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.
In the end, one plan is always going to be better when put into action, and in this case I believe that W.E.B. Dubois had the better plan. Both of these men set out to fix poverty and discrimination against blacks in America, but their strategies were radically different. Booker T. Washington felt that the only way to become equals in an unequal society is for blacks to work hard and become something. His idea was that if enough blacks were to become doctors, lawyers, businessman, and become successful in general that they could not be considered anything other than equal.
Why did the visions of Martin Luther King Jr feature in Barack Obama’s 2008 election campaign and inauguration speech in 2009? The Role and significance Martin Luther King Jr in America’s History: Martin Luther King Jr was a leader; he gave a voice to the African American citizens who could not express their own needs and opinions. His role was to lead the civil rights movement, and speak for justice, peace and equality in the lives of every American man, woman and child. King struggled with the laws and politics of his time and worked to eradicate segregation and discrimination from the American way of life. Martin Luther King Jr’s writings, teachings and speech’s are timeless; they left people rethinking their attitudes towards African Americans and racism.
To what extent was the Federal Government responsible for improving the status of black people in the United States in the years 1945-64? The Federal Government was partially responsible for improving the status of black people, although individual activists are also partially responsible. The Federal Government is headed by the President, but also comprises of congress and the Supreme Court, which each had a role to play in dismantling segregation. Although the presidency and the Supreme Court would play a larger role in helping blacks than congress, due to the nature of what the people in congress believed and wanted to achieve. In the spring of 1946, Irene Morgan, a black woman, boarded a bus in Virginia to go to Baltimore, Maryland.
The Civil Rights movement was just about to peak in the early 60’s. There was war abroad, but on the home front, African Americans were taking a strong stance to gain their rights (Faragher, 905). Political activists led the way, and white Americans took notice. Neither side was willing to back down. To the credit of all who sacrificed their lives for the movement, society progressed and laws like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 were produced.
Leaders planned and instructed participants in proper action and in dealing with resistance, both official and non-official. They were fully aware of how their actions affected national politicians like Kennedy and Johnson. Sitkoff implies that Kennedy introduced ‘the most comprehensive civil rights law in history’ (158) in June 1963 in response to black activism. One of Kennedy’s motives was to ‘assist Farmer and King and Wilkins in securing their objectives lest the movement be taken over by extremists.’ (156) Voting rights was ‘not on Johnson’s agenda’ (186) after the 1964 election. In late 1964, King and the SCLC staff ‘plotted a strategy’ and ‘set as their goal a strong voting-rights law.’ (187) They deliberately chose Selma, Alabama as the ‘focal point of their campaign’ partly because the believed the county sheriff’s reaction would be ‘vicious and violent’ (188) and would ‘provide the notoriety and martyrdom necessary for the national attention and support that would result in voting rights legislation.’ (188) By mid-March, Johnson requested that Congress pass a voting rights
President John F. Kennedy helped this change by making the Civil Rights Act of 1964. During President John F. Kennedy’s time in office, he promised to end racial discrimination. He put a lot of Blacks in federal positions, no other president had done that in the past. He gave hope to Black Americans that more important jobs will come to Blacks.
Kennedy included phrases such as one-half, one-third, twice as much, and half as much to indicate the chances of an average American Negro to complete certain obstacles equivalent to the average white American. The motivation for such number references is relevant and leads up to Kennedy's thought that "a time of domestic crisis men of good will and generosity should be able to unite regardless of party or politics. Within the speech, Kennedy described this nation to be "founded on the principle that all men are created equal however this applied to everyone but Negroes in the community. Lincoln freed the slaves more than a hundred years ago, but to this day, the slaves'
Examples included voting rights and citizenship, and the founders passed this to the states to decide. According to Bowles, 2011, American History 1865 to present End of Isolation, though slavery was the underlying reason for the war, another central debate was the rights of states versus the powers of the federal government. While Republicans were strongly in favor of a stronger federal government, Johnson opposed this direction and wanted states to have more power, includ¬ing the southern states. Which basically meant, more blacks in the government ; Johnson disapproved. As Johnson and Congress wres¬tled with these issues, their clash came to somewhat of a head with a disagreement over the Freedman’s Bureau.
Yet again, serious violence developed at the hands of white racists. In response to this, Johnson introduced a further Civil Rights reform. In August 1965, the Voting Rights Act became law, removing all barriers which prevented black Americans from registering as voters. Results The non-violent campaigns of the Civil Rights movement during the 1950s and early to mid-1960s achieved notable successes. With charismatic and intelligent spokesmen such as Martin Luther King, the Civil Rights campaigners had brought the plight of black Americans to the attention of the whole world.