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Thank you, sister Rosa! Ms. Parks, that is! This movie is all about the civil rights movement, from segregation trials to freedom marches. Plus a few words from Dr. Martin Luther King!

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Sylvia & Aki Sylvia & Aki by Winifred Conkling Walking to the Bus-Rider Blues Walking to the Bus Rider Blues by Harriette Gillem Robinet Glory Be Glory Be Glory Be (S) by Augusta ...

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Kids learn about the biography of Ruby Bridges, the first African-American child to attend an all white elementary school in the South.

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History >> Civil Rights for Kids

African-American Civil Rights Movement

March on Washington Aug 28, 1963
from the United States Information Agency

The African-American Civil Rights Movement was an ongoing fight for racial equality that took place for over 100 years after the Civil War. Leaders such asMartin Luther King, Jr., Booker T. Washington, and Rosa Parks paved the way for non-violent protests which led to changes in the law. When most people talk about the "Civil Rights Movement" they are talking about the protests in the 1950s and 1960s that led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Background

The Civil Rights Movement has its background in the abolitionist movement before theCivil War. Abolitionists were people that thought slavery was morally wrong and wanted it to come to an end. Before the Civil War, many of the northern states had outlawed slavery. During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln freed the enslaved with the Emancipation Proclamation. After the war, slavery was made illegal with the thirteenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Segregation and the Jim Crow Laws

Jim Crow Drinking Fountain
by John Vachon

After the Civil War, many southern states continued to treat African-Americans as second class citizens. They implemented laws that kept black people separate from white people. These laws became known as Jim Crow laws. They required separate schools, restaurants, restrooms, and transportation based on the color of a person's skin. Other laws prevented many black people from voting.

Early Protests

In the early 1900s, black people began to protest the Jim Crow laws that southern states were implementing to enforce segregation. Several African-American leaders such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Ida B. Wells joined together to found the NAACP in 1909. Another leader, Booker T. Washington, helped to form schools to educate African-Americans in order to improve their status in society.

The Movement Grows

The civil rights movement gained momentum in the 1950s when theSupreme Court ruled that segregation in schools was illegal in the case of Brown v. Board of Education. Federal troops were brought in to Little Rock, Arkansas to allow the Little Rock Nine to attend a previously all white high school.

Major Events in the Movement

The 1950's and early 1960's brought about several major events in the fight for the civil rights of African-Americans. In 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat on the bus to a white passenger. This sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott which lasted for over a year and brought Martin Luther King, Jr. to the forefront of the movement. King led a number of non-violent protests including the Birmingham Campaign and the March on Washington.

Lyndon Johnson signing Civil Rights Act
by Cecil Stoughton

Civil Rights Act of 1964

In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was signed into law byPresident Lyndon Johnson. This act outlawed segregation and the Jim Crow laws of the south. It also outlawed discrimination based on race, national background, and gender. Although there were still many issues, this law gave the NAACP and other organizations a strong base on which to fight discrimination in the courts.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

In 1965, another law was passed called the Voting Rights Act. This law said that citizens could not be denied the right to vote based on their race. It outlawed literacy tests (a requirement that people be able to read) and poll taxes (a fee that people had to pay to vote).

Interesting Facts about the African-American Civil Rights Movement

The Civil Rights Act was originally proposed by President John F. Kennedy.

The 1968 Civil Rights Act, also known as the Fair Housing Act, outlawed discrimination in the selling or renting of housing.

The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee was once the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed in 1968.

Today, African-Americans have been elected or appointed to the highest positions in the U.S. government including Secretary of State (Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice) and President (Barack Obama).

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Civil Rights Leaders

Overview Works Cited

History >> Civil Rights for Kids

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Kids learn about the history of the African-American Civil Rights Movement including segregation, Jim Crow laws, protests, Martin Luther King, and the passage of the Civil Rights Act.

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Civil Rights for Kids: Birmingham Campaign

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Kids learn about the history of the Birmingham Campaign that was part of the Civil Rights movement for African Americans against segregation and southern Jim Crow laws.

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Kids learn about the history of the Montgomery Bus Boycott that started when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. Led by Martin Luther King, Jr., African-Americans stopped riding the buses for over a year.

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Civil Rights Movements

The main aim of the civil rights movement was to give everybody equal rights regardless of color skin color, gender, nationality, religion, disability or age. The aim of the movement which peaked in the 1960's was to ensure that the rights of all people are equally and are protected by the law. Civil rights include a number of things for example the right to free speech, assembly, a fair trial. You can read more about this and the amazing people that helped to make these changes below. As always have fun learning and enjoy.

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Civil Rights Leaders

Born a slave on a plantation in 1856, Booker T. Washington had little in the way of hope to be more.
Read More

Cesar Chavez made a major contribution to the way in which farm labor and migrant workers were
Read More

Events and Other Information

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Civil Rights Facts for Kids - History for Kids

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Civil Rights Movements The main aim of the civil rights movement was to give everybody equal rights regardless of color skin color, gender, nationality, religion, disability or age. The aim of the movement which peaked in the 1960's was to ensure that the rights of all people are equally and are protected by the law.

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Kids learn about the history of the Little Rock Nine, African-American students who fought to end segregation by attending an all-white high school.

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-The Freedom Riders
-Ruby Bridges
-School Integration
-Lunch Counter Sit-Ins
-Montgomery Bus Boycotts
-Influential Civil Rights Leaders
-Children During the Civil Rights Movement
-Little Rock Nine