Early Steps in the Civil Rights Movement (1940s and 1950s)

This study guide covers the Reconstruction era and its unfulfilled promises, focusing on the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. It examines Truman's civil rights efforts, including the Committee on Civil Rights and desegregation of the armed forces. The guide details the Emmett Till case and its impact on the Civil Rights Movement. It discusses the NAACP's role in desegregating schools, highlighting Brown v. Board of Education and the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling. Finally, it explores the Green Book, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr.'s philosophy of nonviolent resistance, the SCLC, and the sit-in movement.