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Civil Rights Movement
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Brown v. Board of Education Topeka, Kansas
The Supreme Court declared state laws creating separate schools to be unconstitutional. This usurped the Plessy v. Ferguson decission, replacing "separate but equal" with "separate not equal."
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Montgomery Bus Boycott
After Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to get up from her seat, a year long boycott of the Montgomery's buses ensued. Not only did this bring the nation's eyes to the issue in the city, but also brought Martin Luther King Jr. to the forefront of the movement.
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Little Rock Nine
President Eisenhower sent federal troops to escort nine black children who, on the orders of Governor Orville, were being denied entry to a public high school by the National Guard. This established federal, at least executive, support of the Civil Rights Movement, giving advocates more confidence.
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Greensboro Sit-ins
Four college freshmen staged a sit in at a segregated lunch counter, returning each day with more and more students. This event sparked nationwide sit ins, along with leading to the creation of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), a prominent civil rights group.
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Birmingham Demonstrations
MLK Jr. and his colleagues launch a large scale protest in Birmingham, Alabama, a city know for its strict and extensive segregation. This generated significant national support as millions watch on peaceful protesters being attacked by police dogs, knocked down by fire hoses, and more.
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March on Washington
A quarter million Americans march on the nation's capitol, where MLK Jr. gave his famous "I Have A Dream" speech. This event would become a defining event in the movement as MLK Jr. on television called to the entire world for equality not just for them, but their children.
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"Bloody Sunday"
During the Selma to Montgomery march, which was protesting the killing of a civil rights activist by a white police officer, 600 protesters were viciously beaten and teargassed by Alabama state and local police after refusing to back down. This incident was televised, causing an uproar by activists towards this mass violence.
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