SHORT NOTES
Though the Abolition Movement
of the 19th Century had emancipated African Americans, lifting them from the
shackles of slavery, they were still denied the basic civil rights.
Discrimination based on colour and racial segregation was common in America,
especially in its southern states, the traditional slave states of America
before slavery was abolished by US President Abraham Lincoln in 1865.
Years of struggle by African
Americans to secure federal protection for their basic rights and to end the
humiliating practice of segregation based on race led to the non-violent
American Civil Rights Mass Movement in 1950s and 60s.
The long years of the movement
saw series of non-violent protests, civil disobedience and boycotts and its
culmination is seen in Martin Luther King's 'March on Washington' on August 28,
1963 when he delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech demanding justice
and equality for African Americans.
As a result of the American
Civil Rights Movement, the US government passed a series of legislation during 1960s,
i.e., Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965 and Civil Rights Act
of 1968 (Fair Housing Act), which effectively ended the discriminatory practises
based on colour and the racial segregation of public facilities in the years
ahead.
©SantoshChaubey
