CIVIL+RIGHTS-monson

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks left her job as a seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama, and boarded a bus to go home. in 1955, buses in Montgomery reserved seats in the front for the whites and seats in the rear for African Americans. Seats in the middle were open to African Americans, but only if there were few whites on the bus. She took a seat just behind the white section. Soon, all of the seats on the bus ere filled. When the bus driver noticed a white man standing, he told Parks and three other African Americans in her row to get up and let the white man sit down. The other three rose, but Rosa Parks did not. The driver then called the Montgomery police, who took Parks into custody. This news soon reached E.D. Nixon, a former president of the NAACP, he wanted the challenge the segregation and told parks that with her permission we can break down segregation on the bus with your case, she happily agreed. Soon the Boycott of the Montgomery bus system started, where people refused to ride the bus. Doing this told many African Americans the time for us to have equal rights has come. It would not be easy, there was the case of Plessy vs. Ferguson which made the Supreme Court establish the "separate but equal" doctrine, which meant segregated African Americans were permitted as long as equal facilities were provided for them. Then the "Jim Crow" laws came into effect, which segregated buses, trains, schools, restaurants, pools, parks, and other public facilities. African Americans enjoyed their increased political power, where at first they could not vote and no one payed attention to what they said, but now people were starting to listen. Then they pushed for desegregation, which led to countless problem within the country, especially with the southern resistance. **Martin Luther King, Jr.** played an important role in the movement. He basically lead them in peaceful riots (since he believed in the same principles as Ghandi), speeches, sit-ins, and marches. Martin Luther King, Jr. did more in the Civil Rights Movement then we could possible imagine, dedicating all of his time, thoughts, and heart into what he believed was true, and never quitting until he saw his dream live. He lead the march on Washington, where he gave his " I have a dream" speech, while also getting congress to sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964, among other things. Unfortunately, he never lived to see his dream completely fulfilled, for on April 4, 1968 he was assassinated by a sniper on his hotel balcony in Memphis. His death touched off both national mourning and riots in more than 100 cities, including Washington D.C. His death marked the end of an era in American History, although the Civil Rights movement continued, it lacked the unity of purpose and vision the Dr. King had given it. The Civil Rights movement transformed American History, and Dr. King played his role, and he played it well.