The historical relationship between American urbanization, industrialization and the emergence of the civil rights movement is examined in this thesis in order to establish why the African-American Civil Rights Movement occurred. The book discusses many factors that were fundamental to causing the rise of the civil rights movement. It begins with a brief introduction to the African-American's political, economic and social conditions since the American Civil War and goes on to consider the effects of the two Great Black Migrations in which millions of black Americans moved to the big industrial cities and began to learn how to make effective use of their voting rights to protect their own interests. Finally the book examines the effect of the Second World War and also the role of the Supreme Court.
AcknowledgementsIntroductionChapter One: The Legacy of the Civil WarThe African Americans' Rights were not Secured by the ReconstructionThe Establishment and Development of the Racial Segregation SystemThe Initial Responses of the African AmericansChapter Two: The Black Great MigrationsThe Conditions Prior to the First Great MigrationThe First Great Migration (1916-1929) The Great Migration during the Second World War and AfterwardsChapter Three: Crisis, Opportunity and the Growth of African American's Political ConsciousnessThe African Americans Turned to the Democratic PartyThe Growth of African American Political PowerThe African American's Civil ActivitiesChapter Four: The Expansion of Social BasisThe Struggles between Liberals and Conservatoves inside the Democratic PartyThe Left Concerning with the cause of African American Racial JusticeAmerican Labor Organizations Participating African American Civil Rights MovementChanges in American Intellectual CirclesChapter Five: Eve of African-American Civil Rights MovementAfrican American's AwakeningMarch on Washington MovementChapter Six: American Federal Supreme Court Decisions on Civil Rights CasesCivil Rights CasesVoting Rights CasesEducation CasesThe Brown DecisionConclusionBibliographyIndexPrinci pal Cases CitedSubjects and Names
"Zhang's work gets us back to basics in reminding us of the fundamental historical forces that led to the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955." -- American Historical Review