The Montgomery Bus Protest and Consequences of This Historical Event
Fleur Arthur
History 1.5 Essay
The Montgomery bus protest of 1955 was a major historical event in the long history of Black Civil Rights in America. Black civil rights issues date back to the 16th century when the first Dutch settlers began transporting slaves to the south of America. The causes of the Montgomery bus boycott include slavery, violence towards blacks, Jim Crow Laws as well as the stories of people like Emmett Till and Rosa Parks. Consequences of this historical event are both short term and long term including the changing of segregation laws throughout America, the court case, little rock as well as the growth of great leaders.
In the south buses were segregated with white people at the front of the bus and black people at the seats in the back. There was no definite line between the white and black seats but if a white person came on the bus and there were no seats left in the front area the white person would have the right to take the seat of a black person leaving them standing or having to move to a spare seat further down the bus. The bus driver could adjust this arbitrary line at his discretion and also throw any black person off the bus who refused to move for a white person. Many black people moved for the whites as a common consequence of not moving would be getting arrested. It was in early 1954 that Jo Ann Robinson began pushing for a bus protest and African-Americans began to refuse co-operation with bus segregation.
The first protest was on Monday December 5th 1955, early morning buses normally filled with blacks travelling to work were almost empty. Thousands of black people were walking on roadsides or catching taxis to work (black taxi drivers offered reduced fares that day) it was a clear message to the city that without black cooperation, they could not afford to operate their bus service. The Montgomery bus protest lasted over a year (381 days) it is estimated that 17,000 blacks took part in the protest initially with
History 1.5 Essay
The Montgomery bus protest of 1955 was a major historical event in the long history of Black Civil Rights in America. Black civil rights issues date back to the 16th century when the first Dutch settlers began transporting slaves to the south of America. The causes of the Montgomery bus boycott include slavery, violence towards blacks, Jim Crow Laws as well as the stories of people like Emmett Till and Rosa Parks. Consequences of this historical event are both short term and long term including the changing of segregation laws throughout America, the court case, little rock as well as the growth of great leaders.
In the south buses were segregated with white people at the front of the bus and black people at the seats in the back. There was no definite line between the white and black seats but if a white person came on the bus and there were no seats left in the front area the white person would have the right to take the seat of a black person leaving them standing or having to move to a spare seat further down the bus. The bus driver could adjust this arbitrary line at his discretion and also throw any black person off the bus who refused to move for a white person. Many black people moved for the whites as a common consequence of not moving would be getting arrested. It was in early 1954 that Jo Ann Robinson began pushing for a bus protest and African-Americans began to refuse co-operation with bus segregation.
The first protest was on Monday December 5th 1955, early morning buses normally filled with blacks travelling to work were almost empty. Thousands of black people were walking on roadsides or catching taxis to work (black taxi drivers offered reduced fares that day) it was a clear message to the city that without black cooperation, they could not afford to operate their bus service. The Montgomery bus protest lasted over a year (381 days) it is estimated that 17,000 blacks took part in the protest initially with