Racial Unrest and Civil Rights in the USA 03

This KS3 History quiz is about racial unrest and civil rights in the USA. The USA is known as the 'land of the free', yet black Americans had to campaign long and hard in history for equal civil rights. Things were starting to change by the 1950s, for example, in 1954, the US government passed a law that it was no longer legal to segregate schoolchildren. The 1950s and 1960s saw many protests by civil rights groups. The majority of these were peaceful, for example, sit-ins. In 1960, students formed the SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) to organise them.

As well as the SNCC protests, many other civil rights groups were campaigning. In the city of Montgomery, Martin Luther King Jr. set up the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Their aim was to end all forms of segregation. In 1963, Birmingham in Alabama was said to be the most racially segregated city in America. The town authorities obtained a legal ban on civil rights protests but the SCLC protested anyway. Many people were arrested, including Martin Luther King.