Slides on leaving certificate American history dealing with the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s.

1. Mr. Hogan

4. End of the American Civil War in 1860s – slavery abolished
BUT whites in the (losing) Southern States made blacks
second class citizens - the “Jim Crow” laws
Segregation of Blacks and Whites
Blacks intimidated by the Ku Klux Klan
After World War Two blacks began to question the
discrimination they faced

8. Blacks were urbanised – easier to organise
Blacks were more educated
USA – “Leader of the Free World” (?)
Mass Media – TV
Role of Churches and Clergymen – E.G. MLK
Rise of liberal ideas

10. End of Segregation in the Army
Civil Rights Acts – 1957 and 1964
Voting Rights Act 1965
Affirmative Action – aka “positive discrimination”

13. Baptist Preacher in Montgomery, Alabama
Organised Montgomery Bus Boycott
Organised further boycotts which provoked a “white
backlash” – media coverage
Awarded Nobel Peace Prize
His efforts led to the passing of the Civil Rights Act, 1964 and
Voting Rights Act 1965
Eventually overtaken by more militant Civil Rights Activists
such as Malcolm X
Also campaigned on social and economic issues
Assassinated in 1968

16. Despite strong opposition to equality for Blacks in the
Southern US States, most Americans agreed with the Civil
Rights Movement
US Government granted many civil rights to blacks –
overruling individual states objections
Pres Kennedy and Johnson – supported civil rights movement
Some later Presidents (e.g. Reagan) were somewhat opposed
– stopped federal (i.e. Government) support for civil rights
Genie out of bottle though!

18. USA prided itself on being the richest country in the world
(still is)
But Poverty was a major problem – country very rich on one
(generally white) hand, very poor on another (black)
As Blacks became more urbanised, they ended up with the
worst housing in the cities – ghettos
Whites fled to the suburbs
Decline of manufacturing – blacks ended up with worst jobs

19. More poor people in cities = less tax collected in cities
Meant cities became “run down”
New housing developments – tower blocks (like Ballymun in
Dublin) meant poverty became worse
Drug dealing, crime increased.

20. From the 1940s onwards US Governments had brought in anti
poverty measures
◦ Increasing welfare
◦ Established minimum wage
◦ Increased training opportunities
However President Johnson (1963-68) increased Govt action
against poverty – his policies became known as the “War on
Poverty”

21. “Great Society” was Johnson’s term for his anti-poverty
programme
◦ Established a “Poverty Line”
◦ Set up Office of Economic Opportunity
◦ Increased funding given to public schools
◦ New housing & rent aid for low income people
◦ Set up health programmes known as Medicare (elderly support) and
Medicaid (for poor people)
However the rising tide of optimism was stopped by the
Watts Riots and by the escalating problem of the War in
Vietnam

23. A cocktail of discrimination, unemployment, rising
expectations, the availability of new drugs and the ready
availability of guns meant that crime levels rose rapidly after
World War 2
The opinion grew that Johnson and his Democratic Party were
“soft on crime”
Democrats lost most of the elections from 1968 onwards
because of this and other issues
Most criminals were Black, male and poor – factors that led to
slowdown in efforts to tackle racism

25. http://www.newstalk.ie/programmes/all/talking-
history/
Available free on itunes or download direct from the
website.