The Agony and the Ecstasy: The Civil Rights Movement Throughout its history the United States has wrestled with civil rights issues. ... and "Recite the Constitution," no one could pass the tests. In addition, a grandfather clause in the test requirement stated that if no one "who had voted before 1867 or who had relatives who had voted needed to take the literacy test. Of course, no blacks had voted before 1867, so they were required to take the literacy test (64) . . ." One black man actually did complete a literacy test; he recited the Constitution at the request of the testors! ...

• Word Count: 3013
• Approx Pages: 12
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

One of the most noted turning points in American History is the Civil Rights Movement. ... For an African American to be able to register to vote they needed to pass a registration test to prove that they were able to comprehend how to vote. ...

• Word Count: 3309
• Approx Pages: 13
• Grade Level: High School

Its victory was so complete that event through those outrages took place within the living memory of the baby boomers, they seem like ancient history. ... It was the first time since Reconstruction that a president sent federal troops to overrule a state segregation law, and the event marked a turning point in civil-rights history. ...

• Word Count: 3558
• Approx Pages: 14
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

While Whites looked back proudly on their achievements in history and culture, Blacks were denied their identity. Their kingdoms and complex societies were ignored in the white man's interpretation of history, there were few publications about their culture and history. ... To keep Blacks from registering to vote, poll taxes were raised, comprehension tests were held and the grandfather-clause was put into practice. ...

• Word Count: 3965
• Approx Pages: 16
• Grade Level: High School

Since the Civil War, much of the concern over civil rights in the United States has focused on efforts to extend these rights fully to African Americans. Resistance to racial segregation and discrimination with strategies such as civil disobedience, nonviolent resistance, marches, protests, boycotts, "freedom rides," and rallies received national attention in the struggle to end racial inequality. There were also continuing efforts to legally challenge segregation through the courts. Following the "separate but equal" decision of Plessy V. Ferguson in 1896, many Americans decided to push f...

• Word Count: 6511
• Approx Pages: 26
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

"If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so," founding father Thomas Jefferson expressed. "Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the state has become lawless or corrupt. And a citizen who barters with such a state shares in its corruption and lawlessn...

• Word Count: 3194
• Approx Pages: 13
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate