Montgomery Bus Boycott
1.What is the event, movement or protest? (Where and when did it occur?)
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a major event in the Civil rights movement. It occurred in Montgomery, Alabama where black passengers were required by law to ride in the back of the bus. On December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks, an African American woman, refused to give her bus seat to a man and as a result she was arrested. In protest 50,000 African american people stopped using the Montgomery city buses. On November 13, 1956, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision to integrate the buses. In response the city of Montgomery passed a law allowing black passengers to sit anywhere on the buses. The boycott lasted 13 months, finishing on December 20, 1956.
2.What were the aims and objectives of the event, movement or protest?
The structure of America’s society pre-1955 insured black Americans were very much second-class citizens. The Montgomery Bus Boycott’s aim was to end the segregation between white and black Americans on the city’s public bus line, Montgomery City Lines. The objective of the movement was to make African Americans have equal rights to the whites. Most African Americans wanted to end the injustice of the discrimination that was leaving them as a second and less important race.
3.What were the methods used to achieve the aims?
The Methods used during the 13 months included peaceful protests led by Martin Luther King Jr, boycotting of the local public buses instead many people walked, created taxi services or got driven to work by friends or the people they worked, for the leaders of the groups held public speeches to encourage more participation, African american people held sit-ins at local segregated restaurants, they handed out leaflets, pamphlets, and books, meetings to organise protests as well as talking about the future and singing songs in the streets.
4.Who were the people involved in leading the event, movement or protest?
In March 1955 a young 15-year old girl called Claudette Colvin refused to give her seat up for a white person. She was arrested for violating the segregation laws and mistreated by the police. She was the first African-American to dissent against the laws and stand up for what she thought was vital for the African-American society. Rosa Parks was then main leader who decided she needed to stand up for the civil rights of African Americans; she was the one who began the Montgomery bus boycotts. She was stimulation to other African Americans who then went and followed as she did and this was known as the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
5.How effective was this in contributing the rights and freedoms of both groups?
The Montgomery bus boycott contributed to the rights drastically, After the integration of the bus system Martin Luther King Jr decided he wanted equality for the rest of America and as a result, he created the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) and would go on to become one of the most influential people in history. The integration of the bus system in Montgomery influenced other states in America to start integrating their bus systems and other segregated such as bathrooms. Many people see this as the beginning of a national movement and evolution of the American populations way of thinking.
6.Explain how useful your chosen primary source has been in finding out about the topic
These are flyers from the Montgomery bus boycott 1950 and 1955, which were the years in which the boycott was between. These flyers are useful as they portray examples of how the African-Americans went about advertising the issue that needed to be addressed. They are also reliable as they are real flyers/posters from the time of the Montgomery bus boycott. Both these flyers demonstrate how the main society was directed at males. This is clear through the language used on the flyers/posters, when reading them; it is if only a white male perspective is the only individual that these were directed at. The terms used are “ Negros riding beside you, your wife or daughter.” And “ The next time it may be you, or your daughter, or mother.” The people they refer to are always the females of the family never the males. This was because males had a more prominent role in the family and they were the leader/ bosses of each family.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a major event in the Civil rights movement. It occurred in Montgomery, Alabama where black passengers were required by law to ride in the back of the bus. On December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks, an African American woman, refused to give her bus seat to a man and as a result she was arrested. In protest 50,000 African american people stopped using the Montgomery city buses. On November 13, 1956, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision to integrate the buses. In response the city of Montgomery passed a law allowing black passengers to sit anywhere on the buses. The boycott lasted 13 months, finishing on December 20, 1956.
2.What were the aims and objectives of the event, movement or protest?
The structure of America’s society pre-1955 insured black Americans were very much second-class citizens. The Montgomery Bus Boycott’s aim was to end the segregation between white and black Americans on the city’s public bus line, Montgomery City Lines. The objective of the movement was to make African Americans have equal rights to the whites. Most African Americans wanted to end the injustice of the discrimination that was leaving them as a second and less important race.
3.What were the methods used to achieve the aims?
The Methods used during the 13 months included peaceful protests led by Martin Luther King Jr, boycotting of the local public buses instead many people walked, created taxi services or got driven to work by friends or the people they worked, for the leaders of the groups held public speeches to encourage more participation, African american people held sit-ins at local segregated restaurants, they handed out leaflets, pamphlets, and books, meetings to organise protests as well as talking about the future and singing songs in the streets.
4.Who were the people involved in leading the event, movement or protest?
In March 1955 a young 15-year old girl called Claudette Colvin refused to give her seat up for a white person. She was arrested for violating the segregation laws and mistreated by the police. She was the first African-American to dissent against the laws and stand up for what she thought was vital for the African-American society. Rosa Parks was then main leader who decided she needed to stand up for the civil rights of African Americans; she was the one who began the Montgomery bus boycotts. She was stimulation to other African Americans who then went and followed as she did and this was known as the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
5.How effective was this in contributing the rights and freedoms of both groups?
The Montgomery bus boycott contributed to the rights drastically, After the integration of the bus system Martin Luther King Jr decided he wanted equality for the rest of America and as a result, he created the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) and would go on to become one of the most influential people in history. The integration of the bus system in Montgomery influenced other states in America to start integrating their bus systems and other segregated such as bathrooms. Many people see this as the beginning of a national movement and evolution of the American populations way of thinking.
6.Explain how useful your chosen primary source has been in finding out about the topic
These are flyers from the Montgomery bus boycott 1950 and 1955, which were the years in which the boycott was between. These flyers are useful as they portray examples of how the African-Americans went about advertising the issue that needed to be addressed. They are also reliable as they are real flyers/posters from the time of the Montgomery bus boycott. Both these flyers demonstrate how the main society was directed at males. This is clear through the language used on the flyers/posters, when reading them; it is if only a white male perspective is the only individual that these were directed at. The terms used are “ Negros riding beside you, your wife or daughter.” And “ The next time it may be you, or your daughter, or mother.” The people they refer to are always the females of the family never the males. This was because males had a more prominent role in the family and they were the leader/ bosses of each family.