Zaid Perry
The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted for 381 days, from December 5, 1955, to December 20, 1956, when the federal ruling Browder v. Gayle took effect, and the United States Supreme Court ruled that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional. The boycott was sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks on December 1, 1955, for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger. It was a mass protest against racial segregation on public transportation in Montgomery, Alabama, and it played a crucial role in the Civil Rights Movement.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date of Start | 5 December 1955 |
| Date of End | 20 December 1956 |
| Duration | 381-382 days |
| Location | Montgomery, Alabama |
| Reason | Protest against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system |
| Notable Figures | Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Jo Ann Robinson, E.D. Nixon |
| Result | U.S. Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses is unconstitutional |
What You'll Learn
The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted 381 days
The boycott was sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks on December 1, 1955, when she refused to give up her seat to a white man. Parks was an active member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and had attended a workshop on implementing integration earlier that year. The Women's Political Council (WPC), a group of Black professionals, had also been working to challenge segregation on Montgomery city buses. They called for a one-day boycott of the bus system on December 5, the day of Parks' trial.
The boycott was remarkably successful, with approximately 40,000 Black bus riders refusing to ride the buses. That afternoon, Black leaders formed the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) and elected Martin Luther King Jr. as their president. Under King's leadership, the boycott continued, with participants walking, carpooling, or taking taxis instead of riding the buses. The MIA organized a carpool system with volunteer drivers and dispatchers, and Black taxi drivers charged reduced fares to support the boycott.
The boycott took a financial toll on the bus company, Montgomery City Lines, which was known for discriminating against Black residents. The company lost between 30,000 and 40,000 bus fares each day during the boycott. The success of the boycott and the endurance of the participants, despite harassment and intimidation, demonstrated the power of nonviolent mass protest.
On June 5, 1956, a federal court ruled that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional, and this decision was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court on November 13, 1956. The boycott officially ended on December 20, 1956, after 381 days, when the Supreme Court's ruling took effect, and Montgomery's buses were integrated.
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It began on December 5, 1955
The Montgomery Bus Boycott began on December 5, 1955, and lasted until December 20, 1956, when the federal ruling Browder v. Gayle took effect. This was a 13-month mass protest against racial segregation on public buses in Montgomery, Alabama, and it is regarded as the first large-scale US demonstration against segregation.
The boycott was sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks on December 1, 1955. Parks, a 42-year-old seamstress and member of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), refused to give up her seat to a white passenger and was arrested for violating the bus driver's orders. This incident mobilised Montgomery's black citizens, who reacted decisively. By December 2, schoolteacher and Women's Political Council (WPC) President Jo Ann Robinson had printed and delivered 50,000 protest leaflets around town. E.D. Nixon, a local labour leader, organised a meeting at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, where local black leaders formed the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) to spearhead the boycott and negotiate with the bus company.
On December 5, 90% of Montgomery's black citizens, who made up 75% of the bus system's riders, stayed off the buses. That afternoon, the MIA elected charismatic preacher Martin Luther King Jr. as its president and decided to continue the boycott until their demands were met. The MIA established a carpool for African Americans, with over 200 people volunteering their cars and roughly 100 pickup stations operating within the city. To fund the carpool, the MIA held mass gatherings at various African American churches, where donations were collected and members heard news about the boycott's progress.
The boycott lasted for almost a year, ending on December 20, 1956, after 382 days. On this date, the US Supreme Court upheld a lower court's ruling that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional. The next day, King boarded an integrated bus with Ralph Abernathy, E.D. Nixon, and Glenn Smiley. The Montgomery Bus Boycott brought national and international attention to the civil rights struggles in the US and established King as a prominent leader of the American civil rights movement.
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It ended on December 20, 1956
The Montgomery Bus Boycott ended on December 20, 1956, after 381 days. The boycott began on December 5, 1955, four days after Rosa Parks, an African American woman, was arrested and fined for refusing to give up her seat to a white man. Parks' arrest sparked a mass protest against segregated seating on public buses in Montgomery, Alabama. During the boycott, African Americans refused to ride city buses, instead, organising carpools and walking to their destinations. The boycott was met with violence and resistance from whites, but it ultimately succeeded in bringing about change.
On June 5, 1956, a federal district court ruled in Browder v. Gayle that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional. The city of Montgomery appealed the decision, and the boycott continued. On November 13, 1956, the Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's ruling, declaring Alabama's bus segregation laws unconstitutional. However, the boycott continued until the order to desegregate the buses actually arrived in Montgomery. Finally, on December 20, 1956, the Supreme Court upheld the lower court's ruling, and Martin Luther King Jr., the leader of the boycott, called for an end to the boycott. The next morning, he boarded an integrated bus, signalling the end of the protest.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a significant event in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. It demonstrated the power of nonviolent mass protest to challenge racial segregation and inspired similar campaigns across the South. The boycott also brought national and international attention to the civil rights struggles in the country and established King as a prominent leader of the movement.
The boycott was largely planned and executed by African American women, particularly the Women's Political Council (WPC), a group of black women dedicated to anti-segregation activities and politics. They played a crucial role in publicising the boycott, printing and distributing leaflets, and organising meetings and protests. The success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott inspired Civil Rights activists to turn their attention to the integration of public schools and other areas of segregation.
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It was sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks
On December 1, 1955, during the evening rush hour in Montgomery, Alabama, 42-year-old Rosa Parks took a seat on the bus on her way home from work. Parks, an African American woman, sat in the first row of the "colored section". When the white seats filled, the bus driver, James F. Blake, asked Parks and three others to vacate their seats for white passengers. The other Black riders complied, but Parks refused, sparking her arrest for violating a city law requiring racial segregation of public buses. Parks was not the first person to be prosecuted for violating the segregation laws on the city buses in Montgomery. However, she was a woman of unchallenged character and was held in high esteem by those who knew her. At the time of her arrest, Parks was an active member of the local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), serving as secretary to E.D. Nixon, president of the Montgomery chapter.
Parks' arrest became a rallying point for the African American community, who organized a bus boycott in protest of the discrimination they had endured for years. The boycott lasted 381 days and captured the world's attention. It was during this boycott that Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., first achieved national fame as a powerful orator and leader of the peaceful protest. King was elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), which was formed to manage the boycott.
On November 13, 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that bus segregation was unconstitutional, and the boycott ended on December 20, 1956, after 382 days. Parks became known as the ""Mother of the Civil Rights Movement"" and was revered for her quiet act of defiance that resonated throughout the world. She was honored with numerous awards during her lifetime and after her death in 2005, including the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor bestowed on a civilian by the United States.
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It was led by Martin Luther King Jr
The Montgomery Bus Boycott, which took place from December 5, 1955, to December 20, 1956, was led by Martin Luther King Jr. and is regarded as the first large-scale demonstration against segregation in the United States.
King, a prominent civil rights activist and Baptist minister, was elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), which organised the boycott. The MIA was formed by local black leaders, including King, to spearhead the boycott and negotiate with the bus company.
The boycott was a response to the arrest of Rosa Parks, a 42-year-old seamstress and NAACP member, who refused to give up her seat to a white man on a segregated bus. The boycott lasted 381 or 382 days, during which time King's house was bombed and he was arrested and jailed. The boycott ended when the Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation on buses was unconstitutional.
King's role in the boycott transformed him into a national figure and the best-known spokesman of the civil rights movement. He went on to lead similar campaigns against poverty and international conflict, always maintaining fidelity to his principles that men and women everywhere, regardless of color or creed, are equal members of the human family.
King's nonviolent approach to civil rights activism was inspired by his Christian faith and the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. He believed that nonviolent civil disobedience was the most effective way to fight against legalized discrimination and advance civil rights for people of color in the United States.
In addition to leading the Montgomery Bus Boycott, King was also instrumental in the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. In 1964, at the age of 35, King became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee.
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Frequently asked questions
The Montgomery bus boycott lasted from December 5, 1955, to December 20, 1956, a total of 381 days.
The Montgomery bus boycott was a civil rights protest during which African Americans refused to ride city buses in Montgomery, Alabama, to protest segregated seating.
The initial demands of the boycott did not include changing the segregation laws. Instead, the group demanded courtesy, the hiring of Black drivers, and a first-come, first-seated policy, with whites entering and filling seats from the front and African Americans from the rear.
The boycott ended on December 20, 1956, when the federal ruling Browder v. Gayle took effect, and the United States Supreme Court declared that the Alabama and Montgomery laws that segregated buses were unconstitutional.
The Montgomery bus boycott was coordinated by the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), with Martin Luther King Jr. as its president. The boycott was largely planned and executed by African American women, including Jo Ann Robinson, the president of the Women's Political Council (WPC).
