INTRODUCTION THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT The civil rights era was from about 1954 until about 1971 During it many people fought for African Americans to have the same civil rights as white Americans Civil rights are the rights and protections the government promises all people In the United States they include freedom of speech the right to be treated the same as others in public places and the right to vote People also wanted to end racism This is a belief that one race is not as good as another The U S constitution grants the same civil rights to every person The laws in some southern states took these rights away from African Americans They were discriminated against because they were not white In September 1962 President Kennedy sent troops to The University of Mississippi Whites were rioting because a federal court ruled that James Meredith must be allowed to become its first African American student DEFINITIONS What we call people changes The words that everyone used in the past may be an insult today Here are a few terms used for the people whose ancestors came to America from Africa African American The modern most acceptable term for people in the United States with dark skin whose ancestors came from Africa Black A common term used for people who have dark skin Negro The most common polite term until the late 1960s Today it is considered rude unless it is used in something written in the past Colored A term for people who have dark skin It is no longer considered acceptable in the United States Other more racist words were used Some people in the South used them without thinking Others screamed them as an insult no school in our state will be integrated while I am your Governor I shall do everything in my power to prevent integration in our schools Governor of Mississippi Ross Barnett September 13 1962 disagreeing with the federal court’s ruling 6 UNCOVERING THE PAST ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
Discrimination is when a person’s civil rights are interfered with just because of one thing such as their race During the civil rights movement people held a series of organized events to get equal treatment and protection for African Americans But every movement has two sides Some white Americans especially in the South were violently against these changes Because of these differences people on both sides went to court marched voted and rioted Historians of the civil rights era tell the story of a movement that changed the United States This campaign button for Barack Obama tells that it was used in 08 2008 when he ran for office with Joe Biden That year he became the first African American to run for president and win He became a symbol of how the civil rights movement had changed the United States CIVIL RIGHTS 7
HISTORICAL SOURCES TYPES OF EVIDENCE Once I got to the Mall and the Reflecting Pool I saw this mass of humanity people from all of these different towns especially from the South Nan Grogan Orrock who attended the March on Washington D C Historians use many sources to learn about the past A source is any place you get information It could be a picture a person a book or a law The details of history’s memories are found in primary sources Primary sources are anything that was created or used by someone who was there Primary sources give historians the evidence or facts that prove what happened They use these facts to form their ideas They learn something a little different from each source They put them together to form a picture of an era an event or a person They use many primary sources to help them understand the whole picture The civil rights movement took place only a few decades ago so many primary sources exist These include photographs and recordings of speeches and news shows Many letters newspaper articles and government documents exist from that time Even the songs people sang are a primary source Civil rights leaders including Dr Martin Luther King Jr A Philip Randolph and Roy Wilkins lead the 1963 March on Washington 8 UNCOVERING THE PAST ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
TYPES OF PRIMARY SOURCES Some primary sources are Photographs taken at an event Interviews diaries or letters from people who were there Newspaper articles written during that time Government documents from that time Physical objects from that time Audio or news footage taken at that time Lyrics to songs sung at that time CIVIL RIGHTS 9
