19.1.6

Martin Luther King Jr.

Test yourself

Martin Luther King Jr.

During the Montgomery Bus Boycott, 90% of black people who used the bus stopped using them for 381 days in protest of segregation of the buses.

Illustrative background for The MIAIllustrative background for The MIA ?? "content

The MIA

  • The Montgomery Improvement Association was set up to improve lives of blacks and support the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
  • The MIA set up a car pool system to give lifts and used publicity to gain support.
  • Martin Luther King became the leader of MIA as a respected, educated and peaceful clergyman.
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Opposition to the MIA

  • They faced strong opposition from racist organisations like the White Citizens' Council (WCC) and Ku Klux Klan (KKK).
  • Many boycotters were arrested and Martin Luther King’s house and various churches were bombed.
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Arrests of MIA members

  • 89 members of the MIA were arrested in February 1956 and put on trial, where they spoke about the abuses committed by white drivers, even murder.
  • King had to pay a $500 fine.
  • This violent opposition to peaceful protest gained sympathy for the boycott.
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Supreme Court

  • The boycott ended when the NAACP went to the Supreme Court with Browder v. Gayle claiming that bus segregation broke the 14th amendment.
  • The MIA met and also began to demand desegregation.
  • After two appeals, the Supreme Court upheld its decision to desegregate the buses in Montgomery.

Jump to other topics

1The Medieval World: 450-1450 AD

1.1Anglo-Saxon England

1.2The Contest for the English Throne

1.3Conquering the Holy Land, 10-96-1396 AD

1.4King John

1.5The Magna Carta & Parliament

1.6The Black Death

2Worldviews

3The Empire of Mali

4The Renaissance & Reformations, 1500-1598 AD

5The British Empire, 1583-1960 AD

6The Peasants' Revolt

7Religion in the Middle Ages

8Slavery, 1619-1833 AD

9The English Civil War, 1642-1660

10The Industrial Revolution, 1750-1840

11US Independence, 1775-1783

12The French Revolution, 1789-1815

13The British Empire, 1857–1930

14Suffrage

15World War 1, 1914-1918

16The Inter-War Years, 1919-1939

17World War 2, 1939-1945

18The Cold War, 1947-1962

19Civil Rights in the USA, 1954-1975

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