How important was the Montgomery bus boycott in changing the civil rights of African-Americans? The Montgomery bus boycott was an event that started in the, 1st, December 1955, when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in a segregated bus to a white man, leading to the Montgomery bus boycott to occur. I think this event was the most important in changing the civil rights of African-Americans. However, other event like ‘little rock’ and the ‘sit-ins’ were also very important events in changing civil rights. I believe the Montgomery bus boycott was the most important event in the 1950s -1960s in changing the civil rights for African-Americans, because this event gained internationally attention.
In 1951, the father of a black student named Linda Brown sued the Board of Education because a white school had prevented Brown from attending a school which was only seven blocks away, compared to the segregated black school she was attending which was more than seven blocks away from her home. Despite losing the first legal battle, Brown’s father did not give up. He found help from the NAACP, a prominent civil rights organisation which appealed on his behalf to the Supreme Court of USA. Following the appeal, in May 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren declared the US Constitution to be ‘colour-blind’ and therefore ordered the Topeka Board of education to end segregation in its schools. This was one of the first major steps in the civil rights movement.
Rosa Parks, a former NAACP secretary, was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. This was the start of the Bus Boycotts. These were a string of non-violent protests throughout Montgomery, Alabama. African Americans made up approximately 70% of the city’s bus passengers and almost all of them stopped using the buses. A young pastor – Martin Luther King Jr, organized the campaign.
To co-ordinate the boycott, an organisation called the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) was created. The President of this was Martin Luther King. The Boycott lasted a year. In that time the black community organised car-pools to ensure everyone could get to work, most of the bus companies revenue came from coloured riders so this lost them a lot of money. The Boycott led to the ruling that declared segregation on the buses unconstitutional.
I believe that the contribution of Martin Luther King was huge for the Civil Rights Campaign, however many important campaigners were overshadowed by King who possibly got too much credit when it was due elsewhere. King had a giant effect on the progress of the advancement of black civil rights. The first major part he played in improving the social standing of black civilians was in his role governing the Montgomery Bus Boycott between 1955 and 1956. This boycott aimed to achieve, which it eventually did, the desegregation of public buses, which was partly initiated by Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat for a white man when asked to do so, who was then arrested. King was invited to lead the body which was coordinating the boycott, the Montgomery Improvement Association, so he was not responsible for creating and starting off this successful campaign, however his alluring personality and leadership skills helped motivate the campaign brilliantly.
Martin Luther King is a African American civil rights activist that uses numerous techniques of peaceful protest to imrove the human rights of African americans. In 1954, he became pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, where Rosa Parks was famously arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a bus. After Parks' arrest, King came to national prominence in the US. He was a leading figure in organising the boycott by African Americans of buses in Montgomery. Tutelage from Bayard Rustin, a prominent civil rights campaigner, helped King to commit to a principle of non-violent action heavily influenced by Mahatma Gandhi's success in opposing the British in India.
Although he did not initiate the start of the Movement, the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955, he got involved and helped them greatly with their cause. King’s charisma was very important to the Civil Rights Movement as he was able to deliver the point clearly and in a way that everyone understood him. King took part in various different campaigns such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored (sic) People (NAACP), Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), and Southern Christian
In an attempt to desegregate buses throughout the south, a challenge against segregation was needed. King, along with the NAACP challenged this in Montgomery, until segregation was abolished. The boycott lasted just over a year with the black population, walking and car pooling, where they would usually use buses. The bus company lost 65% of their revenue and after King was arrested, on December 21, 1956, the Montgomery Bus Company desegregated all their buses. The boycott led to wide media attention which signified King’s leadership qualities.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott The Montgomery Bus Boycott was an event in which African Americans refused to ride city buses in Montgomery, Alabama, to protest segregated seating. It took place on the 5th December 1955, to December 20th 1956, and it is regarded as the first large-scale demonstration against segregation in U.S. On December 1, 1955, four days before the boycott began, Rosa Parks, and African-American woman, refused to yield her seat to a white man on a Montgomery bus. She was arrested, found guilty, and fined $10. The boycott of public buses by blacks in Montgomery began on the day of Parks’ court hearing and lasted 381days. The U.S Supreme Court ultimately ordered Montgomery to integrate its bus system.
But, there was a city ordinance stating that African Americans had to give up their seats if a white man asked for it. The rule also stated that no black person could even sit parallel on a bus with a white person. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a 42 Page 2: African Americans and Their Fight for Freedom year