Civil Rights Factual Test: American History Quiz

History of Civil Rights Movement

• The American Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, stating "All men are created equal."
• The Emancipation Proclamation, which abolished slavery in the USA, was issued in 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln.
• The white supremacist group formed after the defeat of the South in the American Civil War is the Ku Klux Klan.
• The Jim Crow laws were justified on the basis of 'separate but equal', a principle established in the 1896 ruling Plessy versus Ferguson.
• The NAACP stands for the "National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People."
• The chief justice to the Supreme Court during this period, famous for his rulings supporting the cause of civil rights, was Earl Warren.

Key Events and Figures

• The federal court ruling that declared segregation in schools unconstitutional was Brown v. the Board of Education (1954).
• Emmett Till's lynching in 1955 shocked America out of its complacency regarding racism.
• Nine black students faced violence when they attempted to integrate Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.
• The NAACP campaign to support these students was led by Daisy Bates.
• The racist governor of the state of Arkansas was Orval Faubus.
• President Dwight D. Eisenhower responded by sending in Federal Marshalls to ensure the safety of the children.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

• Rosa Parks initiated a bus boycott by refusing to give up her seat for a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama.
• Montgomery is located in the state of Alabama.
• The co-leader of the Bus Boycott, along with Martin Luther King Jr., was E.D. Nixon.
• MLK set up the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) after the boycott.

Civil Rights Organisations and Leaders

• In 1964, the Supreme Court declared illegal the practice of issuing vouchers for 'private' schools in Griffin versus Prince Edward County.
• Autherine Lucy found difficulty enrolling in the University of Alabama.
• NAACP lawyer Thurgood Marshall fought her case.
• The Nashville sit-ins were led by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
• The Freedom rides were led by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).
• James Farmer was the leader of CORE.