How Far Was Peaceful Protest Responsible for the Success of the Civil Rights Movement in the Years 1955-1964?

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How Far Was Peaceful Protest Responsible for the Success of the Civil Rights Movement in the Years 1955-1964? From 1955 to 1964 the civil rights movement organised a series of campaigns addressing transport, education, voting and the segregation of public places. These campaigns included the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955, the little rock campaign of 1957, the Greensboro sit-ins of 1960 and the Birmingham campaign of 1963. Many campaigns during this time period highlighted that peaceful protest was an effective way of achieving change and bringing in extra white support to push through legal battles. One such protest was the Montgomery Bus Boycott that occurred from 1955-56. This protest challenged the policy of bus segregation in the south. On the day of Rosa Parks trial almost the whole black community did not ride the busses. More than 66% of the riders on the busses were blacks, therefore, economically the protest hurt the bus company as the majority of the income came from black riders. Southern blacks simply stopped using the bus system to show that they weren't going to be treated unfairly, by the community, government and bus system. Every week the black community would gather and have a meeting about the protest, the leader of these gatherings would emerge to be Martin L. King who took charge of the boycott with the influential backing of the church. After over a year of boycotting the busses they went to the Supreme Court to prove that it was not legal to segregate blacks from whites on public transportation. Eventually, the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to separate people based on their race. When the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the blacks, they knew it was going to change their way of life. The black community of Montgomery proved that having a non-violent protest can create positive change. They provided a starting point in
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