SparkNotes: Free Study Guides No Fear Shakespeare: The Bard made easy SparkCharts: Just the facts TestPrep: SAT, ACT, and more 101s: College texts condensed Subject Finder: Browse by subject SparkCollege: Get in! SparkLife: 100% study-free home_bottom home_top BN_link
 
◄ PREVIOUS
Black Power: 1952–1968
NEXT ►
Quiz
 

The Civil Rights Era (1865–1970)

 
 

Study Questions & Essay Topics

 
Always use specific historical examples to support your arguments.
 

Study Questions

 
1. How were the NAACP, the SCLC, and the SNCC different? How were they similar? Which organization had the most success in desegregating the South?
 
 
2. Why did the civil rights movement gain momentum in the 1950s and 1960s?
 
 
3. How did Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson affect the civil rights movement? Which of these presidents had the most impact and why?
 
 
 

Suggested Essay Topics

 
1. How did earlier civil rights leaders, such as Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Marcus Garvey, influence the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s?
 
2. Where did the term and philosophy “black power” come from? Why did black activists turn to violence in the mid- to late 1960s?
 
3. Why did the civil rights movement fall apart in the late 1960s and early 1970s? Was the movement a success?
 
4. How did Malcolm X and the Black Panthers affect the goals of the civil rights movement?
 
5. How was the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s a continuation of the Reconstruction-era struggle for blacks to achieve equality?
 
6. Were the SCLC's and the SNCC's strategies of nonviolence successful?
 
 
Help | Feedback | Make a request | Report an error | Send to a friend

◄ PREVIOUS
Black Power: 1952–1968
NEXT ►
Quiz
 
 
 
 
 
 
Message Boards
Ask a question or start a discussion on the community boards.
  • General History
  • General Discussion on American History
  • SAT US History Test Prep
  • Historical Approaches
  • Current Events
  •  
     
     
     
    Printable PDF
    Download a printable version of this SparkNote.
     
     
     
    Test Prep Books
    Take the next step in test prep.
  • SAT Subject Test: U.S. History
  •  
    Test Prep Centers
    Take a practice exam. Do better.
  • SAT Subject Test: U.S. History Test Center
  •  
    Spuzzles
    Interactive crossword puzzles that will boost your test score.
  • History Spuzzles
  •  
    SparkCharts
    A textbook's worth of information on an easy-to-read chart.
  • U.S. Government
  • U.S. History Documents
  • Western Civilization
  • World History
  • U.S. History 1865–2004
  • African American History
  •  
     
     
    Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions | About | Sitemap
    ©2008 SparkNotes LLC, All Rights Reserved.