Progress in the civil rights movement
In the late 1950s, the foundations had been laid for progress in black civil rights. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was particularly important because:
- it led to other bus boycotts, such as in Florida in 1956
- it encouraged other forms of protest, such as a boycott of businesses owned by white people in Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1957
- it led to the formation of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference Southern Christian Leadership Conference. A civil rights organisation set up in 1957 based on Christian values that peacefully campaigned against segregation in the USA., which brought southern civil rights People who actively campaign for a cause. together to coordinate their actions
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference
The SCLC was established in 1957 and A Christian minister who believed in peaceful protest without using violence and who was a key figure in the US civil rights movement. was selected as its leader. The organisation was made up of a range of religious leaders, who supported the idea of using non-violent resistance and protest to bring about change. Early actions of the SCLC included:
- the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom in 1957, which pressured the president to speak out against segregation
- an attempt to increase black voter registration, called the Crusade for Citizenship
- the establishment of 鈥榤ovement centres鈥 in the South to coordinate the actions of black church communities fighting segregation
The 1957 Civil Rights Act
Due to pressure from civil rights organisations and a desire to appeal to black voters, President Dwight D Eisenhower gave his support to moves to improve civil rights. A A proposed new law. When a bill is approved by Congress and the president, it becomes an act and is now the law. was introduced in 1956 to improve access to voting for black Americans. The initial proposal was:
- to give the A part of the US federal government that helps to enforce the law. strong powers to enforce black voting rights using military force if required
- to allow the The central government in the USA, including the president, Congress and the Supreme Court. courts to decide on cases where black people had been blocked from voting
However, opposition from southern politicians, such as the A nickname for a member of the States鈥 Rights Democratic Party, a pro-segregation party formed by southern Democrats in 1948. Strom Thurmond, stopped the bill from passing through The legislative body of the US government, made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives..
In 1957 another bill was introduced. Again, opposition was strong, and the eventual Civil Rights Act introduced much weaker measures than had originally been intended. A A group of people who are asked to investigate something. was set up to investigate why black Americans were being prevented from voting, and federal courts were given powers to prosecute states that tried to prevent black Americans from voting.
The everyday experience of black Americans did not change significantly as a result of the 1957 Civil Rights Act. However, the act was important, not because of what it said but because it had been passed at all. Civil rights campaigners saw that their protests were being listened to and stepped up their efforts to achieve equality.