The idea of the freedom rides originated from an announcement from the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) on March 13th, 1961. After the announcement was made, the first Freedom Ride began on May 4th, 1961 in Washington. The long range objective discussed in a Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) meeting on May 26th, 1961 was “To continue the Freedom Ride program until safe, secure interstate travel can be enjoyed throughout the nation by all citizens and other persons legally entitled to this constitutional privilege.” The short term goal discussed in the same meeting was, “To intensify the Freedom Ride so that national public attention can be brought to examine the denial of legal rights of interstate travelers…To meet the issues …show more content…
To fill jails of Montgomery and Jackson in order to keep a sharp image of the issues before the public.” These goals were the base purpose of the freedom rides and what the rides and riders stood …show more content…
The role of a historian includes, studying facts and records of past generations, pursuing the search to find a meaning of the past, researching specific subjects in history, and finding credible sources. My research on my investigation also showed me that historians face many challenges. Historians have to do a lot of credible research when trying to become an expert of certain parts of history. They cannot rely on just any source to give them correct information; there are many steps that need to be taken to assure the historian that the source is legit and trustworthy. Historians have to take into consideration that all sources have certain limitations, and they have to recognize what they are to make the best of the source for their research. I realized that scientists and mathematicians differ greatly from a historian, because scientists and mathematicians can prove their theories with equations and formulas, while historians can only prove what they know is true by relying on a source. My investigation highlighted to me that there are many different sources that are informative about the same topic, but each contains slightly different versions. Like a historian, I had to compare multiple sources to collect reliable information and data. Historians also examine primary sources, secondary sources, and oral history to help them discover what happened in the past. I had to do this in my research. I
What is freedom? This question is easy enough to answer today. To many, the concept of freedom we have now is a quality of life free from the constraints of a person or a government. In America today, the thought of living a life in which one was “owned” by another person, seems incomprehensible. Until 1865 however, freedom was a concept that many African Americans only dreamed of. Throughout early American Literature freedom and the desire to be free has been written and spoken about by many. Insight into how an African-American slave views freedom and what sparks their desire to receive it can be found in any of the “Slave Narratives” of early American literature, from Olaudah Equiano’s The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustav Vassa, the African published in 1789, to Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself which was published in 1845. Phillis Wheatley’s poetry and letters and Martin R. Delany’s speech Political Destiny of the Colored Race in the American Continent also contain examples of the African-American slaves’ concepts of freedom; all the similarities and differences among them.
The 1965 Freedom Ride exhibition introduced to many the Students Actions for Aboriginals organizations and explained how students from the University of Sydney drew national and international attention to the poor living conditions of Aboriginal people and the racism that was rife in New South Wale country towns from 12-26 February 1965. This event marked the beginning of resetting the relationships between Aboriginal people and non-Aboriginal people in contemporary Australia. Aboriginal people weren’t counted as citizens and they faced a lot of discrimination. But Charles Perkins wanted to change that. He was the first Aboriginal person to graduate from university. He was also a big fan of American civil rights activist Martin Luther King. So, inspired by events King championed in US, Charles organised a
Black liberation was stalled once again in 1961 and 1962, as white savagery reared its head again and black people were forced to deal with the reality that success was not inevitable, yet. Still more "sit-ins", "shoe- ins" were led to combat segregation in public places which were met with violent responses from some white people. These responses ranged from burning down a bus with black people to assaulting black passengers on a train car in Anniston. These racist white people also targeted other white people who were deemed as sympathizers to black struggle or "nigger lovers". Police refused to arrest the white aggressors and in some cases also refused to protect the black people. The Freedom Rides resulted in both losses and gains in the civil rights movement. People came to the realization that justice will not be won through merely trying to persuade Southern whites with peaceful protest but only "when
... throughout the South and the free schools for African Americans movement. The freedom rides also inspired black people in the south that were kept in isolation and fear due to political and economic bondage. Additionally, these freedom rides forced the media to uncover the true depths of southern racism to America at a time when the American government was busy testing its Nuclear Weapons after the Cold War. After five months of this nonviolent protest by the Freedom Riders and Nashville Student Movement, the federal government finally gave up in front of these activists. On September 22, 1961; the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) ended the segregation in bus and rail stations eliminating the Jim Crow Law. The Congress of Racial Equality also became the most important active civil rights organization working for equal rights and justice for African Americans.
On May 4, 1961, the Freedom Riders left the safety of the integrated, northern city of Washington D.C. to embark on a daring journey throughout the segregated, southern United States (WGBH). This group of integrated white and black citizens rode together on buses through different towns to test the effectiveness of newly designed desegregation laws in bus terminals and areas surrounding them (Garry). Founded by the Congress of Racial Equality (Garry) , or CORE, the first two Freedom Ride buses included thirteen people as well as three journalists to record what would become imperative historical events in the Civil Rights Movement. This group of fifteen people would begin to emerge as an organization that would eventually reach 400 volunteers (WGBH). Those involved were mostly young, college students whose goal it was, as said by the CORE director James Farmer, to “…create a crisis so that the federal government would be compelled to enforce the law.” (Smith). But on their journey throughout these southern states, the Freedom Riders faced many challenges, threats, and dangers.
Gross, Terry. "Get On the Bus: The Freedom Riders of 1961." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
Even before the eve of the Revolution, the colonists constantly had the image of independence lingering in the back of their heads. The colonists felt that they were first on a loose leash, and as that leash tightened over the years, the colonists began to understand their true culture and identity. As time passed, the colonists developed a greater sense of their identity and unity as Americans and by the eve of the Revolution, even though at first the colonists were unorganized and had problems with being united, they remained determined to gain their identity and unity as Americans.
Foner, Eric and John A. Garraty. "Freedom Rides." The Reader's Companion to American History. 1 Dec. 1991: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 19 May. 2014. .
The focus of the video documentary "Ain't Scared of your Jails" is on the courage displayed by thousands of African-American people who joined the ranks of the civil rights movement and gave it new direction. In 1960, lunch counter sit-ins spread across the south. In 1961, Freedom Rides were running throughout the southern states. These rides consisted of African Americans switching places with white Americans on public transportation buses. The whites sat in the back and black people sat in the front of the public buses. Many freedom riders faced violence and defied death threats as they strived to stop segregation by participating in these rides. In interstate bus travel under the Mason-Dixon Line, the growing movement toward racial equality influenced the 1960 presidential campaign. Federal rights verses state rights became an issue.
Work Cited "William Lloyd Garrison Headed the Abolitionist Movement to Free slaves. " New Pittsburgh Courier RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. The Web. The Web. 04 Mar. 2014.
On March 7 1965 policemen attacked 525 civil right demonstrators that took part in the march between Selma and Montgomery Alabama. The march was to let black people vote. The police used tear gas and charged on horseback into the crowds, there were more than 50 demonstrators injured. The day of the protest was named “Bloody Sunday”, and it was all over America broadcasted on national TV and in newspapers and Americans were very mad at how the authorities handled it. Even though people were hurt in bloody Sunday, 8 days after bloody Sunday President Lyndon B. Johnson presented a bill to congress that would turn into the black Voting Rights act of 1965. ("The New York times")
The 1961 US Freedom Rides were an immense driving force within the African American community seeing as the participants— mere students who were part of an activist group called the Congress of Racial Equality (CoRE)— refused to give up on protesting for what they believed in even when being violently attacked by those who strongly opposed them. It is obvious that their perspiration and determination to achieve their goals would inspire many and, due to the ever increasing inequality and dehumanising behaviours directed towards Australian Aborigines during the same time period, inspiration was exactly what was needed to begin protests and activisms much like those conducted within America. Throughout the time period that followed the US Freedom rides, Australian Aborigines partook in their own activisms which included a Freedom ride that is believed to have been inspired by those that took place within America.
First, the historian must refer to primary sources, must describe how he selected his sources and how they are useful, and must quote, refer to, or interpret sources responsibly (representing their context, content, and importance as accurately and fairly as possible) and precisely (using them to clearly support his specific arguments, not haphazardly or too generally). This satisfies the reader by relating (at least one version) of what really happened, and showing how the author justifies his analysis in light of historical fact.
The Civil Rights Movement began in order to bring equal rights and equal voting rights to black citizens of the US. This was accomplished through persistent demonstrations, one of these being the Selma-Montgomery March. This march, lead by Martin Luther King Jr., targeted at the disenfranchisement of negroes in Alabama due to the literacy tests. Tension from the governor and state troopers of Alabama led the state, and the whole nation, to be caught in the violent chaos caused by protests and riots by marchers. However, this did not prevent the March from Selma to Montgomery to accomplish its goals abolishing the literacy tests and allowing black citizens the right to vote.
We are all taught essentially the same things in school. We learn of the presidents and what they did and when they did it. But we know, as adults, that we did not get all the facts or even a portion of the correct facts in regards to history. In the essay, "The Historian and His Facts," Edward Hallett Carr shares a bit of insight into the people who record history and write about it. We are given a deeper understanding of historians and just what it is they do and what they know. By doing so Carr gives the reader an opportunity to question much of the history that we are exposed to and taught. The historian Barbara Tuchman says that the most common question asked of historians by the public is whether history serves a purpose and whether we can learn from the lessons of history (Tuchman 608).