1950s in America

9th September - The 1957 Civil Rights Act was signed into federal law by President Eisenhower. He was reluctant to act as he believed change came from changing the way people think, not forcing them. Many people felt federal intervention was unconstitutional.

The final civil rights act allowed federal courts to prosecute state violations of voting rights.

Limitations of the Act - e.g. prosecutions from the federal courts would be held in state by an all-white jury who were unlikely to do anything but dismiss the prosecution.

Formed in January 1957 by MLK

Used non violent methods, their motto was "not one hair of one head of one white person shall be harmed"

Effective as it encouraged all races to join and "seek justice and reject injustice" - appealing to whites

• Opposed civil rights
• Group of people from both the Senate and House of Representatives who formed their own breakaway party
• Slowed the process of improving rights for black people by creating resistance:
  • The group was large so the president had to listen to them to win the election
  • Strom Thurmand spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes in a filibuster that prevented the first vote on the 1957 Civil Rights Act. The bill had to be revised and considered by both houses in Congress again.

Filibuster = time limit on how long bills can be debated = politicians talk for ages = prevents bill being voted on

• Set up in Indianola, Mississippi in 1954
• Aimed to oppose intergration, especially in schools
• Often protested outside schools, threatened people, used violence and were very aggressive
• They helped raise the profile of the CRM as their actions were so aggressive, people felt sympathy for black people in America all around the world