The Civil Rights Movement in the 1940s & 1950s [APUSH Review Unit 8 Topic 6] Period 8: 1945-1980

Summary

This video from Heimler's History explores the foundations of the Civil Rights Movement during the 1940s and 1950s. The video aims to explain how and why the movement developed and expanded during this period, focusing on key events and legal advancements. The discussion includes President Truman's actions, the 24th Amendment, and the landmark case of Brown vs. Board of Education. It also highlights the resistance from southern states, such as the Southern Manifesto and the Little Rock Nine incident. Overall, the video emphasizes both the progress made and the significant opposition that the movement faced.

Highlights

• President Truman's executive order 9981 banned segregation in the armed forces. ✊
• Brown vs. Board of Education ruled that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. ⚖️
• Southern states' resistance was evident with the Southern Manifesto and Little Rock Nine incident. 🏫
• The 24th Amendment, proposed in 1962, aimed to abolish the poll tax. 💡
• Efforts in civil rights during this time made important but limited gains due to resistance. 🕊

Key Takeaways

• The Civil Rights Movement gained momentum in the 1940s and 1950s, laying crucial groundwork for future advancements. 🚀
• President Truman took significant steps toward civil rights, including desegregating the armed forces. 🏆
• The Brown vs. Board of Education case marked a legal victory against segregation, but faced massive resistance. ⚖️
• The 'Southern Manifesto' displayed the fierce opposition from Southern states against Supreme Court's decisions. 🔥
• The Little Rock Nine incident highlighted the federal government's role in enforcing desegregation. 🏫

Overview

The Civil Rights Movement in the 1940s and 50s set the stage for future civil rights advancements. During this period, civil rights activists aimed to hold the American government accountable for promises made during the Reconstruction era. Despite suppression through Jim Crow laws, activists pressed for legislative and judicial changes, laying a foundation for the movement's expansion in coming decades.

Key legal advances such as President Truman's desegregation of the armed forces and the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education decision underscored significant progress. Truman's executive orders and the move to abolish the poll tax illustrated federal support. However, these measures were met with considerable resistance, illustrating the complex push-pull dynamic of the era.

Southern resistance manifested through actions like the Southern Manifesto and the dramatic Little Rock Nine episode, where federal intervention was necessary to enforce school desegregation. These events highlighted the ongoing struggle between federal mandates and local opposition during this pivotal period. Despite the challenges, the foundations built during this time were crucial for future civil rights achievements.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to the Civil Rights Movement The chapter introduces the Civil Rights Movement, focusing on its development and expansion from 1945 to 1960. It serves as a foundational overview for a more detailed discussion of the movement during the 1960s in a subsequent video. The emphasis is on explaining the reasons behind the growth and evolution of the movement during the 1940s and 1950s, setting the stage for further exploration of the topic.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Unfulfilled Promises Post-Civil War The chapter titled 'Unfulfilled Promises Post-Civil War' discusses the period following the American Civil War, focusing on the Reconstruction Era and the ensuing challenges in fulfilling constitutional promises. It highlights the introduction of constitutional amendments meant to secure voting rights and ensure equal protection under the law. Despite these advancements, the chapter illustrates how these promises were undermined by Jim Crow laws, voter suppression tactics like poll taxes and literacy tests, and pivotal Supreme Court decisions such as Plessy v. Ferguson that entrenched racial segregation as legal. The narrative further explores how civil rights activists of the 1940s and 1950s intensified their efforts to press the American government to honor these constitutional promises.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Government Branches Supporting Civil Rights The chapter discusses the steps taken by different branches of the federal government in advancing civil rights. One notable example is President Truman, who was an early supporter of civil rights. He issued Executive Order 9981, which aimed to ban segregation in the United States armed forces, highlighting a significant civil rights gain. Although the order was signed in 1948, its enforcement did not commence until two years later with the onset of the Korean War, showing the political balancing act Truman faced. Despite his efforts in civil rights, Truman remained aware of the political risks, especially concerning the support of southern members of the Democratic Party.
• 01:30 - 02:00: Truman's Initiatives and Challenges In this chapter, the focus is on Truman's initiatives and challenges concerning civil rights in America. In 1946, Truman established a committee to examine civil rights conditions and propose solutions. The committee's recommendations included desegregating the armed forces, abolishing poll taxes, and encouraging federal protection against lynching. Truman addressed many recommendations through executive orders and pushed Congress to enact them into law, leading to further legislative proposals by 1962.
• 02:00 - 02:30: Civil Rights Committee Recommendations This chapter covers the civil rights progress made through legislative and judicial branches of the U.S. government. It highlights the significance of the 24th Amendment, which abolished the poll tax, thus removing financial barriers to voting. The chapter goes on to discuss the landmark Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. This case was pivotal in ending racial segregation in schools, stemming from Oliver Brown's challenge of his daughter's need to attend a distant black school instead of a nearby white school, arguing that segregated schooling was a violation of rights.
• 02:30 - 03:00: The Brown v. Board of Education Case The chapter discusses the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case that confronted the 'separate but equal' doctrine established by Plessy v. Ferguson. Initially, efforts to integrate were rejected by lower courts. However, in 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, declaring that 'separate educational facilities are inherently unequal,' thereby mandating the integration of schools. Despite this significant victory, the chapter notes a downside to the court's ruling on the unconstitutionality of school segregation.
• 03:00 - 03:30: Ruling and Challenges in School Integration The chapter 'Ruling and Challenges in School Integration' discusses the complexities and challenges faced during the process of integrating schools in the southern United States. It highlights the ambiguity in the phrase 'with all deliberate speed' from the court order demanding integration. While 'speed' suggests urgency, 'deliberate' implies caution, which allowed opponents of integration to justify stalling tactics. The chapter reflects on the intended versus interpreted meanings of this directive and the desire to integrate schools swiftly despite judicial caution.
• 03:30 - 04:00: Southern Resistance and the Little Rock Nine The chapter "Southern Resistance and the Little Rock Nine" discusses the significant resistance from Southern states following the Supreme Court's decision to desegregate schools as mandated in the Brown v. Board of Education case. Southern states showed great opposition to this decision, as evidenced by their congressional representatives drafting the 'Southern Manifesto,' which claimed the Supreme Court had overstepped its authority. In defiance, some states chose to close their public schools rather than integrate them. A notable instance of such resistance occurred in 1956 when Orville Faubus, the Governor of Arkansas, took actions that reflected the broader Southern opposition to desegregation.
• 04:00 - 05:00: Conclusion and Further Resources The chapter titled 'Conclusion and Further Resources' discusses the civil rights struggles during the 40s and 50s, focusing on the event of the Little Rock Nine, where nine black students were prevented from entering Little Rock High School by the state's national guard. In response, President Eisenhower deployed federal troops to protect them. While there were significant strides in civil rights during this era, opposition was strong, and gains such as school integration were limited. The summary concludes with a mention that this is a part of the AP US History curriculum, indicating further information can be found within the unit.

The Civil Rights Movement in the 1940s & 1950s [APUSH Review Unit 8 Topic 6] Period 8: 1945-1980 Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 hey there and welcome back to high much history now we've been going through unit 8 of the ap u.s history curriculum and in this video it's time to start talking about civil rights and here in this video we're only going to consider some of the foundations of the civil rights movement in the 1940s and the 1950s and then in a later video we're gonna come back to the civil rights movement in the 1960s so if you're ready to get them bring cows milked well then let's get to it so in this video we're basically trying to do one thing explain how and why the civil rights movements developed and expanded from 1945 to 1960. so as you'll probably remember many promises were made to black
• 00:30 - 01:00 americans after the civil war into the reconstruction era those promises included constitutional amendments securing voting rights and equal protection under the law but as you'll further remember the fulfillment of many of those promises were suppressed with the advent of jim crow laws and voter suppression tactics like poll taxes and literacy tests and supreme court decisions like plessy versus ferguson which upheld racial segregation as the law of the land and so during the 1940s and 1950s civil rights activists sought to put pressure on the american government to make good on those promises and to their credit all three
• 01:00 - 01:30 branches of the federal government actually did make gains with respect to civil rights for example president truman who had been an early supporter of civil rights issued executive order 9981 which banned segregation in the united states armed forces you know that is good but while he signed that order in 1948 he didn't enforce it until two years later when the korean war began at the end of the day he was still a politician who feared that if he went too far with civil rights he'd lose the support of southern members of the democratic party and truman didn't get the idea to desegregate the armed forces
• 01:30 - 02:00 in one of his sweet dreams that recommendation actually came out of the committee on civil rights created by truman in 1946 and was tasked with examining the real conditions of civil rights in america and to give recommendations for how to address those problems the committee recommended the desegregation of the armed forces and they also recommended the abolishment of poll taxes and the encouragement of federal protection from lynching and while truman took care of many of these recommendations through executive orders he also urged congress to make these into law and by 1962 congress proposed
• 02:00 - 02:30 the 24th amendment which abolished the poll tax so we've got two branches of the federal government working for civil rights how about we check in with the supreme court and here's where we talk about the landmark case of brown versus the board of education this was actually a conglomeration of cases but for simplicity let's just talk about it as one case and one decision the brown case had to do with the racial segregation of schools the brown referred to in the case title was oliver brown whose young daughter had to attend a black school over a mile from her house instead of being admitted to a white school around the corner the argument was that segregated schools violated the
• 02:30 - 03:00 provisions of the 14th amendment which granted all citizens equal protection under the law seeing as how plessy was the precedent those seeking integration were turned down in the lower courts then in 1954 the case wound up on the docket of the supreme court and the court overturned plessy versus ferguson in a unanimous decision arguing that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal and that meant that schools would now be integrated however there was a downside to this victory when the court ruled that segregation in schools was unconstitutional they
• 03:00 - 03:30 ordered that schools be integrated with all deliberate speed now you and i we know what that means it means like do it now but southerners who oppose this measure found just enough vagueness in that phrase to stall like think about it all deliberate speed speed means go fast do it now but deliberate that means to like thoughtfully consider an act before you do it now look i want to integrate these schools as fast as possible i want to do it now but daggum chief justice earl warren told me to be deliberate about how fast i go so i'm just going
• 03:30 - 04:00 gonna sit here and deliberate about my speech in about 10 years get back to me anyway as you can imagine southern states resisted this decision with great sound and great fury and their congressional representatives wrote out their arguments in something called the southern manifesto it argued that the supreme court had engaged in a gross abuse of power in the brown decision and in order to uphold their rights in the face of such abuses of power some southern states shut schools down rather than have them integrated another manifestation of this came in 1956 when arkansas governor orville fabus called
• 04:00 - 04:30 in the state's national guard to prevent black students from entering little rock high school these students became known as the little rock nine and in response to phabas intransigence president eisenhower sent federal troops to protect these nine students as they entered the school so the point is this during the 40s and 50s there were certainly some momentous strides made in the cause of civil rights however there was also much opposition too and so efforts like school integration made only small gains over the next decade all right that's what you need to know about unit 8 topic 6 of the ap us history curriculum if you need more unit
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