1965 gave the attorney general the right to send federal examiners to register qualified voters (resulted in 250,000 new African American voters)

1947 –

1948 –

1954 –

1963 –

1963 –

1964 –

1965 –

Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play for a major league baseball team

President Truman issued an executive order to integrate to US government and armed forces

Brown v. Board of Education – Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional

MLK was arrested in Birmingham, AL. He wrote his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” to address fears that white religious leaders had that he was moving too fast

MLK delivers his famous “I Have a Dream” speech

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Voting Rights Act of 1965