Revise for GCSE History: A Divided Union? The USA, 1941-80

1. Revise for GCSE History: A Divided Union? The USA, 1941-80 This is the third of six revision topics. The impact of the Second World War McCarthyism and the “Red Scare” Civil Rights in the USA, 1941-80 The “New Frontier” and the “Great Society” Protest movements in the 1960s and 1970s T The Watergate Scandal and its impact Harry S. Truman Dwight D. Eisenhower

2. Revise for GCSE History: A Divided Union? The USA, 1941-80 There are seven sections to this topic. How did the war affect Civil Rights? How did the legal system bring change? How important was the Montgomery Bus Boycott? Why were the protests important? What were the changes in the 1960s? Why were King’s campaigns important? Why did Black Power emerge?

3. Revise for GCSE History: A Divided Union? The USA, 1941-80 How did the war affect Civil Rights? Japanese Americans interned, but not Italian or German. Lost property, but reminded patriotic, flag ceremony. 8k drafted, 9k volunteered to fight. More women worked, aircraft and shipbuilding, paid 60% less than men. Attitude patronising. WOW (Ordnance), in Navy WAVES, Army WACS. Fewer in domestic service. Prejudice against black Americans. Double V Campaign. Change in armed forces. 600 black pilots, mixed Army units at Battle of Bulge, Navy desegregated 1948. Executive Order 8802 and FEPC (Fair Employment Practices) stopped discrimination in government jobs. NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People) increases membership. CORE (Congress of racial Equality) begins sit-ins. Dixiecrats prevent Truman introducing a civil rights and anti-lynching bill.

4. Revise for GCSE History: A Divided Union? The USA, 1941-80 How did the legal system bring change? Brown v Topeka: lawyers from NAACP led by Thurgood Marshall. Supreme Court rules that segregated schools are illegal. White backlash: KKK and White Citizens Councils. Little Rock Central High: nine black students try to enrol. Orville Faubus uses National Guardsmen to keep them out. TV coverage leads Eisenhower to intervene, National Guard and Federal Troops used to protect. Importance: President involved, states over-ruled by federal government, TV coverage during the Cold War, demonstrated southern racialism.

5. Revise for GCSE History: A Divided Union? The USA, 1941-80 How important was the Montgomery Bus Boycott? Key Features: Segregated buses. Rosa Parks, NAACP member refuses to give up seat. Boycott co-ordinated by MIA (Montgomery Improvement Association). Led by Martin Luther King Junior. Car pooling. Supreme Court rules segregation of buses illegal. Significance: Showed success of peaceful protest and legal challenge. ML King emerges as leader of the Civil Rights Movement. Established peaceful protest.

6. Revise for GCSE History: A Divided Union? The USA, 1941-80 Why were the protests important? Greensboro, North Carolina: sit-ins held by students when four black students were refused service at an all-white lunch counter. Other segregated shops targeted. Consequences: spread to 78 areas across the South, 2000 black and white students arrested, estimated 70k involved in sit-ins by 1961. Variations: kneel-ins, wade-ins, read-ins. Gained positive publicity. Freedom Riders:Supreme Court ruled all bus stations desegregated. CORE organised Freedom Riders to test. Bus attacked and burnt at Anniston. Birmingham Mob bus attacked by angry mob. Kennedy forced to intervene. Voter Education Project: Staffed mainly by the SNCC (Student Non-violent Co-ordinating Committee). Helped black voters to register and answer barriers like maths questions. Despite harassment, many were enfranchised.

7. Revise for GCSE History: A Divided Union? The USA, 1941-80 What were the changes in the 1960s? James Meredith: Supreme Court forces University of Mississippi to accept him. Kennedy sent in Federal Marshals. Riots, 2 killed, 70 wounded. Soldiers on campus for 3 years. Birmingham, Alabama: 1963 closed all public facilities to prevent integration. Sit-ins organised by the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference). MLK arrested. Children and students used in demonstrations. Bull Connor used dogs and fire hoses. 2000 arrested. Condemnation across USA and the world. Kennedy forced to intervene. Desegregation introduced.

8. Revise for GCSE History: A Divided Union? The USA, 1941-80 Why were King’s campaigns important? Showed the extent of prejudice and success of peaceful protest. March on Washington: cry for jobs and to support JFK’s civil rights bill. 250k demonstrators, around 80k whites. King made the “Dream” speech. Civil Rights Legislation: delayed by JFK’s death. Pushed through by LBJ. Selma and the Voting Rights Act: only 383 out of 15k could vote, due to Sheriff Jim Clark. Two months of beatings and arrests. March from Selma to state capital Birmingham. “Bloody Sunday” when marchers were prevented from crossing the Edward Pettus bridge by horses, tear gas and clubs. LBJ intervened, promised a new law and a peaceful crossed. The Voting Rights Act: (1965) ended the literacy test, federal monitoring. By 1968 million registered.

9. Revise for GCSE History: A Divided Union? The USA, 1941-80 Why did Black Power emerge? Belief that King’s peaceful protest had not achieved enough and was too slow. Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam: wanted a separate country within the USA. Rejected their slave surnames, hence “X”. Justified self-defence. Pushed to end all forms of discrimination. Assassinated by black Muslims 1965. Black Power: reaction to lack of progress in solving poverty among urban blacks. Continuing unemployment and discrimination led to a riot in Watts, Los Angeles (68). Stokely Carmichael leader. Brilliant speaker. “Black is beautiful”. Attacked Vietnam war. Black Panther Party for Self Defence: Huey Newton and Bobby Searle. Wanted good housing, full employment and adequate education. Prepared to use violence. Uniforms and weapons training. Lacked support and alienated many whites. Eventually disbanded as a result of internal divisions.