Music From The Civil Rights Era

Introduction

The rights of a country’s citizens are called civil rights. Many African Americans were denied full civil rights for about 100 years after the end of slavery. The struggle for those rights, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, is known as the civil rights movement.

Before the Civil War most Blacks in the United States were enslaved people, who had no civil rights. After the war ended in 1865, Blacks made some progress. Between 1865 and 1870 the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the U.S. Constitution ended slavery and gave citizenship and voting rights to formerly enslaved people.

These rights were often ignored, however, especially in the South. To keep poor African Americans from voting, some states made people pay a tax or pass a difficult test before they could vote. Violent groups such as the Ku Klux Klan tried to scare Blacks away from the polls. Southern governments passed laws to keep African Americans separate, or segregated, from whites. In many places, for example, Black children were not allowed to attend the same schools as white children.

Some African Americans resisted this unfair treatment all along. But not until the 20th century did Blacks organize themselves into a movement. The most important leader in the early years of the civil rights movement was W.E.B. Du Bois. In 1909 he and others formed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The NAACP used the courts to fight for civil rights for Blacks. Click the link to hear some of the songs from the Civil Rights Movement - https://youtu.be/DwmOADOVLGA

A History of "We Shall Overcome" the major anthem of the Civil Rights Movement - https://youtu.be/WXDU3n4HTTY

Civil Rights: A Kid-Friendly Explained - https://youtu.be/tT3EIKmKpaQ