The Montgomery Bus Boycott Part 1

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a political and social protest campaign started in 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama. The law said that black people had to sit in the back of the bus while the the white people sat in the front. Bus drivers often referred to black people on the bus as nigger, black cow, or black ape. Blacks had to pay in the front of the bus and they had to get off to go threw the side door to sit in the back.

African American protests challenged the Jim Crow act during the Eisenhower administration. Several cases and organizations were created to fight against segregation. For example, the National Association for Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was raising funds to challenge segregation in education, and the Plessy v. Ferguson court case led to the creation of “separate, but equal.” Earl Warren thought the “separate, but equal” was not a good idea because black and white people were very different. Thus, the Ferguson court case was illegal because it was violating the 14th amendment. In March, 1956, the Southern Manifesto was signed by up to 100 men in the government to complain about the court’s abuse of judicial power. According to google, the Montgomery bus boycott lasted for about a year from 1955-56. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., responded with a boycott of the city bus system that started with Rosa Parks refusing to give her seat to a white person. The Montgomery bus boycott made MLK Jr. a good leader and became the leader of Southern Christian Leadership Conference in

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was successful because the protesters used nonviolence, the community helped each other, and the car pool was a major step in outcome. First of all, on March 22, 1956, Martin Luther King Jr. gives a speech and he states, “Democracy gives us this right to protest and that is all we are doing. We can say honestly that we have not advocated violence, have not practiced it, and have gone courageously on with a Christian movement”. This statement exemplifies that the protesters have done nothing wrong and they don’t plan on using violence. To continue, in a letter by Virginia Foster Durr written on January 30, 1956, she writes,“I think it is the first time that a whole Negro community has ever stuck together this way and

They organized the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) to plan the event and oversee its progress. Martin Luther King Jr. was elected president of the association, partly because he was a powerful speaker, and partly because he hadn’t been a part of the community long enough to have any enemies. The initial demands made by the MIA were only for courteous treatment, first serve seating, and job opportunities for African Americans to become bus drivers, however, these demands later expanded throughout the protest. Plans for the boycott were announced to the community by black ministers at Church on December 4. The Montgomery Advertiser, a general-interest newspaper, [also] published a front-page article on the planned action (history.com.) On top of that, the WPC passed out flyers informing the community of the boycott on December 5. By that same day the African American citizens of Montgomery were ready and willing to begin the thirteen month long protest for

The Montgomery Bus Boycott began with the public arrest of an African American woman and civil rights activist named Rosa Parks. As stated in Document A,”Rosa Parks boarded a city bus and sat down in the closest seat. It was one of the first rows of the section where blacks were not supposed to sit… The bus driver told Rosa Parks that she would have to give up her seat to a white person. She refused and was arrested.” Rosa’s arrest sparked a number of radical events that fought against racial inequality and segregation over the span of thirteen months. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was successful because it led to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that racial segregation among public transportation (especially buses) was unconstitutional. The Montgomery

Because African-Americans did not take the bus, taxi drivers offered to pick up African-Americans to take them to their destination. The people in political positions in Montgomery did not like this. So, any taxi driver that was caught transporting African-Americans were arrested. In 1956, Bayard Rustin wrote in his diary about the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. He stated that 42,000 African-Americans stopped riding the buses.

One method that was used to advance the cause of Civil Rights was the Montgomery Bus Boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, in the year 1955. On December 1st, Rosa Parks was arrested “after refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white man” (New York World-Telegram and Sun). The community boycotted the bus system until December 20th 1956, when Browder v. Gayle took effect. In Browder v. Gayle, the Supreme Court ruled that segregated buses were unconstitutional. By boycotting the buses, the people put pressure on the community and the legislators.

Due to that success the Montgomery Improvement Association, led by a young minister named Martin Luther King Jr., planned a permanent boycott until their demands were met. They asked for courteous treatment, seating on a first come, first serve basis, and black bus drivers for mostly black bus routes. Businesses and private homes started to feel the effects of the boycott. Whites started to fight back. Blacks were arrested for walking the streets. Dr. King's home was bombed. The boycott lasted eleven months before there were any positive results. The Supreme Court ruled that segregation on Alabama buses was unconstitutional. The boycott was an astounding success and it brought Dr. Martin Luther King to prominence. 1

In 1955 King was elected as the leader for the Montgomery Improvement Association. This group was created to protest the arrest of Rosa Park for not moving to the back of the bus when a white man asked. This protest

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and other african american leaders encouraged everyone in the community to boycott all the buses until they can ride with dignity. Dr. King expressed the importance

Spearheading the Montgomery Boycott was just one of King’s noteworthy accomplishments along the realms of non-violent direct action. Sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks after her refusal to relinquish her seat on a city bus, the Montgomery Boycott was a year-long bus boycott in protest against the unjust laws that segregated public buses (Azbell 114). King was chosen by community leaders of the Montgomery Improvement Association to lead said

Many African Americans decided enough was enough and decided to boycott and protest all establishments that still segregated them in the south. One of the most influential examples of this was the Montgomery Bus Boycotts that was led by Rosa Parks. This all started when a women names Rosa Parks decided not to give up her seat on a bus for a white passenger. Although she was immediately arrested for this action man y African Americans took this as call to action. She and many other African American began to boycott all buses as long as they would treat their African American passenger unequally.

This boycott that lasted for more than a year, also demonstrated the unity and determination of black residents and inspired blacks elsewhere to stand up for their rights. The Montgomery bus boycott marked the beginning of a new era for the CRM, it has been called the second reconstruction, as it was the beginning of the last great battle blacks had to fight to gain equal rights with whites. This is what Rosa Parks, whose bold act of defiance helped ignite this boycott to occur. The event with Till was also a catalyst, as it inspired Parks to act with this bold personal defiance. MLK also became the new leader because of his believe in nonviolence. It was proved the perfect tactic to achieve equality. This peaceful response to the violence persuaded many whites of justice of giving black their rights and the evil of racist opposition to

The 1950's and 1960's were a time of racial turmoil throughout most of the United States. Segregation between blacks and whites was still in full effect, African Americans had to drink from different water fountains, eat at different restaurants, and even shop at different stores than their Anglo "neighbors". Many people and organizations fought valiantly for equality in the U.S. such as Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King jr. and the NAACP. The roles they played were critical in the civil rights movement were critical, the actions they took included peaceful demonstrations and marches, public speeches, and boycotts such as the one that took place in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955. One man stands out among all of these leaders though, Malcolm X.

As said by Rosa Parks,“You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right”.This means that when she sat in the front of the bus she was not fearful to get arrested and move because she wanted equal rights.The Civil Rights Movement was a mass popular movement for African Americans equal access to opportunities for the basic privileges and rights of U.S. citizenship. The African Americans were fighting for equal rights, and they wanted to be treated the same as everyone else. Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister and social activist, who led the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. A boycott is to stop using a product for example, the African Americans boycotted so they could stop riding the buses.The boycott was in Montgomery, Alabama. African Americans wanted to be equal to the whites because they were treated differently than the whites for everything. They wanted to be treated the way whites were being treated.The boycott took place in Alabama in 1955 and ended 1956.The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a successful protest because there were many ways besides the bus for African Americans to get around, the the bus companies lost money, and the protest were covered by the news.