How Successful Were the Federal Government in Advancing Civil Rights in America in the Period 1955-1968?

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The federal government were successful to a large extent in advancing civil rights in the period 1955 – 1968 for a number of reasons. Within this period, the USA had three presidents, each passing or initiating civil rights legislation to advance civil rights for African Americans. Legislation and the attitudes of congress and the Supreme Court had a large influence on the advancement of civil rights, however, it could be said that legislation was happening too slowly to make progress, and many groups within the federal and state governments opposed the advancement of civil rights. Legislation played a large role in the advancement of civil rights between 1955 and 1968, as it effectively ended legal segregation and begun the final destruction of segregation in the USA. Acts passed by Eisenhower and Johnson had a big impact on the advancement of civil rights, with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ending all segregation of all public places and facilities, and the voting rights act of 1965 outlawing all measures to prevent American citizens from voting. These acts ended legal segregation, and had an impact on desegregating public places, voting rights and employment, with the creation of the Fair Employment Practices Commission. Legislation of this period was far more effective than previously, with the number of African Americans registered to vote jumping from four million in 1960, to six million in 1965, due to Johnson’s Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was initiated by Kennedy but failed to pass before his assassination. Furthermore, for each ineffective act passed, another was passed to increase the effectiveness and impact. For example, the Civil Rights act of 1964 extended the powers of the Commission on Civil Rights from those given by the 1960 Civil Rights Act, allowing them to enforce desegregation. It was in ways such as this that legislation was most
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