Civil rights and modern America flashcards

Civil rights and modern America covers the long struggle of African Americans and other marginalized groups to secure full legal and social equality. Students must understand the roots of the movement in Reconstruction-era promises and Jim Crow-era setbacks, the legal and grassroots strategies used from the 1940s through the 1960s, and landmark legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Beyond the Black freedom struggle, students should recognize parallel movements among women, Latino Americans, Native Americans, and LGBTQ individuals. The backlash against civil rights gains, the rise of Black Power, and the limits of legislative change are equally important. Understanding how these movements reshaped American politics, culture, and identity into the late twentieth century is essential for AP success.

1. Card 1

   What system of racial segregation did Southern states enforce after Reconstruction?

   Jim Crow laws mandated racial segregation in public life, stripping Black Southerners of political and civil rights through legal discrimination and terror.

2. Card 2

   What did the Supreme Court rule in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)?

   The Court upheld separate but equal as constitutional, providing legal justification for Jim Crow segregation for nearly sixty years.

3. Card 3

   How did Brown v. Board of Education (1954) change American law?

   The Supreme Court unanimously overturned Plessy, ruling that racial segregation in public schools was inherently unequal and unconstitutional.

4. Card 4

   What was the significance of the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956)?

   It demonstrated the power of nonviolent economic protest and launched Martin Luther King Jr. as a national civil rights leader.

5. Card 5

   What strategy did SNCC and CORE use at lunch counters and bus terminals?

   Nonviolent direct action, including sit-ins and Freedom Rides, exposed Southern segregation to national media and pressured the federal government to act.

6. Card 6

   What did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 accomplish?

   It banned discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in public accommodations and employment, a landmark federal guarantee of equality.

7. Card 7

   What did the Voting Rights Act of 1965 do?

   It outlawed discriminatory practices like literacy tests and authorized federal oversight of elections in states with histories of voter suppression.

8. Card 8

   How did the Black Power movement differ from earlier civil rights approaches?

   Black Power emphasized racial pride, self-determination, and community control rather than integration and nonviolent cooperation with white allies.

9. Card 9

   What was the goal of the American Indian Movement (AIM) founded in 1968?

   AIM sought tribal sovereignty, protection of treaty rights, and an end to federal policies that had stripped Native Americans of land and cultural identity.

10. Card 10

    How did the Chicano Movement advance Latino civil rights in the 1960s-70s?

    Leaders like Cesar Chavez used nonviolent organizing and strikes to win better conditions for farmworkers and assert broader Mexican American political identity.

11. Card 11

    What was the significance of the Stonewall Uprising (1969)?

    It galvanized the modern LGBTQ rights movement by demonstrating that gay and transgender people would resist police harassment and demand equal treatment.

12. Card 12

    How did the conservative backlash of the 1970s-80s respond to civil rights gains?

    Politicians used coded racial appeals and opposition to busing and affirmative action to build a coalition that shifted the Republican Party rightward.

• Many students assume the Civil Rights Act of 1964 automatically ended racial inequality in practice, when in fact systemic discrimination in housing, employment, and policing persisted long after its passage.
• Students often treat the civil rights movement as solely focused on African Americans, overlooking parallel and interconnected struggles by Latino, Native American, and LGBTQ activists during the same era.
• A common error is portraying Martin Luther King Jr. and the nonviolent movement as universally celebrated at the time, when polls showed most white Americans viewed King unfavorably and opposed demonstrations during the 1960s.

Planning your revision? Read how to revise AP US History, or make cards from your own notes with the notes to flashcards tool.