Description
Essay 1 (20 points)
The first essay addresses material covered since the second midterm (from the Women’s Movement to the new millennium). You will choose one of the following two prompts to answer in essay form (45 paragraphs). Elaborate on each example with specific supporting details.
1. Both the Civil Rights Movement and the Women’s Movement balanced an emphasis on rights with an increasing focus on liberation. Choose one of these movements. Explain the difference between rights and liberation in the movement, and explain the
movement’s gradual shift from an emphasis on rights to liberation.
i. Intro
ii. Body 1: The beginning of the movement
1. Brown v. Board of Education 1954
a. The Supreme Court rules on the landmark case Brown v.
Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, unanimously
agreeing that segregation in public schools is constitutional.
The ruling paves the way for largescale desegregation, The
decision overturns the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling that Don't forget about the age old question of What is the large impact crater on mercury?
sanctioned “separate but equal” segregation of the races,
ruling that “separate educational facilities are inherently
unequal.” It is a victory for NAACP attorney, Thurgood
Marshall, who will later return to the Supreme Court as the
nation’s first black justice.
2. Rosa Parks
a. December 1, 1955
b. (Montgomery, Ala.) NAACP member Rosa Parks refuses
to give up her seat at the front of the "colored section" of a
bus to a white passenger, defying a southern custom of the
time. In response to her arrest the Montgomery black community launches a bus boycott, which will last for more than a year, until the buses are desegregated Dec. 21, 1956. As newly elected president of the Montgomery We also discuss several other topics like What is okun’s law?
Improvement Association (MIA), Reverend Martin Luther
King, Jr., is instrumental in leading the boycott.
3. Little Rock 1957
a. (Little Rock, Ark.) Formerly allwhite Central High School learns that integration is easier said than done. Nine black students are blocked from entering the school on the orders of Governor Orval Faubus. President Eisenhower sends federal troops and the National Guard to intervene on behalf of the students, who become known as the "Little
Rock Nine."
4. Sit in (Greensboror, N.C. ) 1960
a. On Feb. 1, 1960 four black freshmen at North Carolina A&T State University, Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair, Jr., and David Richmond, took seats at the segregated lunch counter of F. W. Woolworth's in
Greensboro, N.C. They were refused service and sat
peacefully until the store closed. They returned the next day, along with about 25 other students, and their requests were again denied. The Greensboro Four inspired similar sitins across the state and by the end of February, such
protests were taking place across the South. Finally in July, Woolworth's integrated all of its stores. The four have
become icons of the civil rights movement.
5. SNCC 1960
a. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) is founded at Shaw University, providing young blacks
with a place in the civil rights movement. We also discuss several other topics like What is the meaning of women's movement?
6. Ole Miss, James Meredith 1962
a. James Meredith becomes the first black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi. Violence and riots
surrounding the incident cause President Kennedy to send
5,000 federal troops.
iii. Body 2: Turning Point 1968
1. Martin Luther King, Jr., was an American clergyman and civil rights leader who was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in
Memphis, Tennessee, on Thursday, April 4, 1968, at the age of 39. King was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was
pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m. that evening. He was a prominent leader of the Civil Rights Movement and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who was known for his use of nonviolence and civil
disobedience.
2. King received frequent death threats due to his prominence in the Civil Rights Movement. He had confronted the risk of death and made that recognition part of his philosophy. He taught that murder could not stop the struggle for equal rights. After the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy in 1963 Dr. King
told his wife, Coretta, "This is what is going to happen to me also.
I keep telling you, this is a sick society."
iv. Body 3: Aftermath
1. Black Panthers
a. The Black Panthers were formed in California in 1906 and even though their time in the civil rights movement was Don't forget about the age old question of What is quantitative variable?
short, it was also very important.
b. The Black Panthers believed that the nonviolent campaign of MLK had failed and any promised changes to their We also discuss several other topics like What is reflected in the idea of uniformity?
lifestyle via the “traditional” civil rights movement, would
tak too long to be implemented or simply just not
introduced.
c. The language of the Black Panthers was violent as was
their public stance. They were willing to use violence to get
what they wanted. Don't forget about the age old question of If we have a chiral center, how do we know where it points?
d. The Black Panther Party became notorious for advocating armed selfdefense in response to police brutality. The
party demanded the release of black prisoners because of
racism in the criminal justice system.
v. Conclusion:
1. Conclude with your own opinion and connection of how thr movement of rights moved into a movement of liberation after MLKs death.