HIST 243-01, The Civil Rights Movement, Fall 2010

Abstract

This course will examine the development of the American Civil Rights Movement from roughly the World War II period through the Black Power era of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. In the semester, we will examine the social, cultural, political and economic climate of the era and consider how black and white Americans navigated the titanic changes that occurred during a period many refer to as “The Second Reconstruction.” Specifically, the course will focus on various organizations and the strategies they implemented to affect change; the tension between local and national initiatives; the significance of major events, such as Brown v. Board of Education, the founding of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Additionally, the course will analyze the various reactions to initiatives that allowed African Americans to attain many of the rights and privileges that have become commonplace in today’s society.