The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a 13-month mass protest against the policy of racial segregation on public transport in Montgomery, Alabama. The protest began on December 5, 1955, four days after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger. The boycott ended on December 20, 1956, when the US Supreme Court ruled that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional. During the boycott, African Americans refused to ride the buses, instead walking, cycling, or using other means of transportation. While President Eisenhower did not publicly support the boycott, he did suggest a congressional joint commission as an alternative to ease tensions about integration. In a drafted telegram, Martin Luther King Jr. urged the president to intervene in the boycott, but it was never released.
Characteristics | Values |
---|---|
Date of the Montgomery Bus Boycott | 5 December 1955 to 20 December 1956 |
Length of the boycott | 13 months |
Who was it sparked by | The arrest of Rosa Parks on 1 December 1955 |
Who coordinated the boycott | The Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) |
Who was the president of the MIA | Martin Luther King, Jr. |
What was the result of the boycott | The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregation on public buses is unconstitutional |
What was the MIA's demand | Courteous treatment by bus operators, first-come-first-served seating, and black bus operators on predominantly black routes |
What was Eisenhower's response to the boycott | Suggested a congressional joint commission as an alternative to a meeting at the White House |
What You'll Learn
Eisenhower's response to the boycott
President Eisenhower's response to the Montgomery Bus Boycott was complex and, at times, seemingly contradictory. On the one hand, he suggested that a congressional joint commission was a more appropriate avenue to address racial tensions than a meeting at the White House between local black and white leaders. This position was met with criticism from some, including Martin Luther King Jr., who drafted a telegram urging the president to intervene directly in the boycott.
On March 14, 1956, when questioned about the Montgomery bus boycott, Eisenhower stated that the boycotters were being brought to trial under a state law about boycotts. This response seemed to distance himself from the situation and suggest that he saw it as primarily a legal matter to be handled at the state level.
However, Eisenhower's administration had previously taken some action to address racial matters. For example, in 1954, the Supreme Court unanimously decided in Brown v. Board of Education that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional. While this decision was met with a "noisy and stubborn" reaction from the white population in the Deep South, it demonstrated a commitment to racial equality from the federal government.
Additionally, in November 1955, just a few weeks before Rosa Parks' arrest, the Interstate Commerce Commission closed a legal loophole in a landmark case known as Keys v. Carolina Coach Co., prohibiting individual carriers from imposing their own segregation rules on interstate travelers. This decision affirmed the anti-discrimination provision of the Interstate Commerce Act.
Despite these actions, Eisenhower's response to the Montgomery Bus Boycott specifically appeared measured and indirect. He did not publicly support the boycott or use the power of his office to enforce racial integration on public transportation. Instead, he suggested legal avenues, such as the congressional joint commission and the state law regarding boycotts, as the appropriate mechanisms to address the issue.
It is also worth noting that, in general, Eisenhower's administration was focused on other priorities, such as foreign policy and national security, and he may have viewed domestic racial issues as less pressing or less worthy of his direct involvement.
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The boycott's impact on public transport
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a social and political protest against the policy of racial segregation on public transport in Montgomery, Alabama. The boycott lasted from December 5, 1955, to December 20, 1956, and saw African Americans refuse to ride city buses to protest segregated seating. This protest was sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks, an African American woman, for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger.
African Americans made up around 75% of Montgomery's bus riders, and the boycott saw a significant majority of them refuse to ride the buses. This had a huge economic impact on the public transport system and the city as a whole. The boycott was highly effective, with enough riders lost to cause serious economic distress to the city transit system.
To cope without the buses, African Americans in Montgomery utilised various methods of transportation. Black taxi drivers charged just 10 cents per ride—the same price as the bus fare—in support of the boycott. Black residents also walked, cycled, rode mules, or used horse-drawn carriages to get around. Additionally, carpools were organised, with over 200 people volunteering their cars and around 100 pickup stations operating within the city. Some residents even hitchhiked or used non-motorised means, such as bicycles, to get to their destinations.
In response to the boycott, the city of Montgomery tried several tactics to undermine the efforts of the boycotters. They instituted regulations for cab fares, preventing black cab drivers from offering lower fares to support the boycott. The city also pressured insurance companies to revoke or refuse insurance to black car owners, making it difficult for them to use their private vehicles for transportation. Despite these efforts, the boycott remained highly successful, with up to 90% effectiveness.
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The arrest of Rosa Parks
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a 42-year-old Black woman, was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus. Parks, a seamstress and secretary for the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP, was on her way home from a long day of work. When the "white" section of the bus filled up, the bus driver asked her to vacate her seat in the "colored" section to make room for a white passenger. Parks refused and was subsequently arrested for violating Chapter 6, Section 11 of the Montgomery City Code, which upheld racial segregation on public buses.
Parks' act of civil disobedience sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which lasted from December 1, 1955, to December 20, 1956. The boycott was led by Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., and brought renewed urgency to the civil rights struggle. It was not the first time Parks had challenged bus segregation; in 1943, she refused to comply with a bus driver's order to enter the bus again from the back door and waited for the next bus instead.
Parks was an ideal candidate to challenge bus segregation in court due to her reputation as a responsible, mature, and well-respected civil rights activist. She was also securely married and employed, with a quiet and dignified demeanor, and was politically savvy. Parks' court case was slowed down by appeals through the Alabama courts, but the federal Montgomery bus lawsuit Browder v. Gayle resulted in a November 1956 decision that bus segregation is unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Parks' refusal to give up her seat and the subsequent Montgomery Bus Boycott had a significant impact on the civil rights movement in the United States. Parks became an international icon of resistance to racial segregation and worked with other civil rights leaders, including Edgar Nixon and Martin Luther King Jr. She received numerous honors and awards for her contributions to the civil rights movement, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.
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The role of Martin Luther King Jr
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement, and it served as a platform for Martin Luther King Jr. to emerge as a prominent leader of the American civil rights movement.
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. This incident sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a 13-month mass protest that began on December 5, 1955, and ended on December 20, 1956. The boycott was coordinated by the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), and its president, Martin Luther King Jr., played a crucial role in its success.
Martin Luther King Jr. was a young, well-respected pastor at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. He was chosen to lead the MIA due to his reputation and the fact that he was new to Montgomery, which meant he had not made any strong friends or enemies. In his role as president, King was a powerful and inspiring voice for the boycott, declaring that the Black community was seeking freedom and justice. He advocated for non-violent resistance, even in the face of violence and threats against him and his family. King's home was dynamited, and his family's safety was threatened, yet he persevered in his commitment to the boycott.
During the boycott, King and other MIA leaders demanded courtesy from bus operators, first-come-first-served seating for all, and the hiring of Black bus operators for routes predominantly serving Black neighbourhoods. When these demands were not met, the MIA organized a successful carpool system, with approximately 300 cars, to sustain the boycott. King also played a crucial role in calming tensions and maintaining non-violent tactics when his home was bombed in early 1956. He was tried and convicted for his role in the boycott, yet he continued to lead the protest with determination.
The boycott gained national and international attention, and King's role in it solidified his commitment to nonviolent resistance as a hallmark of the civil rights movement. The success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott demonstrated the power of nonviolent mass protest in challenging racial segregation, and it served as a model for other civil rights campaigns in the South. King's leadership during the boycott established him as a prominent civil rights leader, and he went on to help found the influential civil rights organization, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).
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The outcome of the boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement, with far-reaching consequences. It lasted from December 1, 1955, when Rosa Parks was arrested, to December 20, 1956, when buses were finally desegregated. This 381-day protest brought about significant change and propelled the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. into the national spotlight as a prominent leader of the Civil Rights Movement.
The boycott was a remarkable success, with around 90% of Montgomery's African American bus riders, who made up about 75% of the total ridership, refusing to ride the buses. This had a severe economic impact on the city's public transportation system and the city as a whole. The city tried various tactics to break the boycott, including instituting regulations for cab fares to prevent black cab drivers from offering lower fares, and pressuring car insurance companies to revoke or refuse insurance to black car owners. However, these attempts proved futile in the face of the determination of the local black community, supported by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., churches, and citizens across the nation.
The success of the boycott was due in large part to the effective organization and leadership of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), led by Martin Luther King Jr. The MIA established a sophisticated carpool system, with over 200 volunteer drivers and roughly 100 pickup stations within the city. They also held mass gatherings at churches to collect donations and share news about the boycott's progress.
The legal challenge to bus segregation laws was also a critical component of the boycott's outcome. Attorney Fred Gray, a member of the MIA, filed a lawsuit, Browder v. Gayle, in U.S. District Court, arguing that the segregation laws violated the 14th Amendment's guarantee of equal protection under the law. On June 5, 1956, the District Court ruled that segregation on public buses was indeed unconstitutional, and this ruling was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court on December 20, 1956. This federal decision led to the desegregation of Montgomery's buses the following day.
The boycott not only achieved its immediate goal of desegregating the city's buses but also had broader impacts. It inspired other African American communities in the South to engage in nonviolent resistance and protest racial discrimination. It brought national and international attention to the civil rights struggles in the United States, with over 100 reporters visiting Montgomery during the boycott. Additionally, it solidified Martin Luther King Jr.'s commitment to nonviolent resistance, an approach that would remain a hallmark of the Civil Rights Movement throughout the 1960s.
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Frequently asked questions
No, Eisenhower did not support the bus boycott. When questioned about the Montgomery bus boycott, he responded by referring to a state law about boycotts and the legal repercussions for those involved.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a 13-month mass protest against the policy of racial segregation on public transport in Montgomery, Alabama.
The demands of the boycott were: courteous treatment by bus operators, first-come-first-served seating for all with black people seated at the back and white people at the front, and the employment of black bus operators on predominantly black routes.
The boycott ended on 20 December 1956, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional.