free at last

• impact of Jim Crow laws on the lives of black Americans

  • separate schooling. less money was spent on black schools which led to overcrowded classrooms

  • enforced separate toilets and restrooms

  • ensured that transport facilities - trains and buses - were segregated

  • blacks had to use separate areas on buses, in restaurants

  • 1896 Plessy case “separate but equal” enforced in law

  • some laws hindered blacks from voting due to literacy tests/intimidation

  • some states made marriage between blacks and whites illegal

  • led to anger and demand for change

  • blacks felt humiliated
• explain the push factors of why new immigrants went to America

  • many live in overcrowded squalor which led to disease

  • lack of working hour restrictions which meant that some people worked 18 hour days

  • specific problems - Irish potato famine/ Scottish highland clearances

  • religious freedom - Jews escaping pogroms in Eastern Europe

  • political freedom - fear of communism/dictatorship

  • unemployment

  • escape poverty

  • escape war, especially after 1914.
• explain the pull factors which led to new immigrants going to America

  • jobs and financial security

  • America offered political and religious freedom

  • the promise of land that could be famed and provide for the whole family

  • the American dream - wealth and prosperity

  • better education facilities, for example Harvard university
• describe the problems facing new immigrants 


  • often arrived with little wealth or possessions

  • faced discrimination on the grounds of race/religion

  • did the poorest jobs with the lowest pays / longest hours

  • poor housing/unsanitary slums/high rent

  • blamed for taking jobs and housing

  • blamed for crime, for example the Italian mafia

  • political extremism - red scare

  • many could not speak English

  • many were called racist names

  • victims of crime/gang violence

  • often settled with people of their own nationality e.g Italians settled in Little Italy in NYC.
• However, new immigrants benefitted from extreme poverty and persecution in their own land
• explain why attitudes changed towards immigrants 


  • growing fear of social unrest due to Russian revolution

  • (political reasons) fear of communism spreading/the red scare

  • concerns that immigrants were involved in violent crime - the Italian mafia

  • fear that new immigrants were illiterate.

  • (WASPS) - Protestants worried that too many catholics and Jews were immigrating to USA

  • growth of nativism - immigrants threatened the American way of life

  • KKK spread the belief that USA should be white and Protestant.
• Explain the Red Scare following ww1

  • Bolshevik led Russian revolution in 1917 - people feared communism, socialism and anarchism

  • people feared newcomers from Eastern Europe

  • increase in economic difficulties/worker difficulties as there were few jobs after WW1

  • strikes broke out

  • strikers were referred to as Reds, which meant unpatriotic

  • fear that strikes would lead to communism

  • fear that communists were trying to overthrow the government

  • palmer raids - 10,000 communists rounded up by the government in 1919
• describe how the USA restricted immigration in the early 20th century 


  1918 - immigration act banned anti-war protestors and union members

  1921 - based on the 1910 census, only 3% of the numbers of residents from that same country already living in United States could immigrate there

  the 1921 act only allowed 357,000 immigrants to enter America.

  1924 - stated that the places would be proportional to the sizes of nationalities presented in the 1890 census - 21%
• the 1924 act restricted the number of immigrants to 150,000.

  the 1924 act was to restrict the number of immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe.
• describe the impact of America’s open door policy

  • immigrants arrived in huge numbers, 1 million every year by 1914.

  • increase in immigrants from Eastern Europe such as Russia and Poland, also Southern Europe such as Italy

  • cities experienced most change - with around 40% of population being new immigrants

  • led to calls to restrict immigration

  • led to growth of racist organisations such as KKK and 100% American who called for immigration restrictions

  • led to cutting immigration and targeting immigrants from S and E Europe

  • led to tension between WASPS and new immigrants.
• Open door policy

  • new immigrants blamed for crime/cutting wages/pressure on housing

  • 1918 immigration act allowed only 3% of each nationality based on the amount of that nationality in the USA in 1910 census

  • 1924 immigration act allowed only 2% of each nationality based on the amount of their nationality in the USA in the 1910 census
• Activities of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s/1930s.

  • used violence against opponents (whippings, beatings, kidnappings)

  • intimidation of black fiery crosses (burning houses)

  • acted anonymously (wore robes and hoods, activities took place at night)

  • infiltrated government - 16 senators elected with Klan help

  • important members such as police and judiciary esp.

  in the Deep South • campaigned against immigration, especially against Jews and Roman Catholics

  • lynchings of black Americans to show supremacy

  • over 3 million members

  • surrounded in secrecy - hard to infiltrate
• Explain why the Ku Klux Klan was so powerful in the South in the 1920s

  • huge organisation estimated to have 3 million members in 1924

  • it was surrounded in secrecy which made it hard to oppose

  • it was a terrorist organisation which supported the use of violence to achieve its aims

  • it had effective methods of intimidation, for example the fiery cross

  • kidnapped, whipped, mutilated people if they did not do what the Klan wanted

  • the klan lynched many black people to show their supremacy

  • important members of the community such as police, judges and politicians were members
• explain why support for the Ku Klux Klan grew in the 1920s

  • use of propaganda against new immigrants - seen as “un-american“

  • broadened its appeal by targeting Jews, Catholics and foreigners.

  • appealed to patriotism

  • appealed to those who wanted a return to ’clean livin’, opposed ‘evils‘, such as movie industry

  • racism/hatred towards Black Americans still strong in parts of the USA

  • rising tension caused by great migration to the North

  • ’red scare’ led to increased hatred for foreigners
• Explain why it was difficult for black Americans to gain civil rights by 1940s

  Jim Crow laws - e.g black people not being able to marry white people, not being able to use the same restroom, not getting the same education

  • fear of the ku klux klan - e.g lynchings, black fiery crosses, marches through Washington

  • Supreme Court decision 1896 - ”separate but equal” - legalised Jim Crow

  • prejudice and racist attitudes
• explain why black Americans moved North - the great migration 


  • fear of white violence - lynchings common in the South/blacks were beaten up to punish and intimidate them

  • KKK bombed churches, schools and burned crosses to intimidate Blacks

  • enforced segregation of Jim Crow laws - affected all areas of life - education, work, housing, marriage; facilities for Blacks were far inferior

  • restricted voting rights for Blacks through literacy tests, poll taxes

  • employment opportunities- ww1 workers in great demand in northern factories and steel works

  • better education for children
• Describe the problems facing black prople who moved North

  • skin colour identified them out as being different and marked them out for discrimination

  • whites felt superior to black migrants

  • competition for jobs with immigrants to USA

  • poor housing conditions/separated into Ghetto Communities

  • riots between blacks and whites in the North

  • blacks seen as poorly educated so only able to get poorly paid jobs
• ww2 and the growth of civil rights 


  • ww2 was an important turning point in the campaign for Civil Rights in the USA as it planted seeds for the civil rights movement

  • the double V campaign meant victory in the war and victory for civil rights in the USA

  • why should black soldiers fight for the freedom of others when they still had to fight against discrimination in their country

  • the president Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was forced into passing Executive 8802 which was meant to provide equal employment for all in defence industries

  • segregation continued in the armed forces
• Reasons for the growth of civil rights after WW2

  • soldiers in ww2 experienced a more equal way of life and were determined to fight against discrimination when returned

  • black Americans were better educated than previous generations and more equipped to fight discrimination

  • the success of the Montgomery bus boycott encouraged others to fight for civil rights

  • the leadership of MLK jr inspired others to campaign

  • ww2 had been fought against nazi germany for the supposed freedom of all Americans, leading to growth of support for civil rights

  • influence of ‘Double V’ campaign
• Explain the growth of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s

  • Brown v Topeka 1954

  • death of emmett till in 1955

  • montgomery bus boycotts

  • sit-ins

  • freedom rides

  • national television reporting
• montgomery bus boycott 1955

  • peaceful, economic boycott - bus company lost money - lasted for 13 months

  • blacks offered lifts to other blacks

  • attracted national publicity/support

  • MLK became involved, who went on to be a civil rights leader famous worldwide

  • Supreme Court ruled that Alabama’s segregation laws were illegal

  • bus companies already started to desegregate

  • most other facilities remained segregated for many years to come e.g theatres, pool rooms and restaurants

  • proved that non-violent protests could work

  • led to other bus boycotts across the south
• little rock 1957

  • NAACP decided to test the Supreme Court decision of 1954 at Little Rock High School

  • nine A grade students selected so there could be no complaints about the black students ability

  • the governor ordered the National Guard to stop students entering the school

  • a mob of white people gathered outside the school

  • one student, Elizabeth Eckford, tried to enter the school

  • screaming white crowds stopping a child from going to school made national then worldwide news

  • soldiers stayed for a year patrolling the corridors

  • the pupils still faced abuse
• sit-ins & freedom rides (non violent protest)

  • many white Americans supported the protests

  • restaurants & cafes could not afford the bad publicity & loss of business, by the summer of 1960 there were almost no more segregated lunch counters in the South

  • success of the sit-ins proved that blacks had economic power they could use to end segregation

  • sit-ins attracted great sympathy & media attention for civil rights

  •the use of the sit-in tactic spread to protest against other forms of racist segregation (pray-ins at churches)

  •sit-ins gave other blacks the confidence to campaign
• explain the growth of civil rights in the 1960s

  • Blacks attended inferior schools

  • Blacks had to live in slum housing

  • Blacks had no political rights

  • MLK - strong leadership

  • increasing press and TV coverage

  • impatience in southern states despite Supreme Court rulings
• Describe Selma, Alabama 1965


  • King wanted to put pressure on President Johnson to support new Civil rights legislation

  • Sheriff Clark of Selma was a crude, violent racist

  • King thought he could stir up feeling against Clark in the same way as he had against Bull Connor

  • there was a march as part of the protest to Governor Wallace about police brutality and racism

  • King wanted to win support for a new voting rights act

  • Black Americans were being prevented from registering to vote in Selma

  • few black Americans had succeeded in registering to vote, there were protests
• Selma, Alabama 1965

  protests in Selma had been met with extreme violence from police. Massive TV footage (Bloody Sunday)
• The March on Washington 1963


  • thousands of buses and many trains were needed to bring the crowds into Washington - over 200,000 protestors

  • many of the protestors were white

  • the huge demonstration was peaceful and orderly.

  • it was a march for both jobs and freedom

  • King’s “I have a dream“ speech

  • coverage of the event was international - publicity

  • boosted support for new civil rights act of 1964 and voting rights act of 1965.
• Explain how the civil rights movement improved the lives of black Americans 


  • campaign over Brown v Board of education, Topeka led the Supreme Court to state that ‘separate but equal‘ in education was unconstitutional

  • montgomery bus boycott led to the end of segregation on buses

  • civil rights movement had heroes such as Rosa Parks

  • civil rights act 1957 - some legal protection to Blacks registering to vote

  • Little Rock saw black students admitted to a white school

  • sit-ins - end of segregation at lunch counters

  • freedom rides - end of segregation on interstate buses
• Explain why blacks felt progress had been made in civil rights

  • NAACP were moving force behind Supreme Court decision

  • Supreme Court declared segregated schools unconstitutional

  • civil rights gained heroes such as Rosa Parks

  • Montgomery bus boycott was successful

  • Little Rock saw black students accepted to a white school

  • Brown V Board of education - schools to be desegregated

  • new leaders such as MLK and SCLC
• describe the action taken by the federal government between 1945-1965

  • President Truman issued orders to desegregate the US military

  • Supreme Court decision 1954 - declared that schools could no longer be segregated • 1957- President Eisenhower sent federal troops to Little Rock in Arkansas to ensure 9 black children could safely enter a recently desegregated school

  •in 1960 Congress passed a civil rights act establishing penalties for obstructing black voting

  •civil rights act 1964-end to segregation in shops, restaurants

  •voting right act 1965-literacy tests & poll tax payments removed
• explain why Martin Luther King was important to the Civil Rights movement’s success

  • the movement was strongly inspired by his idea of non-violent protests e.g sit-ins, freedom rides

  • he played an important role in organising the montgomery bus boycott

  • he organised the Birmingham protest

  • the importance of his role in the Selma march in 1965

  • he won international recognition for the movement, e.g Nobel peace prize

  • won respect for his condemnation of the Vietnam war

  • speeches were very influential, e.g “I have a dream”

  • assassination led him to be regarded as a martyr
• Explain why there was a split in the civil rights movement

  • some supported a more violent campaign/rejected non-violence

  • some felt that civil rights concentrated too much on the south

  • some favoured separatism

  • some felt that more had to be done to help black people who lived in poverty

  • some were influenced by new leaders - Stokely Carmichael

  • some were frustrated by the slow pace of change

  • some resented the way black peoples were attacked by the police
• Explain the reasons for the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act

  • 1960s Civil Rights act had created the Civil Rights commission that identified glaring inequalities between black and white Americans

  • other previous Civil Rights acts only had limited impact on segregation

  • MLK was a national figure due to his campaigns of passive resistance

  • the rise of Malcolm X and issues in the Ghettos threatened to introduce a new militancy and violence into the civil rights debate

  • by january 1964 public opinion was in favour of passing the civil rights act
• Explain why there were riots in Northern cities, such as Chicago and Detroit

  • poverty - 40% of blacks still lived in poverty

  • nothing had been done about slum housing

  • blacks were in low paid jobs or had no jobs

  • poor quality schools/facilities

  • poor or little access to healthcare

  • assassination of MLK

  • civil rights act had not solved the problems of Northern cities

  • ghettos were places of crime, drugs and gangs

  • Vietnam draft

  • influence of Radical leaders who encouraged direct action
• Stokely Carmichael and non-violence

  • non-violence movement could not relate to young blacks in the ghettos

  • non-violence did nothing about blacks who had been killed or mistreated

  • non-violence meant that blacks had to accept being beaten again

  • Carmichael wanted blacks to take pride in themselves

  • blacks had a right to defend themselves

  • he had been involved in non-violent campaigns but got fed up of being mistreated and arrested

  • non-violent protests had benefitted the South but had little impact on the North
• Explain why the black panthers gained support

  • argued that black Americans were victims of white aggression - believed in black power

  • wanted to protect blacks from white violence

  • wanted to “serve the people”

  • involved in self help campaigns

  • campaigned to stop drugs and crime in poor areas

  • called for black control of services such as education and police

  • promoted free health clinics

  • provided free breakfasts for children

  • provided free clothes for the poor

  • had charismatic leaders
• Describe the aims of Black radical protests

  • civil rights movement split in the mid-1960s over non-violence debate, northern problems had not been solved

  • Malcolm X advocated self-help and not waiting for whites to improve conditions

  • Stokely Carmichael was the first to use the phrase ‘Black Power’

  • Carmicheal believed that blacks should build up their own communities, schools, businesses without white interference

  • blacks should be prepared to defend themselves with violence if necessary

  • blacks should be proud of their culture separate from whites